GUWAHATI, Oct 2 - The Sanmilita Janagostiya Aikya Mancha, a conglomeration of several ethnic organisations, decided, in its meeting held at the Bishnu-Nirmala Bhawan here on Thursday, to hold public meetings in each of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) area districts in the coming days to assert for the rights of the non-Bodo people living in those areas.
The Mancha said in a statement that the first of these meetings will be held in the second week of October next at Fakiragram in Kokrajhar district.
In the meetings, the Mancha will emphasise on generating public awareness on the issue of the resumption of the Bodoland agitation by the All Bodo Students� Union (ABSU) allegedly at the instance of the BJP. The Mancha has alleged that with the intention to divert public attention from the issue of the BJP-led Central Government�s bid to grant entry and stay rights to the non-Muslim illegal migrants in the State, the ABSU has resumed its Bodoland agitation.
The Centre has also been trying to dismiss the demand of the six ethnic groups, including the Koch-Rajbongshis, to accord them scheduled tribe (ST) status. This demand will also be reiterated by the Mancha in its proposed public meetings, said the Mancha.
Besides, the demands for exclusion of the non-Bodo villages from the BTAD areas and stringent punishment to the killers of the non-Bodo leaders like Manoj Das, publication of the report of the Justice MBKB Singh, which probed the BTAD group clashes, will also be raised by the Mancha.
The Mancha will also make the people aware of the alleged conspiracies of the BJP and the Congress to create rift among the people on communal lines at different places of the State.
The meeting, which was presided over by Bipin Barman, the chief advisor of the Koch-Rajbongshi Sanmilan and a leader of the Mancha, also decided to prepare a political strategy to counter the BJP and the Congress in the 2016 Assembly elections. It was addressed by Brajen Mahanta, Abdul Aziz, Baishistya Barman, Mafidul Ahmed and Hareswar Barman, among others, said a press release.
