Guwahati: Hundreds of people staged demonstrations in Diphu, the headquarters of Karbi Anglong district, on Wednesday against the Assam government’s move to hand over tribal land to corporate houses.
Karbi Anglong is one of three regions in Assam governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which grants special autonomy and safeguards tribal rights. Diphu lies about 240 km east of Guwahati.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The protest, led by All-Party Hills Leaders Conference president Jones Ingti Kathar, targeted Tuliram Ronghang, the Chief Executive Member of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Karbi Anglong Autonomous District Council. Demonstrators raised slogans accusing the BJP of undermining the interests of indigenous communities.
The agitation gained momentum after a Gauhati High Court judge expressed concern over the state government’s decision to allot 3,000 bighas of land in neighbouring Dima Hasao district—also a Sixth Schedule area—to a Kolkata-based private company.
Joining the protest, Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi accused Ronghang of “colluding with corporate entities” and ignoring the plight of tribal people.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
“While the council head builds a Rs 200-crore mansion, the hill tribes are forced to live in temporary huts. The BJP is jeopardising the cultural and economic identity of these communities by giving away land to corporates,” Gogoi said.
The issue has been politically sensitive since July, when Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi released a video of a palatial house under construction, alleging it belonged to a “close friend” of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in reference to Ronghang.
Meanwhile, in eastern Assam, tribal groups in Tinsukia district voiced anger over the government’s decision to extend protected class status to several non-tribal communities in the Tirap Tribal Belt, which borders Arunachal Pradesh. The state cabinet approved the move on August 18 under Section 160(2) of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886.
The approval enables non-tribal groups—including Adivasi, Ahom, Chutia, Gorkha, Bengali (Namasudra and Sutradhar), Matak, and Moran—to settle in the protected belt. The region has historically been inhabited by communities such as the Aiton, Bodo, Deori, Khamti, Khamyang, Mech, Mising, Rabha, Sema, Singpho, Sonowal, and Tangsa. The belt was created by government notification in March 1951.
In protest, leaders of these indigenous groups announced a 24-hour shutdown in Tinsukia and neighbouring Dibrugarh district on August 24, coinciding with Chief Minister Sarma’s scheduled visit to Margherita in Tinsukia. They warned that the decision would “alter the demography” and weaken tribal rights in the region.