The United Garo Autonomous Council Movement Committee (UGACMC) has called for 48-hour Assam bandh from Tuesday demanding a separate autonomous council for the Garos living in Assam.
The bandh will remain effective from 5 am on January 28.
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The bandh was announced by the UGACMC during a press conference on Monday.
Also read: Garos in Assam to intensify stir demanding autonomous council
UGACMC reiterated its demand for creation of a separate autonomous council for the Garos in Assam on the day when another agreement was signed with the NDFB, ABSU and a united Bodo group on Monday,
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The United Garo Autonomous Council Movement Committee (UGACMC) said the Garos, being one of the most deprived indigenous tribes of Assam, have been demanding the creation of a separate autonomous council on satellite basis since 2003.
“The Garo people of Assam have been receiving a step-motherly treatment since 1972 by the successive governments of Assam,” said chairman Alex K Sangma and general secretary Thengsil Sangma of UGACMC.
The Garo leaders said: “The Garos are one of the major tribes of Assam with a relatively higher population than the population of the recently created Kamatapur Autonomous Council and Motak Moran Autonomous Council.”
“However, the creation of Kamatapur and Motak-Moran Autonomous Council paved the way for creation of a separate Garo Autonomous Council on satellite basis for a relatively larger population and larger number of villages of the Garos in order to do justice to the social, cultural and economic aspirations of one of the most deprived tribes of Assam,” they said.
The UGACMC said a separate Garo Autonomous Council be created prior to the grant of Sixth Schedule status to the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) for settling the long-pending issue of the Garos of Assam in an amicable manner.
Calling for Assam bandh on Tuesday, the UGACMC leaders threatened to intensify their stir over the creation of a separate Garo Autonomous Council in near future.
“If the Assam government is not responsive towards the cause of the Garos of Assam within 96 hours from the time of the end of the bandh on January 3, 2020, then we would be compelled to call for an indefinite economic blockade in Assam,” the UGACMC leaders said.