Barak Valley tribes say no to tribunals The Assam Indigenous People Protection Committee has been left out of the final NRC published on August 31

Hiranya Barman, TT, 15.09.19,  Guwahati: The Assam Indigenous People Protection Committee (AIPPC) a Barak Valley- based indigenous people’s organization stated that many people belonging to indigenous communities in the area have been left out of the final NRC published on August 31.

The committee further stated that those people would not approach the foreigner’s tribunals under any circumstances.

“Under no condition will these people approach the tribunal to include their names. They are indigenous and they have every right to be in the list. Moreover, no such document can take away the right to be indigenous. People belonging to many of the indigenous communities are forest dwellers and illiterate. We wonder how they will make rounds of the tribunals. Most of the illegal migrants are also included in the final NRC. We demand re-verification in Barak Valley,” general secretary of AIPPC Seram Herajit Singh said on Saturday.

“We have come to know the judges of the foreigners tribunals are not from the indigenous communities of Assam. There is every chance of discrimination against the indigenous people. We demand that 15 MLA seats and two MP seats be reserved for people belonging to the indigenous communities of Barak Valley,” Singh added.

According to him, nearly 1.5 lakh people belonging to the indigenous communities in Barak valley were left out of the final NRC.

Dimasa, Koch Rajbongshi, Manipuri, Manipuri-Muslim, Bishnupriya, Cachari-Muslim, tea tribes, Rongmei Naga, Kuki, Khasi, Gorkha, Hmar, Das Pattni, Nath Jogi and Namasudra, among others, are the indigenous communities of Barak Valley.

“All the indigenous people of Barak Valley support the government’s stand to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord which is the need of the hour,” Singh said.

The government had constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of retired Gauhati High Court judge Biplab Kumar Sarma to implement Clause 6.

The clause seeks to “provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect preserve and promote the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”.

Of the 3.29 crore applicants, 3.11 crore have made it to the final NRC. Assam’s BJP government and its ally, the AGP, have expressed dissatisfaction over the final NRC and had said there is scope for re-verification.