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The Rengma Nagas in Assam have written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding an autonomous district council.

Details

• This demand was forwarded amid a decision by the Central and the State governments to upgrade the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) into a territorial council.
• The Rengma Naga Peoples’ Council (RNPC), a registered body, said in the memorandum that the Rengmas were the first tribal people in Assam to have encountered the British in 1839, but the existing Rengma Hills was eliminated from the political map of the State and replaced with that of Mikir Hills (now Karbi Anglong) in 1951.
• During the Burmese invasions of Assam in 1816 and 1819, it was the Rengmas who gave shelter to the Ahom refugees.

Petition

• The petition said that the Rengma Hills was partitioned in 1963 between Assam and Nagaland at the time of creation of Nagaland State and the Karbis, who were known as Mikirs till 1976, were the indigeneous tribal people of Mikir Hills.
• The Rengma Hills and Mikir Hills were two separate entities till 1951. Karbis have no history in the Rengma Hills.
• People who are presently living in Rengma Hills are from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
• They speak different dialects and do not know Karbi language of Karbi Anglong.

Autonomous Councils

The Government of Assam have been taking various steps to accelerate development process for the welfare of Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in the State through democratic decentralization of power and empowering the Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities to participate in the planning, monitoring and implementation of Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) schemes in grass root level by constituting Territorial Councils, Autonomous Councils and Development Councils for different Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in the State.

Source: The Hindu