By M. S. Prabhakara
One of the many contentious issues in Assam is the longstanding demand of various communities, tribal and non-tribal, for a modification of their present status. This is likely to figure as a campaign issue, especially in the two scheduled tribe (ST) constituencies of Kokrajhar and Diphu.
One of the many contentious issues in Assam is the longstanding demand of various communities, tribal and non-tribal, for a modification of their present status. This is likely to figure as a campaign issue, especially in the two scheduled tribe (ST) constituencies of Kokrajhar and Diphu.
Twenty-three tribal communities, as well as a notional 24th category described as ‘unclassified,’ are enumerated in Assam. Fourteen of these are designated as ‘Hill Tribes’ and the other nine are ‘Plains Tribes.’
The Hill Tribes are a residue of the once composite State of Assam that included the four Hill districts that eventually became Nagaland (1963), Meghalaya (1972) and Mizoram (Union Territory in 1972 and full fledged State in 1987).
The Hill Tribes are so recognised only in the two Hill districts of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills that have remained part of Assam; and the Plains Tribes are so recognised in the Plains Districts of the Brahmaputra Valley and Barak Valley — an anomaly inherited from colonial classificatory practice since both the Hill Tribes and the Plains Tribes are spread all over the State.
To take an example, the Bodo (Plains Tribe) is not recognised as a tribe in Karbi Anglong, which is a Hill district; and correspondingly, the Karbi (Hill tribe) is not recognised as a tribe in the Plains Districts of Assam. This is certainly an electoral issue in both Diphu (ST) in the hills and Kokrajhar (ST) in the plains.
The Hill Tribes, which were opposed to the extension of tribal status to non-resident Plains Tribal communities in the hill districts are now reconciled to it, provided that the new entrants will not eat into the 12 per cent reservation available to them in their districts.
There are more complex demands, all rooted in the perverse perception that the tribal status, as a Plains Tribe or as a Hill Tribe, is privileged.
First, there is the demand by six non-tribal communities in the Brahmaputra Valley — the Tai Ahom, the Matak, the Moran, the Chutia, the Koch Rajbongshi and the Adivasi — for classification as Scheduled Tribes. The existing tribal communities are opposed to the extension of tribal status, enlarging the tribal pool and necessarily diluting the share of benefits that they enjoy.
Second is the demand by some of the nine Plains tribal communities, historically classified as ST, for the constitution of ‘autonomous councils’ in the name of their communities. This provision was initially available to the Hill Tribes whose desire for autonomy has gone far beyond what was implied and provided in the early Autonomous Councils. The Bodos were the first Plains tribal community to get it as part of the first Bodo accord.
Finally, the demand of the two autonomous Hill Tribe districts, Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills, for their constitution into an ‘autonomous State within Assam’ under Article 244-A of the Constitution is one of the most complex issues in these elections, though superficially of concern only to the Autonomous Districts.
Source: The Hindu
The Hill Tribes are a residue of the once composite State of Assam that included the four Hill districts that eventually became Nagaland (1963), Meghalaya (1972) and Mizoram (Union Territory in 1972 and full fledged State in 1987).
The Hill Tribes are so recognised only in the two Hill districts of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills that have remained part of Assam; and the Plains Tribes are so recognised in the Plains Districts of the Brahmaputra Valley and Barak Valley — an anomaly inherited from colonial classificatory practice since both the Hill Tribes and the Plains Tribes are spread all over the State.
To take an example, the Bodo (Plains Tribe) is not recognised as a tribe in Karbi Anglong, which is a Hill district; and correspondingly, the Karbi (Hill tribe) is not recognised as a tribe in the Plains Districts of Assam. This is certainly an electoral issue in both Diphu (ST) in the hills and Kokrajhar (ST) in the plains.
The Hill Tribes, which were opposed to the extension of tribal status to non-resident Plains Tribal communities in the hill districts are now reconciled to it, provided that the new entrants will not eat into the 12 per cent reservation available to them in their districts.
There are more complex demands, all rooted in the perverse perception that the tribal status, as a Plains Tribe or as a Hill Tribe, is privileged.
First, there is the demand by six non-tribal communities in the Brahmaputra Valley — the Tai Ahom, the Matak, the Moran, the Chutia, the Koch Rajbongshi and the Adivasi — for classification as Scheduled Tribes. The existing tribal communities are opposed to the extension of tribal status, enlarging the tribal pool and necessarily diluting the share of benefits that they enjoy.
Second is the demand by some of the nine Plains tribal communities, historically classified as ST, for the constitution of ‘autonomous councils’ in the name of their communities. This provision was initially available to the Hill Tribes whose desire for autonomy has gone far beyond what was implied and provided in the early Autonomous Councils. The Bodos were the first Plains tribal community to get it as part of the first Bodo accord.
Finally, the demand of the two autonomous Hill Tribe districts, Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills, for their constitution into an ‘autonomous State within Assam’ under Article 244-A of the Constitution is one of the most complex issues in these elections, though superficially of concern only to the Autonomous Districts.
Source: The Hindu
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