Garo bodies oppose inclusion of RHAC area under Sixth Schedule

 A CORRESPONDENT

BOKO: Garo organizations have strongly opposed the inclusion of the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) area under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Representatives from many Garo organizations like Garo National Council (GNC), Garo Youth Council (GYC), Garo Women Council (GWC), Garo National Union (GNU), Garo National Women Union (GNWU), All Assam Garo Gaonburha Association (AAGGA), A’Chik Socialist Youth Front of India (ASYFI), Garo Mothers’ Union (GMU) and many other organizations took part in a meeting at Santipur village under Chaygaon LAC on Wednesday.

Rabha organizations, which include the All Rabha Students’ Union, Rabha Women Council and Sixth Schedule Demand Committee also took out many protest rallies, meetings, mass gatherings to demand inclusion in the RHAC area under the Sixth Schedule. Meanwhile, regarding the protest of the Rabha bodies, MLA Durga Das Boro raised a question in the recent Assam Assembly session and a reply was given by minister Ranoj Pegu that the cabinet sub-committee would submit the report regarding the inclusion in Sixth Schedule within two months.

“We are taking minister Ranoj Pegu’s statements very seriously. From the very beginning, we Garo people opposed the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council. We do not want to live under the RHAC area. Nevertheless, the State Government wants to include the RHAC area in the Sixth Schedule. We have no problem if the government excludes us and our Garo inhabited villages from the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council and then gives them Sixth Schedule status,” said Arbitson Momin, president of GNC.

Arbitson Momin also said that nearly three lakh Garo population are in the RHAC area, which is more than the Rabha population. He also said that the RHAC area includes 779 villages, where more than 450 revenue and non-revenue villages are Garo-inhabited villages.

Momin said, “Our culture, religion, historic background, social customs and norms, food habits are different from the Rabha community. Also, the RHAC will only develop the Rabha people and their villages, not the Garo people and their villages. So, if the government takes decisions without consideration, it will prove dangerous in the coming days.”

In the meeting, more than one 1,000 Garo people and representatives from various Garo organizations from the Kamrup and Goalpara districts took part. Garo organizations formed the Garo Autonomous Council Demand Committee (GACDC) in the same meeting. The 16-member committee is chaired by Behnur K Sangma and the secretary of the newly-formed committee is Brayan Marak. Behnur K Sangma, president of the GACDC, said, “We cannot live with the Rabha people or in the RHAC. Meghalaya has three different tribes and due to the lack of reconciliation, all three tribes have their own separate sixth schedule autonomous council. So how can the Garo people living in Assam be included under the RHAC. If we live in the RHAC under the Sixth Schedule status, the future generations of the Garo tribe will be in danger and we can never allow this to happen.”

“We will meet the Assam Chief Minister and the cabinet sub-committee in this matter and we will let them know that we want a separate Garo Autonomous Council before the RHAC gets the Sixth Schedule status. We will also give them a memorandum about our problems and we are hopeful that our Chief Minister will understand the matter,” added Behnur K Sangma.

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