GUWAHATI:
Nine Garo nationalist organisations demanded the Assam government immediately dissolve the Garo Development Council (GDC) and to constitute a Garo Autonomous Council (GAC) for the welfare and development of nine lakh Garos of the state.
Representatives of Garo National Council, Assam; Garo Youth Council, Assam; Garo Students’ Union, Kamrup; Garo Women Council, Assam; Garo National Union, Assam; All Assam Garo Gaonburah Association, A’chik Socialist Youth Front of India (ASYFI), Garo Mothers Union, Assam; A’chik Border Association and Garo National Women Union, Assam staged a protest at the GNC office in Shantipur of Assam’s Kamrup district on October 5.
“We were the first Garo organisations in Assam to demand the creation of Garo Autonomous Council (GAC) on March 13, 2010, at a meeting at Langkona village near Boko, Kamrup district. Due to our demands then chief minister Tarun Gogoi repeatedly offered the Garo Development Council (GDC) to us. But we have refused his offer after knowing that GDC is meaningless, powerless and unconstitutional,” GNC Assam president Enindra Marak told The Meghalayan on Thursday.
“But before the 2021 assembly elections, the state government constituted the GDC with a handful of opportunist leaders. This GDC has failed to implement a single welfare scheme for Garos in the last one and a half years,” Marak said.
Marak also said some self-styled Garo leaders of the United Garo Autonomous Council Movement Committee (UGACMC) have accepted the Garo Development Council (GDC) destroying the longstanding dream and demand for GAC.
“The so-called president of the UGACMC and chairman of GDC, Alex K Sangma is not Garo by birth. His real name is Mahendra Barua and at present, he is living in Salpara (Mendipather) in Meghalaya. How can he be a Garo leader and be nominated as chairman of the GDC?” questioned Brayn Marak, president of A’chik Border Association.
“GDC chairman, vice-chairman and the members were never associated with the demand and movement for the GAC. Even leaders like Dr Numal Momin, deputy speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, advised us to accept GDC. Why should we accept it? We strongly oppose and condemn the creation of GDC as well as the nomination of its members. Our first and last demand is GAC, we will not accept anything less for the Garo people of Assam.
“We never sought GDC from the government. Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi has mentioned in his budget that the proposal of GAC is under the consideration of the state government. We want to know the status of this proposal,” he added.
Border MoU causing division among Garos
While opposing the decision for the inclusion of 21 Garo villages of Assam into the map of Meghalaya, the nine organisations also urged both the state governments of Assam and Meghalaya not to politicise the border issue.
“We are Garo – whether we are in Assam or Meghalaya – we are one. There should not be division among us. 21 villages which do not want to stay with Meghalaya have been included in the territory of Meghalaya under the first phase of settlement. Some miscreants are conspiring with Garo villages to opt to stay with Meghalaya alluring some welfare scheme like job card under MGNREG, SSA teacher, Jal Jivan Mission (JJM) and electricity connection from Meghalaya,” said Brayn Marak.
“We noticed that the Garos have been divided in these border villages. There are incidents of clashes among the Garos on the very issue of border settlement. This border MoU indulged in fratricides among the Garos.
“We demand the Assam government to identify those miscreants and arrest them immediately. Some political leaders are conspiring to divide the Garos of Assam, especially in Bodo and Chaygaon constituencies to make Garo people weak and least in numbers to fulfil their political hopes and aspiration but Garo people never support and allow them to do so,” he added.