GUWAHATI: About 3000 activists of the United Garo Autonomous Council Movement Committee (UGACMC) on Monday blocked national highway (NH) 37 at Dudhnoi in Goalpara district for over two hours, reiterating their demand for an autonomous council for the Garo community in Assam.
As it is, UGACMC had earlier pledged to intensify its agitation after repeated pleas and demands for a separate council had gone in vain.
“We staged a two-and-half-hour blockade on Dudhnoi Bridge, which brought traffic on either side of NH-37 to a standstill. As many as 3000 delegates from across the state took part in the programme today,” UGACMC chairman, Alex K Sangma told The Shillong Times on Monday.
However, the protesters decided to withdraw the blockade after an assurance of discussions with Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in this regard in Guwahati by Wednesday.
“We will stick to the earlier plan of intensifying our agitation if our legitimate demand is again not paid to heed to by the powers that be,” Sangma said.
A memorandum regarding the creation of a Garo Autonomous Council on satellite basis in Assam was once again submitted to the chief minister through the district authorities on Monday.
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had in September last year assured leaders of four organisations representing the Garo community of taking pragmatic steps to fulfill their demand.
Representatives of the Garo National Council, Garo Students’ Union, United Garo Autonomous Council Movement Committee and Garo Sahitya Sabha met Sonowal and submitted a memorandum pushing for a council for Garos in Assam.
The UGACMC has maintained that the Garos (which comprise a population of over seven lakh in the state) must have a separate autonomous council of their own in Assam within the framework of the Indian Constitution for shaping their own destiny in respect of political, socio-cultural ethnicity and education.
“UGACMC will take all steps to ensure a speedy negotiated settlement with the government of Assam. If the government of Assam fails to create the Garo Autonomous Council then we propose to intensify our agitation in various ways,” the committee stated in the memorandum to the chief minister.