ROURKELA: Amid the growing clamour for creation of Rourkela and Bonai as separate districts, two tribal outfits on Tuesday took out a protest rally opposing the demands to divide the tribal-dominated Sundargarh.
Members of Sundargarh Zilla Adiwasi Mulwasi Bachao Manch (SZAMBM) and Sundargarh Zilla Adiwasi Adhikar Suraksha Manch participated in the rally which was taken out from Bisra Square to Udit Nagar. They submitted a memorandum addressed to the President in the Rourkela ADM’s office. The agitators were mostly followers of the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) movement.
Incidentally, former Birmitrapur MLA George Tirkey joined the protest on the day. The legislator had earlier distanced himself from the activities of SZAMBM. Chief convenor of SZAMBM Letha Tirkey said bifurcation or trifurcation of Sundargarh district would not be allowed at any cost.
“Sundargarh is a scheduled district under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution where the PESA Act is applicable. We see this as a conspiracy to divide the district to reduce the majority tribal people into minority. Any such move would deprive the tribal community of special constitutional rights and protection. Such a move would be met with strong resistance,” he added.
During the rally, the tribal protesters also raised slogans against those demanding separate district status for Rourkela city and Bonai sub-division. Earlier, the Rourkela Bar Association (RBA) and Bonai district action committee (BDAC) had suspended their protest demanding district status in view of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023.
Reacting to the tribal protest, RBA general secretary Akshay Sahu said people have the right to pursue their demand in a democratic manner. Others have the right to oppose too. “The RBA’s general body meeting will be held on February 3 and 4 where the next course of action including agitation demanding district status for Rourkela will be chalked out,” Sahu added.
Expressing similar views, BDAC convenor Tapan Dandia said the committee has initiated the process to mobilise support in all the 58 gram panchayats of Bonai sub-division for the district status demand. A meeting will be held within a week to decide the further course of action. Last month, SZAMBM had held similar protest rallies at Sundargarh town and Rourkela.