BARPETA, Aug 6 - In the biggest ever student gathering in the last 30 years, members of the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) took out a rally at Sarthebari in Barpeta district, demanding subdivisional status for the area.
Thousands of AASU activists gathered at the PWD Inspection Bungalow campus on Wednesday and reiterated their 45-year-old demand to make Sarthebari a subdivision.
The rally was led by members of the Sarthebari Anchalik and Sarukshetri Kendriya Anchalik units of the AASU. Students from almost all the educational institutions, including Bapujee College, took part in the three-km rally, demanding a new civil subdivision in the eastern part of the district with Sarthebari as its headquarters.
Addressing the gathering, student leaders Gunajit Choudhury and Bidyut Kumar Deka asked the State Government to establish a subdivision in the area or be prepared to face a vigorous agitation in the future.
Prahlad Talukdar, secretary of the Subdivision Demand Committee, said that they would launch a civil disobedience movement if the Government failed to meet the demand before the Independence Day. Banikanta Bhuyan, working president of the committee, also addressed the gathering.
The AASU has organised several agitation programmes, including a 12-hour fast and torchlight procession, in support of the demand in the past.
Several other groups have also been taking out rallies and holding agitation programmes like bike rallies and fasting since the last few months, demanding the creation of a subdivision.
The Congress, AGP, BJP and CPM have also submitted separate memorandums to the Government, requesting to comply with the demand.
