Turbulent North-East awaits PM Modi’s visit; not just Manipur, Assam upset too

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office having planned a short flying visit to Manipur for him on Saturday, 13 September, a coordination committee of militant groups in the state has threatened to shut down the entire state — unless a dialogue is initiated for a lasting solution to the ethnic strife that exploded on the national stage on 3 May 2023. Meanwhile, Assam is witnessing massive protests by indigenous communities who wish to remind the PM of his promises made in 2014 — and are yet to be kept.

Campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Modi had promised Scheduled Tribe (ST) status within six months to several communities if the BJP came to power. In Assam, these communities were the Ahom, Moran, Matak, Tea Tribe, Chutia and Koch-Rajbongshis.

The promise was repeated before the next elections, but is yet to be honoured. And now, with Assembly elections upcoming in 2026, the state has been witnessing sporadic protests by these communities since July. The Koch-Rajbongshis are also pressing for a separate 'Kamatapur' state.

Tinsukia also witnessed a massive protest on 3 September when the Moran community renewed its demand for ST status and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The demonstration, organised by the Moran Students’ Union, attracted over 20,000 people, according to media reports.

The same day, the All Koch-Rajbongshi Students' Union (AKRSU) organised a torchlight procession demanding ST status and a separate state. The protestors were stopped by police and paramilitary forces, and in the crackdown that followed, several protestors — including women — were bloodied and suffered injuries from a baton charge. In retaliation, the AKRSU called a 12-hour bandh on Thursday, 4 September, which disrupted life in Dhubri district.

“Instead of listening to the people Assam, police have brutally assaulted the Koch-Rajbongshi students in Golokganj,” Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi posted on X.

In the post, he also urged, “…the home department should be immediately removed from the chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Even in Tinsukia, thousands of Moran community members are marching on their streets for their ST status. The youth of Assam are on the streets. I hope that during your visit to Assam on September 13-14 the promises of the BJP result in concrete action. No more false promises.”

Meanwhile, the All-Assam Tribal Sangha (Kokrajhar District Committee) also staged a fiery parallel protest opposing the Assam government's decision to include eight additional communities under the Protected Classes of Persons within the Tirap Tribal Belt. The demonstrators burned copies of the government notification, demanding its immediate withdrawal.

The tribal leaders claimed the move was “anti-tribal” and warned that it posed a serious threat to the survival and land rights of the aboriginal Scheduled Tribes for whom the belt was originally created. Their inclusion, according to the Sangha, could accelerate land encroachment and settlement by non-indigenous groups, thereby diluting existing protections for the original Adivasi inhabitants of this region.

Raijor Dal chief and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi added a twist over the last weekend by accusing leaders of six indigenous communities — Tai Ahom, Moran, Matak, Koch-Rajbongshi, Deori and the Tea Tribe — of accepting bribes from the BJP-led state government to sabotage their own cause.

Speaking during the Jatiya Jagaran Yatra that he launched on 19 August, Akhil Gogoi said, “I’m a protester myself, but some leaders of these communities have stopped agitating after taking money from Himanta Biswa Sarma and Pijush Hazarika. They even went to Delhi to protest, only to pocket more cash. Can we secure ST status this way? If we want it, all six communities must hit the highways together and force the BJP to act. But some leaders are cosying up to the BJP, letting them think they can buy us out….”

As protests intensify in upper Assam and eastern Assam, the state assembly prepares to discuss a detailed ST status report in its October–November session.