BJSM Opposes ST Status for Six Assam Communities in Memorandum to RGI

Sources: Facebook

In a direct appeal to the Registrar General of India, the Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Manch (BJSM) has formally objected to the potential inclusion of six Assam communities—Tai Ahom, Moran, Motok, Sutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, and the Tea Tribes—in the Scheduled Tribe list.

In the memorandum, BJSM said that these groups fall short of the constitutional and ethnographic benchmarks necessary for ST status.

It argues they lack the defining tribal characteristics of unique socio-cultural identity, a continuous history as indigenous tribes, and traditional geographical isolation.

The BJSM contends that many within these proposed communities are either historical migrants or are fully integrated into mainstream society. It highlights the 13th-century arrival of the Tai Ahoms and the colonial-era transplantation of the Tea Tribes.

The memorandum also raises questions about the internal diversity of the Koch-Rajbongshi, noting that Rajbongshis hold Scheduled Caste status in West Bengal.