Students storm Assam assembly hall, vandalise property over cabinet's nod to ST status for six communities

KOKRAJHAR: Students of the Bodoland University here on Saturday stormed the assembly hall of the BTC secretariat and vandalised its properties in protest against the Assam cabinet's approval of a report on granting ST status to six other communities of the state, officials said.

The tribal students took out a six-km-long march from the university campus to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) secretariat, where they broke through the barricades and barged into the assembly hall. They vandalised the hall by breaking chairs and other furniture, they said.

Additional security forces have been rushed to the spot, but tension prevails in the area and the situation is yet to be brought under control, the officials said. The state cabinet on Wednesday approved the report of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the proposal to grant ST status to six major communities of Assam -- Tai Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Motok, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea Tribes (Adivasis).

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The Bodoland University students had staged a protest on the campus opposing the cabinet's decision and boycotted their third semester final examinations on Thursday. The All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), along with several allied tribal organisations, on Thursday took out a torchlight vigil in Kokrajhar town in protest against the cabinet's decision.

The protesters argued that extending ST status to additional communities would dilute the rights and constitutional safeguards of the existing tribal groups, affecting opportunities in education and employment.