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President of Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), Chandra Kanta Terang, said the people of the three hill districts of Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong and NC Hills have been demanding the granting of the autonomous state as per the constitutional provision, but the Central and state governments are not interested in fulfilling the aspiration of the hill people.
Terang said this in a joint press conference of ASDC, Karbi Students Association (KSA) and Karbi Nimso Chingthur Asong (KNCA) at the ASDC central committee office on January 23.
‘We have been demanding an autonomous state as per the Indian constitution of Article-244 (A) since 1970. The sad part is that despite having the constitutional provision, the Central and state government doesn’t understand the aspiration of the people of the hill districts,’ he said.
“In the last 52 years of autonomous state movement launched by ASDC and its allies in the hill districts of Assam, the state government sought no interest in resolving the political aspirations of the people. The demand for an autonomous state has entered 52 years and during the journey has witnessed the creation of new states like Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, but the autonomous state issue remains silent,” Terang said. He blamed the Central government for adopting the “pick-and-choose” policy in creating new states.
Terang also said, ‘the BJP government has the agenda to create a new state. A signature campaign will be launched from January 23 to February 7. A memorandum will also be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the nearest post offices under the jurisdiction of Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao on autonomous state issues’.