Issue-33 Vol.-IV, Oct.-Dec 2025
-Dr. Achal Pulastey
Karbi Anglong is not some remote, obscure region. It is a constitutionally protected tribal autonomous area under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. This is the same Constitution that those in power publicly salute from political stages, yet quietly allow to be violated on the ground. Today, Karbi Anglong is burning in the fire of this very constitutional neglect.
This district of eastern Assam is rich in mineral resources and agricultural production. Ginger is cultivated here on a large scale and even exported. With a population of around 1.2 million, Karbi Anglong is witnessing a tragic irony: the indigenous Karbi tribe is shrinking within its own homeland. In 1971, Karbis constituted about 65 percent of the population; by 2011, this figure had fallen to 56 percent. Tribal organizations claim the reality is even more alarming—that Karbis are now barely 35 percent. The real question is not how this happened, but why it was allowed to happen.
The Sixth Schedule clearly states that non-tribals cannot permanently occupy tribal land. Yet after 1971, landless laborers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal first arrived to work in tea gardens, and then gradually began farming and settling on tribal land. Land was acquired for small sums of money, followed by permanent कब्जा (encroachment). The state remained a mute spectator. This “slow infiltration” has today transformed into an explosive conflict.
The recent violence was not a sudden outburst, but the detonation of explosives accumulated over decades. During the Chhath festival, when attempts were made to construct a permanent brick-and-cement religious structure, the Karbi community did not see this merely as an act of faith, but as a signal of permanent land occupation. Their fear was not unfounded. As a result, the violence of December 22–23 claimed two lives, injured over 150 people, and left around 60 police personnel wounded as well. The most inhuman incident was the mob lynching and burning alive of a differently-abled youth, Suraj Dey. This is not just a “law and order problem”; it is a moral failure of the state.
Today, the Karbi people are asking a painful question: We gave land, allowed space for trade, shared neighborhoods—then where did this audacity to drive us out and kill us come from? In West Karbi Anglong alone, more than 7,000 bighas of VGR and PGR (Village Grazing Reserve and Professional Grazing Reserve) land have been encroached upon by outsiders. Markets like Kheroni are now almost entirely controlled by Hindi-speaking communities. This is not merely economic dominance; it is the erosion of tribal existence itself.
Karbi youth sat on a hunger strike for 15 days. Their demand was not unconstitutional—they only wanted the restoration of land reserved for them under the Constitution. But instead of dialogue, the government sent the police. Protesters were forcibly removed, and then what always happens happened again—violence erupted, innocents died, and the state stood helplessly wringing its hands.
The most dangerous silence is that of New Delhi. The central government remains entangled in convenient narratives of “Miya versus Hindu” or “Bangladeshi versus Rohingya,” while constitutionally protected tribal regions within the country are on fire. The rest of India is busy with temple–mosque debates, and the Northeast has once again been reduced to a “distant issue.”
The same pattern was seen in Manipur—prolonged neglect followed by a sudden explosion. Karbi Anglong today stands at the same crossroads. If the state and the center do not intervene now, if the Sixth Schedule is not taken out of paper files and implemented on the ground, then in the coming years Karbi Anglong will also be added to the list of regions where India failed to protect its own citizens.
This is not just the struggle of the Karbi community. It is a struggle for the Constitution, the federal structure, and tribal survival. The question is not whether Karbi Anglong will become Manipur or not—the real question is whether those in power even want to stop it. If it is not stopped, this district—rich in natural beauty and resources—will turn into a living hell.
(The author is a scholar of Northeast India. His books “Kuruna se Kamakhya” and https://amzn.in/d/4vAk40B)
Hashtags:
#KarbiAnglong #CarbiAnglongCrisis #AssamViolence #NextManipur #TribalRights #SixthSchedule
Posts
.jpg)
0 Comments