GUWAHATI, July 28 � The Ajanajati-Garo Sonmilita Sangram Samitee (AGSSS) has demanded the exclusion of those south Kamrup and Goalpara villages which have more than 50 per cent of non-tribal and Garo population from the jurisdiction of the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC).
Addressing a press conference here, AGSSS coordinators Chandan Keshab and Benedict Areng also demanded panchayat election in the RHAC areas and autonomy to the Garos living in the district of Goalpara and in the southern part of Kamrup district.
They also called for steps to grant minority status to those non-tribals and Garos who are below 50 per cent in their respective villages located under the Rabha Hasong areas.
They opposed the State Government�s move to hold elections to the RHAC, without paying any heed to the demands of the non-tribals and the Garos living in the RHAC areas. They alleged that the Government has even ignored the court orders on the issue. This has the potential to provoke fresh agitational programmes in these areas, they warned.
Agitations in these areas may lead to outbreak of violent incidents and thus may vitiate the entire socio-political atmosphere in the RHAC areas, said the AGSSS coordinators.
They, however, maintained that they were not against granting of autonomy to the Rabhas. But in the name of granting autonomy to the Rabhas, the rights of the non-tribals and the Garos living in the RHAC areas should not be trampled upon, they said.
