Schedule Tribe status demanded for Adivasis by tribal organisations

JAMSHEDPUR: Tribal Organisations here today strongly condemned the killing of innocent Adivasis in Assam by suspected Bodo militants and demanded immediate steps to accord the tribals Schedule Tribe status.

"We strongly condemn the brutal killing of innocent Adivasis by Bodo militants in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts of Assam yesterday," Adivasi Sengel (Empowerment) Abhiyan (ASA) said after holding an emergency meeting here.

ASA President, Salkhan Murmu demanded according ST status to the Adivasis, immediate compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each victim family, their proper rehabilitation and adequate security.

Murmu, who had merged his political outfit Jharkhand Disom Party with the BJP ahead of the last parliamentary poll, said a delegation of ASA comprising of affected families of Assam, would soon meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hand over a memorandum in support of their demands.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand People's Party (JPP) President Surya Singh Besra demanded high level judicial enquiry into the incident and sought immediate intervention by the union government.

Besra also echoed a similar view and demanded Schedule Tribal status for Adivasis, who had been migrated to Assam from Jharkhand decades ago and engaged as labourers in tea gardens of Assam.