Shillong, November 11: The GSU has taken up the issued with the governor of Meghalaya V Shanmuganathan requesting him to urged the GHADC to amendment the AD Rules mentioning that the KHADC will amend the existing district council rules to prevent non-tribals from taking part in the District Council Elections. KHADC CEM P N Syiem assured that the amendments can be brought during the next session. According to Syiem, there is also a need on the part of KHADC, JHADC and GHADC to collectively address the issue.”
It is with hope that the destiny of Garo Hills can be determined by the Garos themselves that we once again seek to raise the issue of non-participation of non-tribals in the GHADC. The political will shown by the KHADC is to be appreciated beyond measure as the bravery in their initiative is borne not only out of necessity to safeguard the future of the indigenous people but also the innate need to chart their own destiny as provisioned by the spirit of the sixth schedule. It is with this sense of justice and need as indigenous people us, the GSU and ADE, would like to propose to the GHADC to amend the articles to prevent the participation of non tribals in the District council.
The GSU started the movement in 2008 when it initiated the rejection of non-tribal voters from the electoral roll of the GHADC. GSU called for a strike of the GHADC office in 2011 when talks with the MDCs and letters failed to evoke any response. The GHADC then promised to take up the issue in its Ex. Committee meeting which led to a letter being shot off by the then CEM and the strike was temporarily called off. In July 2013, the movement started off with a poster campaign followed by picketing of the GHADC office but the call for the movement for the implementation of ILP assumed priority.
In 2014, the consortium of NGOs and Civil Societies like ADE, AYWO, GSU, and FKJGP called for a meeting to deny non tribal participation in the GHADC elections. A meeting on September 02, 2015, was called to discuss the participation of non tribal residents of the region in the upcoming GHADC elections.
The meeting held at the District Auditorium in Tura with the consortium asking all prominent NGOs of the region was part of the meeting. The A’chik Literature Society, A’chik Senior Citizen’s Forum, Mother’s Union, Nokma Council, Bar Association, Garo Graduates Union, AIGU and other students organisations like the PGSU and TGCSU amongst others was part of the discussion and meeting.
The appeal was made to the people of Garo Hills to boycott the GHADC elections in the light of the participation of non-tribals in the GHADC elections. After the GHADC elections FAF, ADE, AYWO, GSU, and FKJGP went to Dehi to pursue the matter and met the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Jual Oram to apprise him of the situation.
Unwilling to allow non-tribals to participate in the GHADC election, we even sought the attention of Centre seeking its interference into the matter while demanding the implementation of the provisions of the Sixth Schedule in the context of its spirit.
The Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri Jual Oram informed that directions are there for the State Government to pursue the implementation of the provisions of the Sixth Schedule while assuring that the ministry will pursue the matter with the Meghalaya Government and that direction will be given to the State Government to ensure the participation of only tribals in the Garo Hills District Council Elections. He reiterated that the Autonomous Council and State Government must make it imperative to follow the provisions of the 6th Schedule without fail only then can the participation of only the tribals in the District Council can be ensured.
The fight to ensure the participation of only the tribals in the District Council has been continuing. There are 18 ADCs, 1 Territorial Council and 1 Territorial Administration in India but only the GHADC allows the participation of the non-tribals in the District Council. Only GHADC allows the employment of non tribals in the District Council.
The GHADC must formulate legislations and amend laws to bar the non-tribals from participating in the District Council Elections. Rule 128 sub-rule 1(a), sub- rule 2 and 3 can be amended to ensure the participation of only the tribals in the District Council elections.
We demand that the GHADC take up the issue seriously because if the KHADC can why can’t the GHADC. We make the following demand to the GHADC, to immediately pursue amendment of the GHADC rules for participation of only the tribals in the District Council elections. Place the bill to affect the same in the Ex. Committee meeting.
The problem of large scale influx is the reminder that the non-tribals will not be satisfied with the occupation of the tribal land but will ultimately demand for rights to participation in politics and claim political rights to administer their own interest in the region as is being witnessed. With greater participation of the non-indigenous people in the District Council will simultaneously came the demand for accruement of greater power and benefits that rightfully belong to the indigenous people? The District Council is the strict domain of the Garo people meant for the development and protection of Garos. Already there has been dilution of the protective provisions of the Sixth Schedule and we are witnessing demographic imbalance in the region where non tribals have begun to assert their bid for political dominance and power.
In this meeting they also want the inclusion of the Garo Language in the 8th Schedule will be a boon for the people of Garo Hills. Garo Hills is one of the backward regions of the country and landlocked where its potential for growth is restricted due to its geographical location. Provided the Look East Policy of the Government of India is implemented judiciously Garo Hills could look forward to a fast economic growth and it could be a gateway to South East Asia.
Meghalaya, one of the seven sister states of North East India, is inhabited largely by tribes. After Khasi, Garo comprise the largest population of tribes in Meghalaya. Most of these tribes habitat in Garo hills of Meghalaya, as the name depicts itself. Other than Meghalaya a sizeable population of these tribes can also be found in other states like Assam, Tripura, West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Garo has been given the status of an associate official language (the main official being English) in the five Garo Hills districts of Meghalaya under the Meghalaya State Language Act, 2005.
The language is also used as the medium of instruction at the elementary stage in Government-run schools in the Garo Hills. Even at the secondary stage, in some schools, where English is the de jure medium of instruction, Garo is used alongside English — and sometimes even more than it — making the system more or less a bilingual one. In schools where English is the sole medium, Garo is taught only as a subject, as Modern Indian Language (M.I.L.). At the college level, students can opt for Garo Second Language (G.S.L.) besides the compulsory M.I.L. and even work towards a B.A. (Honours) in Garo.
The Garos number more than 20,00,000 in India and about 2,00,000 in Bangladesh. In Assam districts of Kamrup and Goalpara the Garo population bordering Garo Hills there are about 4,00,000 Garos. There are about 80,000 Garos in Khasi Hills. The areas adjoining Garo Hills and Khasi Hills the population is about 40,000. Taking into account the contiguous areas in parts of Assam, Garo Hills and parts of Khasi Hills where there is concentration of the Garos the population is more than 16,00,000. So Garo language is a regional language in a well defined area.
The Sixth Schedule gives the indigenous people the freedom to exercise legislative and executive powers through an autonomous District Council but overlapping influences from other schedules keeping only the devolution of powers to the Village Council, Regional Council and the Municipal Council for participatory democracy forgoing the necessary protection that the schedule establishes will be of grave concern for the people which could result in catastrophic consequences in the future for the indigenous people.
The importance of 6th Schedule to the Tribal Areas cannot be understated though the issue of its effectiveness can be questioned on many grounds its protective powers must not be diluted but strengthened and amendments must be made keeping these arguments in mind. What will be the use of the many amendments supposedly for the development and betterment of the indigenous people if the points for amendment are callous which could wipe out indigenous people?
The 6th Schedule areas have been exempted from the mechanisms, functioning and influence of the 73rd Amendment and the 74th Amendment for the very reason that the protective nature of the 6th Schedule is not diluted. The very fact of the proposed extension of some of the provisions of the 73rd and the74th Amendment is threatening the protective provisions of the Sixth Schedule. It will require the omitting of some of the provisions of the 6th Schedule by the Panchayats and the Municipalities.
In general, the ideology of grass root governance is good the issue needs to be understood from another perspective; the illegal Bangladeshi Migrants will now have the power to stamp their identity legally because EPIC cards are easily availed and they will be the members of the Village Council which will dilute the power of the Nokma and the rights of the over their own land. The people of Garo Hills are paying one tax i.e. the House Holding Tax twice; one is paid to the District Council and the other to the respective Municipal. While the amount is negligible this is probably why there is no hue and cry over the matter, it can be understood that in the District Council Areas the existence of the Municipal is contradicting the powers of the council. This is only one of the simple examples of the contradictory provisions of the 74th Amendment with the provisions of 6th Schedule. This is why the 74th Amendment was never to be extended to the 6th Schedule a point which in 1989, the then PM of India Lt. Rajiv Gandhi, supported.
The preparation of the separate Electoral Roll for the District Council should be done by the District Council since it is an autonomous body. The preparation of the Electoral Roll for the Autonomous District Council does not fall under the purview of the Election Commission of India hence the Autonomous District Council can do its own census and create a separate Electoral Roll.
These recommendations are based on the simple fact that the protective provisions of the 6th Schedule should not be diluted. The dilution of the 6th Schedule portends the malevolence of destructive forces which will overwhelm the Scheduled Tribes Areas with dire consequences thus effectively rendering the philosophy and ideology of the 6th Schedule a jawless juggernaut with mere vituperative provisions.
The protective provisions of the 6th Schedule eulogize its importance to the indigenous people of Meghalaya which faces the truth known to all the invasion of the Bangladeshi nationals. Proactive measures for the development of the region will surely be a welcome respite but dilution of the protective provisions will not benefit the indigenous peoples which will only pave ways for the destruction not preservation of the indigenous people.
