Assam: "Indigenous" Word Dropped from Proposed Muslim Census Body's Name

Guwahati, February 12, 2020:

The ‘Khilonjiya Muslim Development Corporation’ of Assam, which is meant to work for the welfare of the state’s Muslim populace, has been renamed as the ‘Goriya, Moriya, Deshi and Julha Development Corporation’.

The department of Welfare of Minorities and Development took this decision to rename the body by omitting the word ‘khilonjiya’, which means indigenous. The move came after controversies surrounding the term ‘indigenous’ gained momentum.

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According to Minister, Welfare of Minorities and Development, Ranjit Dutta, “The words ‘khilonjiya’ and ‘Muslim’ will be omitted and replaced with the names of the specific communities: Goriya, Moriya, Deshi, and Julha. This was proposed because there is a lot of controversy around the term ‘khilonjiya’ or ‘indigenous’. And since it is not well-defined, other groups also might claim ‘khilonjiya’ status in the census.”

It may be mentioned here that the Assam Government had held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss regarding the socio-economic census of the Muslims residing in the state. Census of Goria, Moria, Ujani, Deshi, Julha, Maimal, Syed, etc. were discussed in the meeting.

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The Goriya, Moriya, Deshi and Julha Development Corporation will be looking into the matters of the Assamese Muslims and work for the interests.

It needs mention that earlier, the Director of the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG), Suhas Chakma opined that every original inhabitant of Assam cannot be called “indigenous.” He stated, “To term every original inhabitant group or Bhumiputras of an area as ‘indigenous’ is nothing but the perversion of the term indigenous people.”

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He added, “This is not what is the meaning and purpose of defining the indigenous peoples including under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as well as the ILO Conventions No.107 and No. 169 relating to indigenous and tribal peoples.”

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