Assam: Demand for inclusion of Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council in Sixth Schedule gets louder in Goalpara

At least six organizations belonging to the Rabha community carried out a protest in front of the District Collector (DC) office in Assam's Goalpara demanding the inclusion of Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) in the sixth schedule of the Indian Constitution. 

The protestors also demanded the formation of the Rabha Development Council for the Rabhas living outside Rabha Hasong. 

''The Rabha national organizations had been continuously agitating for their due rights for the last 20 years,'' said Ratneshwar Rabha, district president of the Rabha Hasong Sixth Schedule Demand Committee while speaking to the media.

He further said that in 2016, the BJP-led government partnered with the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council to solve the problems and to include it in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. 

''But the present BJP government has a discriminatory policy against the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council,'' he added

Reconsidering the promise made by the BJP government, Ratneshwar urged the government to keep its promise and by considering the inclusion of RHAC in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. 

''If it is not done, then the government will see agitation in the coming days,'' he said.

Ratneshwar further threatened to break alliance with the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, if the government did not include the RHAC in the Sixth Schedule.

Also read: Assam: Garo organizations oppose inclusion of RHAC area under sixth schedule