HT Bureau
DIPHU, Sept 20: The Joint Coordination Committee for Protection of Autonomy (JCCPA) appealed the authorities of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), to convene an all-party meeting and to hold a special session of the KAAC to discuss as to why clause 2.3 of the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) 2021 should be reviewed and why the KAAC areas should be excluded from process of the ‘Give and Take Policy’ adopted by the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya. In this concern, the JCCPA submitted a memorandum to Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), chief executive member, Tuliram Ronghang here on Tuesday.
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The memorandum stated that it needs no further elaboration because of the incorporation of certain contentious clauses, particularly clause 2.3.
The MoS signed on September 4, 2021 was greeted with widespread protests throughout Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong and certain sections of the indigenous tribes of these particular hill areas are still opposing the clauses. As part of the process for mobilising public support to secure the autonomy of the KAAC, JCCPA organised a seminar on the provisions of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution vis-à-vis clause 2.3 of the MoS on December 18, 2021; and the consensus opinion of the speakers attending the seminar was that “the Sixth Schedule is especially for the specially protected people of the specially specified areas”, i.e., tribal areas within the state of Assam, but the provisions of the Sixth Schedule in Karbi Anglong (bifurcated in 2016) “is not safe”, as under clause 2.3 of the MoS, out of the 44 elective seats of the KAAC, 10 seats have been proposed to be made “open for all” which is totally against the very spirit and purpose of the Sixth Schedule; and if implemented, the interests and rights of the hill tribes of Karbi Anglong will definitely be affected adversely.
In pursuance of the resolution adopted in the seminar, a memorandum was also submitted for necessary action on December 21, 2021.
The memorandum also said, Status quo ante, i.e., as it was in 1951 should be maintained along the boundary between West Karbi Anglong and Meghalaya. There is a growing apprehension that a large area of West Karbi Anglong could be transferred to Meghalaya in the process of the ‘Give and Take’ policy adopted by the Governments of Assam and Meghalaya. The silence on the part of the KAAC has also made the Karbi people deeply apprehensive that something prejudicial to the interest of Karbi Anglong might happen. An all-party meeting was convened and held under the auspices of the JCCPA on September 7 and discussed the matter seriously.
