At the UN we also distributed this pamphlet.

FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE ADIVASIS OF ASSAM (INDIA)

The Adivasi (Indigenous) people of Assam were brought by the British from the Chotanagpur plateau of Central India to work in the tea plantations as indentured laborer from the year 1839 onwards. They are the largest single community who has contributed enormously to the economy of the state. But the government has been very unsympathetic towards the community. In its long existence since their migration the community has been deprived of its most basic Human Rights. Till this date the community is considered as outsiders by the local populace and treated with impugnation by the state government.

On 24th November 2007, The All Adivasi Student's Association of Assam (AASAA) had organized a rally in Guwahati to demand for inclusion of Adivasis in the Scheduled Tribes' list. The 10,000 people who had participated in the rally were brutally beaten by the local residents.

One person died on the spot while more than 250 were critically injured. One young Adivasi girl was stripped, kicked and beaten in broad daylight. Even the women with children in their arms were not spared. They were dragged in the streets of Guwahati like animals. The males were brutally beaten with sticks, iron rods etc to break not just their bones but also their spirits. The State machinery failed to curb the mob violence and the government has sidelined the issue.

We request the attention of Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Human Rights Council (HRC), Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and Committee against Torture (CAT).

We will request to all our Indigenous brothers and sisters please get in touch with the following organizations to support the fight for the rights of the Adivasi (Indigenous).
PAJHRA –ekka.stephen@gmail.com
Phone No. +91-3712-237870
Cell No. +91-9435082656
Khara Ati, near Namghar, Tezpur-784001, Assam, India

Mundari Literary Council - meenakshi.munda@gmail.com
C/O Mrs. Amita Munda, Behind Ranchi College, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Chotanagpur Rising Association – rashmiekka@gmail.com

Rourkela Social Service Society - Nicholas Barla, nickybarla@yahoo.co.uk, +91-9437196752

IN SOLIDARITY

To see footage of what transpired on that day, go here.