Non-Dimasas Oppose Renaming of NC Hills

Forum alleges violation of rights

Sinlung Says: Assam government is stirring the hornets nest. With no fault of their hundreds of lives and blood will be lost in the near future if this plan is put into place. The Dimasas may have political backing in Dispur, but when it comes to people power, area of occupation. It will fall the other way around. The plan to rename NC Hills seems like giving breather to the Dimasa militants so they could gather more arms and terrorize other tribes.
But, the changing of the name will not go down lightly, as there are ethnic tribes which call NC Hills home just as the ones trying to rename it. Maybe, this will start the process of disintegration of Assam into Karbi-land, Bodo-Land, Ahom-Land, Dimasa-Land etc…we just have to wait and watch.

Haflong, Feb. 17 : The non-Dimasa indigenous people in North Cachar Hills have resented the cabinet decision to rename the district as Dima Hasao, terming the move as “a blatant violation of human rights”.

Kukis, Zeme Nagas, Hmar tribals and Khasis, who have formed the Indigenous People’s Forum, said the decision to rename the district would tilt the balance of power in favor of the Dimasa tribe.

In a statement issued in Haflong yesterday, the forum claimed that assorted ethnic groups comprise 35 per cent of the district’s population, against 43 per cent of Dimasas.

The group alleged that Dispur, by agreeing in principle to rename the district as proposed by a cabinet sub-committee headed by urban development minister D.P. Goala on February 10, had not only violated the human rights of the tribals but also given a gift to Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel).

The non-Dimasa tribals also threatened to plunge into an agitation if the decision to rename the district was not reviewed.

The group said the Dimasas did not have any domination in North Cachar Hills, barring a short spell of 10 years during the reign of Dimasa king, Tamradhwaj, between 1605 and 1706.

The Jadikhe Naiso Hasam, an apex organisation of Dimasas, on the other hand, took a serious note of a statement issued by DHD (Dilip) chief Dilip Nunisa on February 11, stating that the renaming would be “meaningless” unless it was “uniformly applied to all the Dimasa-populated habitats in the state”.

The Hasam general secretary, L.K. Nunisa, today said Dilip’s statement had violated the spirit of consensus arrived at during a meeting called by Hasam in Maibong town on February 2.

One of the resolutions, which was unanimously accepted at the Maibong enclave, had called upon the two groups of the DHD not to oppose any consensus among the majority Dimasas about renaming the district.

He said this resolution was signed by Dilip and commander-in-chief of the DHD (Jewel), Daniel Dimasa.