Dibrugarh, Jan 10: Following the Assam government’s move to bring the Mising, Tiwa and Rabha communities under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, demands have intensified from the Sonowal Kachari, Deori and Thengal Kachari communities for similar constitutional protection and autonomous governance.
Addressing a press conference at Banikanta Pegu Bhawan in Dibrugarh on Saturday, leaders of various organisations welcomed the inclusion of the Mising, Tiwa and Rabha communities but strongly criticised the state government for excluding the Sonowal Kachari, Deori and Thengal Kachari groups.
The organisations termed the exclusion “discriminatory and unjust,” alleging that their long-standing demands had once again been ignored.
Earlier in the day, a joint meeting was held under the leadership of Dr Abdul Deori, president of the Deori Assong Sixth Schedule Demand Committee. The meeting was attended by representatives of the All Assam Sonowal Kachari Students’ Union, Deori Assong Sixth Schedule Demand Committee, Sonowal Kachari Yuva Parishad, All Assam Deori Mahila Parishad, and other community representatives.
The organisations unanimously resolved to launch a joint movement demanding Sixth Schedule status and constitutional safeguards for the three communities.
The meeting decided to base its demand on the recommendations of the 1996 Bhuria Committee Report, submitted to Parliament by Dr Dilip Singh Bhuria, and cited the precedent of the formation of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council in 1983, when three districts were brought under the Sixth Schedule. The organisations resolved to formally place these arguments before both the Assam government and the Centre.
As part of the agitation programme, a joint mass sit-in protest has been announced in Guwahati on January 19. A protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi will follow on February 5, with the participation of national-level organisations representing the three communities.
The organisations also decided to submit a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his proposed visit to the Mising Festival at Kareng Chapori in Bogibeel later this month, urging the Centre to intervene and address their demands.
A coordination committee comprising representatives from all three communities was formed to steer the joint movement. Kiranban Deori, Milan Sonowal and Prafulla Thengal (Saikia) were appointed conveners of the committee.
Addressing the media, Milan Sonowal pointed out that communities with much smaller populations had been granted Sixth Schedule status in the past. He cited examples from Mizoram, where the Lakher community, with a population of around 25,000, was granted autonomous status as early as 1952, along with the Chakma and Mara areas.
He also referred to Tripura, where an autonomous district council was constituted in 1982 despite a comparatively smaller population.
Questioning the government’s rationale, Sonowal said the Sonowal Kachari community, with a population of over four lakh, the Deori community with nearly two lakh people, and the Thengal Kachari community with over one lakh population were being denied their rightful constitutional protection. He further noted that regions such as the Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills had been brought under the Sixth Schedule despite having smaller populations.
Leaders Kiranban Deori and Dr Abdul Deori also criticised the government for prioritising only the Mising, Tiwa and Rabha communities while ignoring the Sonowal Kachari, Deori and Thengal Kachari groups, despite their geographical proximity and shared concerns.
They expressed serious concern over alleged encroachment by outsiders in Tribal Sub-Plan areas and warned that the three communities would jointly intensify their agitation in the coming days. The leaders also cautioned that, particularly in Upper Assam, no community’s traditional areas should be wrongly included in the territorial jurisdiction of other Sixth Schedule regions, even inadvertently.
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