Guwahati, June 12: The Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (Attsa) and the All Assam Students Union (AASU) have decided to bury the hatchet with the latter promising to fight for the rights of the tea community. The Attsa volte-face came a couple of weeks after it accused the AASU leadership of trying to destroy the composite fabric of the Assamese society by branding the tea community of the state as non-Assamese.
In a joint press conference here this morning, leaders of both the students’ organisations warned the political parties, including the Congress and the AGP, not to divide the people of the state on “ethnic lines for their narrow political gain”.
After a daylong deliberation between the leaders of the two students’ organisations in the city yesterday, Attsa president Durga Bhumij today gave a clean chit to the AASU. He also said the Attsa’s recent diatribe against AASU was result of a “misunderstanding”.
“After the AASU came out with its clarification, we are now convinced that they have no role in the campaign to project the tea tribes as non-Assamese,” Bhumij said.
He, however, expressed serious concern over the campaigning along “ethnic lines” during the recent Lok Sabha elections at the Dibrugarh seat.
The AASU leaders reciprocated by stating that tea tribes are an integral part of the Assamese society and vowed to launch a movement for fulfilment of their long-pending demands.
The two organisations announced that they would take out goodwill rallies, dubbed “sadbhawana yatra”, in the twin districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia on June 23 to remove the apprehensions from the minds of the tea tribes people and diffuse the tension in the area.
The AASU and the Attsa also prepared a 12-point charter of demands for improving the plight of the tea community in the state. They will submit a memorandum to chief secretary J.P. Rajkhowa in this regard on June 22.