Kolkata, April 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) After almost five days of continuous a rail and road blockade in different tribal-dominated pockets of West Bengal in support of their demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, members of the Kurmi community on Monday finally withdrew their agitation.
On Sunday evening, protesters at Kustaur in Purulia district withdrew their agitation leading to the complete pull back on Monday morning.
Although the agitators at Khemasuli in West Midnapore, which was the epicentre of the agitation, on Sunday said that they would continue, they also finally called off the strike on Monday.
A communication was sent from the secretariat, Nabanna, that the state government is willing to enter into a discussion with the Kurmi leaders regarding the latter's demand.
Soon after that the agitation programme was called off, it was also decided that a five-member delegation from the community will go to Nabanna soon for discussions.
Following the development, people in the tribal-dominated districts of Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura heaved a sigh of relief as the continuous rail and road blockade had made commuting extremely difficult.
Several trains, which included some long-distance ones, had to be cancelled during the last five days.
The routes were either diverted or curtailed during the period.
The Kurmi community had been agitating in support of its long-standing demand for recognition under the ST category.
Their main grievance is that the West Bengal Cultural Research Institute, a state government body that works for indigenous tribes, is yet to recognise the Kurmis as representatives of primitive tribes.
Representatives of the community have alleged that the reluctance of the Institute as well as the state government to send a comprehensive report in this matter to the Centre is hampering the process of recognition of the Kurmis.
Source: IANS
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