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COLLECTIVESTATEMENT NinthSession of the UnitedNations Permanent Forum on Indigenouslssues,2010 Interventionmade by Mr TankeswarRABHA On behalfof the All RabhaStudents' Union (ARSU), lndian Confederation of Indigenousand TribalPeoples North East Zone (ICITP-NEZ) and UnitedPeoples' Federation of (UPFA) Agendaltem No. 7: Futurework

Mr.Chairperson, lbringcordialgreetings to all of youfrom Rabha and other lndigenous peoples of Assam, ,

The Rabhaindigenous people who constituteda majorblock of Indo-Mongoloidethnic groupof North-Eastlndia. Generally the RabhaPeople can be identifiedby yellowbrown colour of the skin,stretched or flatwave and coarse hair of thehead. The broadface has scanty hair growth the body hairsare also scanty.

RabhaIndigenous and Tribal peoples in Indiahave a veryancient and alivehistory and heritageof theirown. Rabhaindigenous people have their own language,culture, religion, social, economicand politicalstructures handed down generationsfor centuries.The Rabhaindigenous people'smyths, stories, tales and songsreflect their social, political and culturalorganization. Nature, environmentand ecology play the most important role in their lives.

Accordingto "BAHAIRSTHANGHAIBEE' in 16thcentury the RabhaKing Bir Parasuram ruledthe entireGoalpara and some partsof Kamrupdistrict and the B mahalof Meghalayastate in India,where the capitalwas situatecj at Solmarinear Goalpara town in Assam.

The six decadesof India'sindependence and governanceunder Assam Govt. could not protectthe Rabhaindigenous peoples from exploitation, deprivation from basic human right and bring aboutfaster development. Their right ovei theirland and forestwas snatchedaway. Large scale land alienationstarted uprooting the Rabhasalong with other tribal form their own homeland.This led the Rabhasto seekprotection under the Indian Constitution and demand autonomy.

A strongvigours rnass movement was launchedon thesedemands by ARSU-RHDC.In thewake of thismass movement, the then Chief Minister of AssamLate Hiteswar announced on thefloor of theAssam Assembly on 16thMarch,1993 to grantautonomy to theRabhas. In response,the Rabhaorganizations set down for talks with Assam Government and ultimately singedan accordwith the Govt.of Assamon the 1OthMarch, 1995 accepting an AutonomousCouncil underthe State Act. in thename of RabhaHasong Autonomous Council.

Thus,Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council was createdwith much hope and expectation which got shatteredsoon. But the Governmentof lndiaor AssamGovernment showed interest neither to strengthenthe councilnor to holdthe electionof RabhaHasong Autonomous Council to makeit a democraticinstitution by implementingthe RabhaAccord. So, it is onekind of violationof UNDRIP.The patheticfailure of the RabhaHasong Autonomous Council compelled to the Rabhapeople to rejectit in to anddemand fresh Autonomy under Sixth Schedule of the IndianConstitution by All RabhaStudents' Union,All RabhaWomen council and SixthSchedule demand Committee from the year2003 and it continuingtill today.In the meantime the MinisterialSub-Gommittee headed by Dr. ,Former Minister for Healthand Familywelfare and HigherEducation, Assam has already agreedto recommendthe proposalfor inclusionof RabhaHasong Autonomous Council into the Sixth Scheduleof the IndianConstitution as alsoholding the election of RabhaHasong Autonomous Council withinthe year of 2005.Presently as manyas 779tribal Rev. Villages with a totalpopulation of Six (6) lakhs(approx) has beennotified by the Hon'bleGovernor of Assam as underthe RabhaHasong AutonomousCouncil (RHAG) area. So,we for andon behalfof the All RabhaStudents Union, Rabha Indigenous People, ICITP- NEZand UPFAof Indiaurge UNPFII and the worldcommunity to impressupon the Governmentof India

L To ensurethe governmentof Indiato respectand implementthe UNDRIPand to accordgranting 6'n schedulestatus to RabhaHasong Autonomous Council of the Indianconstitution;

2. To ensurethe governmentof lndiato enablethe IndigenousPeoples' democratic constitutionalrights by holdingelection of RabhaHasong Autonomous Council by implementingthe RabhaAccord for upliftmentof cultural,language, infrastructure development,ethnic identity and economy;

3. To engagedialogue with the indigenouspeoples to implementthe fivefundamental principlesof tribaldevelopment enunciated by latePandit Jawaharlal Neheru in letter of spritin India;

4. To disseminateinformation on UNDRIPand followup actionto strengthenthe relationshipbetween government and the Indigenous peoples in lndia;

5. To ensureall the UN Agenciesto havedirect access to the Indigenouspeople's problemsand grievancesand to develop effectiveand meaningfulmechanisms to addressthe problemsand grievances accordingly;

We alsourge UNPFII to holdits sessionin differentcountries rather than holdingits session alwaysin NewYork focusing and prioritizingmore on groundsituations where the lndigenous peoplesare facing serious problems of theirsurvival and co-existence.

I thankyou for your kind attention Mr. Chairpersonl

hqrrr^-tt G'bA (TankeswarRabha) President,All RabhaStudents' Union (ARSU) lddy RajibBora ChiefAdvisor, United Peoples'Federation of Assam (UPFA) c\ -----$b.e Von. \4,* JebraRam Muchahary President,ICITP-NEZ