New Delhi, April 17: The Union home ministry has traced the genesis of the bloody Dimasa-Hmar ethnic feud in Assam to a resolution adopted by the North Cachar Hills District Council to rename the district as “Dima Halali”.
Sources in the ministry said the resolution was the first of several “deliberate attempts” to create a chasm between the Dimasas and other communities of North Cachar Hills district and adjoining Cachar.
There was an “uneasy calm” in North Cachar Hills immediately after the resolution was adopted in January. The restive atmosphere boiled over in the next couple of months, culminating in the worst ethnic clashes in Assam since the Bodo-Adivasi riots a few years ago.
“The resolution to rename the North Cachar Hills as ‘Dima Halali’ was the root cause of ill-feeling and antagonism between various communities that inhabit the district. What followed was sheer mayhem,” a home ministry official told The Telegraph.
North Cachar Hills district is a microcosm of the Northeast with no less than 12 tribal communities inhabiting the district. The 61,000-strong Dimasa tribe comprises one-third of the population. The rest is made up of the Kukis, Nagas, Jaintias, Hmars, Karbis and non-tribal settlers.
The presence of at least five militant outfits in the district means that there is always an undercurrent of tension, mainly because they collect illegal taxes from the population.
“The activities of militant groups have always been cause for worry. The insecurity increased after the North Cachar Hills District Council adopted the resolution to rename the district. It fuelled the battles between different outfits and pitted one community against the others,” the home ministry official said.
Lok Sabha member Jayanta Rongpi, who is from nearby Karbi Anglong district, admitted that the resolution “disturbed the delicate balance” between ethnic unity and individual aspirations. He said the ruling Congress was also to blame for the state of affairs at present.
“The Dima Halam Daoga pressured the district council into passing the resolution, but it was the Congress’ support for the resolution that alarmed the other communities. The policy is to keep the hills — actually the entire Northeast — in turmoil,” he said.
The Congress had secured the majority in the elections to the district councils of North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong last year.
“What is most unfortunate is the extent to which the party is willing to go for votes. Soon after the resolution was passed, the Tribal Peoples’ Front was formed at the behest of the Congress. It is an organisation of the non-Dimasas to oppose the Dimasas,” Rongpi said.
He vowed to raise the issue at the Northeast MPs’ Forum and in Parliament.