Guwahati, June 16: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said his government was in favour of according Sixth Schedule status to all the tribes even as Dhemaji district witnessed some recent communal flare-ups between the Mising and non-Mising communities over the move to grant the former recognition under the Sixth Schedule.
The demand for Sixth Schedule status for different tribes gathered momentum after it was granted to the Bodos.
The chief minister, talking to the media at his official residence today, said the cabinet sub-committee, formed under the chairmanship of health and family welfare minister Bhumidhar Barman, had been studying the “nitty gritties” of granting the status to the different tribes.
He, however, said it would take some time for the committee to submit its report. “It needs elaborate study and consultations with all sections of the people, so it will take some time before we grant the various tribes recognition.”
Commenting on the protests by different communities on the issue, he said there was no cause for apprehension for his government was committed to looking after the interests of the non-tribal communities while according recognition under the Sixth Schedule to the tribals.
On Monday, angry members of the non-Mising community had demonstrated against the sub-committee at Gogamukhunder in Dhemaji that had gone to take view of various communities. The police had been forced to fire in the air, to disperse the irate mob, which led to communal tension in the area.
The Opposition Asom Gana Parishad today accused the Congress government of instigating communal tension in the area for vested political interests and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.
In a representation to the Governor Lt Gen. (retd) Ajai Sing and also to the chief minister, the Opposition questioned the timing of the sub-committee’s visit to the district.
The AGP alleged that the visit, coming close on the heels of a two-day bandh called by some non-Mising communities in the area in protest against the move to grant the status to the Misingcommunity was ill-advised.