Guwahati: The Assam Police on Monday strongly cautioned the heads of six ethnic groups and demanded that the Assam Bandh of November 15 be lifted.
They ordered the bandh to be lifted and issued a warning that they would arrest any protesters who took to the streets in the name of the bandh in order to maintain a peaceful environment.
The police warned that ordering a bandh is against the law and that violators will be punished.
Notably, the Six Ethnic United Forum called for an Assam bandh on November 15 in protest of the ST designation of the six ethnic groups.
The police in a directive stated that they had not authorised the bandh and that the union would be responsible for any damages caused by bandh supporters to public property.
The Central Government allowed the inclusion of various communities in the ST lists of five states, namely Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, in September, it should be noted.
The affected states enthusiastically embraced the decision, which was made at a meeting of the Union cabinet presided by by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, they failed to include six ethnic groups from Assam.
Adivasi, Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Matak, Moran, and Tai-Ahom communities receiving ST classification was one of the BJP’s campaign promises made before the 2016 Assembly elections. These communities together make up more than 30% of Assam’s electorate.