New Delhi: All Rabha Chhatra Sanstha, All Rabha Mahila Parishad and Sixth Schedule Demand Committee in collaboration with Rabha Autonomous Council organised a massive protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The protest was attended by the leadership of Rabha Hasong United Sangharsh Samiti, a common platform of various ethnic groups in the council area.
The protest is mainly over five demands including inclusion of Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, formation of Primary Development Council for Rabhas of Assam living outside Rabha Hasong based on the new education policy introduction at the level of Rabha medium, ensuring political provisions for those living in Meghalaya and West Bengal and effective and speedy implementation of Forest Act 2006 in Assam.
The protesters demanded inclusion of Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council in the Sixth Schedule and protection of language, culture and land rights of Rabha and other tribal languages and indigenous people.
Tankeshwar Rabha, Chief Executive Member of the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council, warned that if the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council is not included in the Sixth Schedule before 2026, it will be answered politically. The protesters called upon the Assam government to create an environment for talks with the central government in time. The struggle of Rabha Hasong is a struggle for the existence of tribals and indigenous people, a struggle for land rights. Therefore, it is important to look at this struggle not from a political perspective but from a social and cultural perspective.
