From: Tom Mangattuthazhe <tmangatt@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 19, 2010 at 11:16 AM
Subject: Old NC Hills with new name Dimasa Hasao District Pitched for violence
To: Stephanie Joubert <stephanie.joubert@cordaid.nl>, santisavari <santisavari@gmail.com>, Dr Walter Fernandes <walter.nesrc@gmail.com>, just_agartala <just_agartala@yahoo.com>, Anto Paul <cpanto@gmail.com>
Cc: chopfoza catherine <chop.mails@gmail.com>, archana casmir <ceri.reds@gmail.com>
Old NC Hills with new name Dimasa Hasao District Pitched for violence
Hard Fact Forgotten
During the past seven years, an attempt to create a Dimasa homeland has disturbed life on NC hills with infighting between Dimasas and non-Dimasas. Dimasa armed groups comprise Dima Halam Daogah Nunisa (DHDN) led by Pranab Nunisa and Dima Halam Daogah Jewel (DHDJ) or the 'Black Widow' led by Jewel Garlosa. Three major conflicts have taken place between Dimasa-Hmar (2003), Dimasa-Karbi (2005) and Dimasa-Zeme Naga (2009), claiming many innocent lives and displacing hundreds.
An amount of Rs 1000 crore meant for development of NC hills was siphoned off.
The DHD (J) surrendered cadres are still awaiting for the rehabilitation package to be materialized.
Fresh look at old problems
Tarun Gogoi led Assam state government constituted a cabi- net-sub-committee on changing the nomenclature headed by D.P. Goala, on September 9, 2009 to resolve the impending conflict in the hills. This committee submitted its report on February 5, 2010, recommending the formation of 'Dima Hasao District'. Further, it recommended Dimasa to become the mother tongue of the newly suggested district with additional privileges of appointment to government jobs 'reflecting the majority population pattern. Right from the time report was submitted protestors from non-dimasa communities demanded that the NC hills be bifurcated, if one Dima Hasao for Dimasas, then another for the remaining indigenous tribal communities, who constitute 57 percent of the population retaining the name of NC hills. The Joint Action Commitee demanded that the government's committee should be immediately scrapped after declaring their recommendations 'null and void'.
The students' committees of Non Dimasa organizations urged the Union and the Assam state government to take stern actions to prevent future ethnic conflict in NC hills. Leaders of Indigenous People's Forum of NC hills met Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum. They apprised him of problems faced by non-Dimasas while submitting their demands to him. The minister promised to look into their grievances and asked the chief minister of Assam to solve their problems at the earliest. The student unions fiercely opposed the change of the district nomenclature in accordance with the name of a particular tribe and termed it as a clear abuse of the provision of Article 244(2) of the Constitution.
Playing on and with words
On April 1, 2010: The Tarun Gogoi-led coalition government of Assam renamed North Cachar Hills district as Dima Hasao District. The renaming again cleverly done means that it is referring to Dimasasa within the district which is also an argument to pith violence among the Dimasasa themselves. The word Hasao means the insiders. Here again the demand for renaming was Dimasa Haso Rajee, the word Rajee is cleverly omitted as it point to kingdom or small country. The renaming, under pressure from the Dimasa community came amid protests from other tribal groups such as Zemes, Kukis and Hmars who have been demanding tribe-specific councils within NC Hills. The name of North Cachar Hills being changed to Dima Hasao has ramifications of its own, including serious opposition to the move from other ethnic groups and even the Nunisa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD). Some groups argue that the new name would go a long way in countering the Nagalim claim on the hill district. It is good to note that the large swathes of NC Hills fall in the Greater Nagaland or the proposed Nagalim map.
A reality check of the district
The area is not equally enjoying the economic development as compared to the other people of the Indian republic even after decades of independence. Lack of infrastructure, inefficient communication networks, poor road connection etc. are a few of the major problems. It is interesting to note that since the British constructed the Lumding-Badarpur rail network prior to independence, there has not been much development in the N.C Hills. Nearly 100 yrs have elapsed Dispur and Delhi has taken little notice of this place primarily because two national projects, i.e., East-West Road Network and the B.G Conversion project which happen to traverse through the district. The district headquarter at Halflong is slightly over 300 kms (by road) from the seat of governance at Dispur. Government servants are not paid salaries for months, NREGS and other welfare schemes are non functional, the council is under suspension and the agonies go on.
A stereo type psyche of the mainstream in Dispur and Guwahati think that the people of this district or either are too ignorant or too violent, fighting for useless reasons and . This is also part of a game plan, the area is continuously dubbed as disturbed, seemingly an opportunity for training on soft warfare training. Today, N.C Hills is one of the most highly militarized zones of the country. Yet, ironically the clashes take place anytime any day and continues, interestingly none of these news appears even in regional media as news capsules.
Arguments for and Against the change of name of the district
There are some who argue that in Nagaland there are nearly 20,000 Dimasas but since the Nagas are the majority, they called it Nagaland. Why can't we do the same here? Unlike the Dimasas in Nagaland who does not have any reservation or elected representatives the minority communities such as the Zeme-Nagas, the Hmars, the Kukis, etc, have reserved seats in the N.C Hills Autonomous Council, roportionate to their population strength. Even a small community like the Baite with just over 2000 people has the highest employment under the Council. So, there is no question of marginalizing the non-Dimasa communities. Nevertheless the clash has taken place and the seeds of fear and mistrust has been planted among the different communities of the hill district.
A Historical Note on Old NC Hills
North Cachar Hills one of the two hills district of Assam in the North Eastern Region was a part of Cachar district till the formation of United N.C.Hills & Mikir Hills districts in 1951. In 1970 N.C.Hills was separated from the United N.C.Hills & Mikir Hills & declared a full fledged district.
North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council has three wings of administration, viz., Legislature, Judiciary, and Executive. It comprises of two sub- divisions viz Haflong and Maibang . There are two Revenue Circles (Tehsils), viz – Haflong and Maibang. The district has been divided into five Community Development Blocks – Jatinga Valley Development Block, Mahur, Diyung Valley Development Block, Maibang, Harangajao ITD Block, Harangajao, Diyungbra ITD Block, Diyungmukh, New Sangbar Development Block, Sangbar.
The district is divided into four Police stations viz. Haflong, Mahur, Mabang, Umrangso. The District is inhabited by several tribes such as Dimasa, Zemi Naga, Hmar, Kuki, Biate, Hrangkhol, Karbi, Khelma, Jaintia and Vaiphei. Nearly 13 per cent of the District, spread over 4,890 square kilometers, is forested, while 80 per cent of the land falls under the `non-agricultural barren land' category.
Spread over 4890 square kilometres and home to about 189,189 persons (2001 Census), the NC Hills traverses Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya. Among the tribals, the Dimasas form about 55 per cent, the Hmars and Zeme Nagas 10 per cent each, and the Beities, Jayantias, Khasias and Kukis consist of the rest. Of the non-tribal population, the Bengalis and Nepalis form the majority. Thus a divided population, difficult terrain, poor communications and proximity to insurgency afflicted areas as well as Bangladesh, makes the NC Hills a peculiar geographical area. The District is sparsely populated with a population density of 38 per square kilometre. District headquarters Haflong is 368 kilometres away from Dispur, the State capital.
N.C.Hills district was a part of Kachari Kingdom before 1832. The kingdom was extended from Jamuna in the North to the foot-hills of Lushai Hills in the south & from the Kopili in the west to the Angami & Katcha Naga hills beyond the Dhansiri in the east. The Dimasa Kachari kings had their Capitals successively at Dimapur, Maibang, Kashpur & lastly at Horitikor ( Karimganj district near Badarpur ). In 1830, the Dimasa king Gobinda Chandra was assasinated by his own general Gambhir Singh, after that the British annexed the southern part of the kingdom on 14th August 1832 under the doctrine of Lapsi. The rest was ruled by last Dimasa General Tularam. In 1837 a portion of Tularam's kingdom was further annexed to the British Empire & constituted into a sub-division of Nagaon district in 1837 with Head quarter at Asalu. In 1854, on the death of Tularam, the remaining portion of his kingdom was finally annexed to the British Empire & added to the Asalu sub-division.
In 1867 this sub-division was abolished & apportioned into three parts among the districts Cachar, Khasi & Jaintia Hills & Nagaon. The present North Cachar Hills district was included in the old Cachar district with Asalu being only police outpost. In 1880, this portion was constituted into a sub-division with Head quarters at Gunjung under Cachar district. This head quarter was shifted to Haflong in 1895. Since then Haflong continues to be the Head quarter. In 1951, after commencement of the constitution of India, North Cachar Hills as specified under paragraph 20 of the sixth schedule to the constitution, ceased to be a part of Cachar district. This part along with Mikir Hills constituted a new civil district namely " United district of North Cachar & Mikir Hills" with effect from 17th November, 1951. According to the provision of sixth schedule, two different councils were constituted later on, viz., North Cachar Hills District Council & Mikir Hills District Council within the geographical boundary of that district. N.C.Hills District Council was inaugurated on 19th April, 1952. In 2nd February, 1970, Government declared an independent administrative district, viz., North Cachar Hills District with the geographical boundary of autonomous North Cachar Hills district council.
The proposal for altering the nomenclature of the Autonomous Council of NC Hills district to Dima Hasao Raji (Dimasa's Kingdom) has been a thorny issue, in fact one of the causes of the violence in the year 2009 has been the change of the name of the district which was resented by non-Dimasa communities.
Sequence of Events as Reported by the Media
March 18: Vehemently opposing the proposed renaming of the NC Hills district as Dima Hasao Raji, a group of non-Dimasa organizations has sought the intervention of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram into the matter. As a result of this, a memorandum was submitted by the Zeme Students' Union, Hmar Students' Association, Karbi Students' Association, Kuki Students' Organization, Vaiphei Zillai Paul, Baite Students' Association and Jaintia Youth Federation to the Union Minister. The memorandum further said the erstwhile corruption-riddled BJP-ASDC alliance of NC Hills Autonomous Council with active backing of DHD (J) militants and support of JNH (Dimasa Apex Body) has passed an unilateral decision on March 7, 2008 and later on February 2, 2009 to change the district nomenclature to Dima Hasao Raji (Hill Kingdom of Dimasa) without consulting the majority non-Dimasas of the district.
DELHI JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE ON NC HILLS, issues PRESS RELEASE, on 25th March, 2010 and demanded the following;
1. Bifurcation of NC Hills into two districts, one for the Dimasa and another for all the indigenous tribes bearing the name NC Hills.
2. The Group of Minister's Committee be scrapped immediately and their recommendations be made null and void. The Government should never allow corrupt and biased politicians from taking part in any crucial decision making process.
3. The Government of Assam as well as the Centre should take serious step to prevent the reoccurrence of ethnic war and conflict and install peace, law and order in NC Hills.
4. Protect and safeguard the traditional land rights, culture, custom and tradition of the tribals of Assam's NC Hills.
On April 1, 2010: The Tarun Gogoi-led coalition government renamed North Cachar Hills district as Dima Hasao. The renaming, under pressure from the Dimasa community came amid protests from other tribal groups such as Zemes, Kukis and Hmars who have been demanding tribe-specific councils within NC Hills. The name of North Cachar Hills being changed to Dima Hasao yesterday through an Assam government notification could have ramifications of its own, including serious opposition to the move from other ethnic groups and even the Nunisa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD). Some Dimasa groups argue the new name would go a long way in countering the Naga claim on the hill district. Large swathes of NC Hills fall in the Greater Nagaland map of Naga militant outfits.
Haflong, April 5: The Indigenous People's Forum, an Organisation spearheaded by the Kukis and the Zeme Nagas took out protest rallies in Mahur and Haflong on monday seeking the bifurcation of N C Hills ( Dima Hasao district) into two in protest of the Government decision to rename the district as Dima Hasao District.
Haflong, April 09: Various Non Dimasa Students' Organisation including the Kuki Students' Organisation, Hmar Students' Organisation etc. has declared a 24 hours Dima Hasao District ( N C Hills) Bandh today. The Bandh will be affected from 5:00 in the morning. The Bandh has been called to protest the change of name of the district from N C Hills to Dima Hasao District by the state government recently. Security forces has been alerted during the bandh in the district at various sensitive areas to avoid communal tensions between the Dimasas and Non- Dimasas.
Haflong, April 9:: At least five students, including a girl, were injured when police fired on demonstrators at Haflong, headquarters of Assam's North Cachar hill district today. The demonstrators, under the banner of NC Hills Indigenous Students' Forum, were demonstrating at the bus stand demanding bifurcation of the hill council into two districts for the Dimasa and non-Dimasa tribes of Zemi, Hmar and Kuki. As the students refused to vacate the area, police first resorted to lahicharge and then opened fire at 8.45 am.The injured students are Laleng Jauova, Tong Ginlal Lalung, Adimlaye Kao, F Jate and the girl student Luthane Singsong. They were admitted to Haflong Civil Hospital. PTI
GUWAHATI, April 27 – Though Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced the Government's decision to hand over the case of misappropriation of huge amount of funds in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after a hue and cry was raised in the State on the issue, investigation by the Central agency is yet to start. Interestingly, most of the organisations which launched movements demanding a CBI probe into the scam in NC Hills are also keeping quiet over the issue.(The Assam Tribune)
Haflong, April 29 : Amidst the ongoing agitation of the IPF against the change of name of the district, three grenade were lobbed on the Police in Haflong today at around 3:40 PM.According to the report , a grenade was lobbed inside the Haflong police station, then outside it. yet, another grenade was hurled on the check gate of the Assam Police, which is located at the entry point of the town.
May 15: New militant outfit of non-Dimasas Irritated over State Government's decision to rename the NC Hills as Dima Hasao district to appease the Dimasas, the various non-Dimasa tribes had teamed up to form a new militant outfit. The newly formed outfit is named Hill Tiger Force (HTF). Kapsi Naga, from Naga community is the president, Arnol Kuki is the secretary of the HTF while the 'commander-in-chief' was Harathang Hmar, Lunen Kuki the publicity secretary and Stephen Lunchua is the foreign secretary.
May 17, 2010 Normal life was totally paralysed during the 60-hour 'Dima Hasao bandh' called by North Cachar Hills Indigenous Students' Forum demanding bifurcation of the district, The bandh began at 5 AM 17th May is scheduled to end on May 19. The protesters blockade train service at Mahur and Lower Haflong railway station. All shops, educational institutions, business establishments and financial institutions remained closed while attendance in government offices was thin.
Our Work in the District
Two of our peace team members together with a number of volunteers are regularly conducting peace education classes in the schools, colleges and villages from January,2010.
From January, 2010 we had already two major seminars at Haflong cultural Hall involving different sections of the people telling them, sharing with them the analysis of the situation, situating the context of violence and how it benefits people who wants to create trouble in the district.
Another major effort to bring together all the communities is being prepared, a committees for a peace concert has been agreed by representatives of communities on the 15th of May,2010. The peace concert will be held in the month of August this year, again it is a major initiative to light candle in the midst of recent confusion and mistrust caused among the people. We believe that the preparatory meeting of the concern scheduled to be held at different places will bring also greater understanding among the people.
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Tom Mangattuthazhe
Secretary, Diphu Citizens Peace Forum
Secretary, United Christian Forum
Secretary,Manja Christian Forum
Member,Northeast Peace Team
Mentor, Diphu Peace Team
Rector, Mission Home, Manja
Principal, Little Flower School, Manja
Correspondence
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Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
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