From Street To Court, Tirap’s Tribals Counter Newly Defined ‘Protected Classes’ In Their Belt

The recent cabinet decision of the Assam government, which confers 8 communities the ‘protected class’ tag inside the Tirap tribal belt in Tinsukia district, hasn’t ceased to receive opposition. The cabinet decision got the Governor’s nod on the 18th of August, which included Ahom, Moran, Motok, Gorkha, Koch Rajbongshi, Chutia, and Tea garden Adivasis in the protected list of the Tirap tribal belt. 

On 4th August, a massive protest against the Cabinet decision took place on the roads of Jagun that ended in the form of blocking the National Highway 315 for several hours. Reportedly, many thousands participated in the protest, which is a clear sign of the level of upset that the latest cabinet decision had inflicted amongst the aboriginal tribes of the Tirap Belt.

The protest was organised by All Assam Tribal Sangha and 11 other organisations. As an organiser of the protest, Pallab Shyam Wailung, the secretary of TADCDC (Tirap Autonomous District Council Demand Committee), told Pratidin Time, “This new decision has threatened the existence of the micro tribes of the belt. Now the Gorkhas are brought under the protected class, whereas the Nepali graziers are already declared protected. This is brazenly counterproductive for the aboriginal tribes residing for ages in the Tirap belt.

PIL In the Gauhati High Court

When the street protests couldn’t provide anything favourable for the micro tribes in the Tirap tribal belt, namely the Singphos, Sema Nagas, Tangsas, Tai Khamti, Tai Khameyang, Aitons, Tai Phake, etc., now PILs have been filed in the Gauhati High Court seeking revocation of the cabinet decision that modified the protected classes. 

Advocate Raju Deuri, who will defend one of the PILs, told Pratidin Time, “The new list of protected classes poses a grave threat to the endangered tribes in the Tirap Belt. This part of Tinsukia district’s Margherita is the primary habitat of these tribes. Their ancestral lands are shrinking, they are outnumbered by other communities, and their existence is at stake.” Deuri also said that when the political class fails these tribes, the court becomes the only solace, and they will fight till the end for their rights to be secured. 

The Saga Of Betrayal?

Pallab Shyam Wailung termed it as the continuation of political betrayal, as there has never been a strictly defined boundary of the Tirap belt, and infiltrations have never been checked. 

In 1969, the Nepali graziers and cultivators were removed from the list of protected class tribes, although they were initially included. However, in 1996, they were reincluded in the protected list. 

Explaining what the recent cabinet decision changes over the earlier provision, noted lawyer in Gauhati High Court Santanu Borthakur told Pratidin Time—“Earlier, to get included in the protected class list as a Nepali grazier, one had to obtain a certificate of being a grazier, which was done by Hiteswar Saikia in 1996 during the reinclusion of Nepalis in the protected list. That time, a small number of people from the community got included in the protected list.”

He continued as—“Now the state government has changed. It now includes all the Nepalis in the protected class list. ‘Gorkha’  is like a community now, which would include Nepalis of all castes, including the Brahmins. Whereas the 1996 provision included mostly the lower caste population of the Nepalis in the ‘Grazier’ class. ”

The Tirap Autonomous Council Demand Since Tarun Gogoi Till Date

The demand for an autonomous council under the Sixth Schedule is an old one that has regained momentum. In 2006, then CM Tarun Gogoi was willing to declare the autonomous council, but his government failed to do that due to a huge upsurge against the move. On 25th November 2006, the Lekhapani Police Station was gheraoed by large numbers of protestors, which led to police firing. 

Pallab Shyam Wailung, reminiscing about those days, said, “The protestors were mostly the Nepalis. Tarun Gogoi was also blocked from coming to our place. The matter went into cold storage after that. However, the Gogoi government provided development councils with some amount of funds. These are defunct today.”

After the Gogoi regime,  Sarbananda Sonowal, in his five-year tenure as the CM, couldn’t do much for it. “With the present government, the development councils (like Singpho and Man Tai Dev. Councils) have failed to receive funds,”—Wailung commented.

However, several tribal organisations, including the TADCDC, have accelerated the demand after the cabinet decision came in. In their meetings with CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, tribal affairs minister Ranoj Pegu, the government has signalled positively in favour of setting up the autonomous council. 

Even then, there are problems, and the primary one is the newly formed list of ‘protected class’ that includes Gorkhas (Nepalis) as one in the Tirap Belt. “We can’t accept this, and it would have to be revoked. We are struggling for the future generations. The inclusion of the 8 communities as protected ones would continue to endanger the micro tribes of Tirap Belt,” Wailung said.

He continued that the BJP government is doing this as a vote bank politics, they need votes from both tribals and the Neaplis. “We are struggling on our own. No opposition parties are favouring our cause when the BJP wants to finish the micro tribes. So, our struggle will continue both on the streets and inside the court. Autonomous council is supportable but not without meeting our demand on the newly made protected class list,” Wailung added. 

ALSO READ: Is Assam’s New Protected List in ‘Tirap Belt’ Against the Interest of Micro Tribes?