Assam tribesmen’s ‘return Dimapur’ demand fails to ruffle Naga groups
GUWAHATI: The demand of a lesser-known tribal organisation that Nagaland’s commercial hub Dimapur should be handed over to Assam has done little to create ripples in Nagaland, either among the rebels, particularly the Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) which is bargaining hard with the Centre for a ‘Greater Nagaland’, or the other organisations. However, the timing of the issue being raked up by Dimasa National Council has raised many questions as the development comes amidst speculations that the final Naga Accord could be signed soon.
Recently, the Council submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, reiterating its demand for creation of a separate ‘Hidimbapur Autonomous State’ under Article 244 (A) by slicing off Dimapur in Nagaland and some historical places in Assam.
Highlighting the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by Naga rebels in some areas of the Dimasas’ erstwhile territory, the Council opposed the NSCN-IM’s demand for a unified Naga homeland by slicing off the Naga-inhabited areas of Assam— which include Dima Hasao district (earlier called North Cachar Hills district)—besides neighbouring Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
Protests have taken place in Dima Hasao due to speculations that the district would be incorporated into Nagalim as part of the Centre-NSCM (IM) deal. “We will resist the demand for creation of Nagalim with Assam’s land. We will not part with even an inch of our land,” Dimasa National Council president Dhironjay Naiding said.
Throwing his weight behind the demand, Tezpur MP R P Sarma said the Assam government had leased out the town to Nagaland when it was carved out of the state in 1963. “Nagaland has no ownership right on Dimapur as it was leased out to the state and lease is a temporary arrangement,” Sarma said.However, the Naga Hoho, an apex organisation of the Nagas, laughed off the Dimasa Council’s demand.
Its chief Chuba Ozukum said, “I don’t know under what circumstances or historical grounds the Council is demanding Dimapur to be brought under an autonomous body of Assam. I spoke to the president of Dimasa People’s Organisation of Nagaland and also another Dimasa organisation of Assam and suggested a joint meeting. According to them, only a few people are running the Dimasa National Council. If they have any historical grounds for claiming that Dimapur belongs to the Dimasas, we are open to meeting them and discussing it. (But) this is never going to happen.”
Dimasa tribe’s history:
Dimasa tribals are mostly settled in Assam’s Dima Hasao, Cachar, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts; Dimapur in Nagaland; and Jiribam in Manipur.
Their early settlement was in the Brahmaputra Valley in eastern Assam’s Sadiya. Facing aggression from the Ahoms, they migrated to the Dhansiri valley and established their kingdom in Dimapur. Later, a large number of them further migrated to Cachar.
The tribe traces its ancestry to Hidimb, the demon king who had confronted Pandava prince Bheem of the epic Mahabharata and whose daughter Hidimba Bheem married. Dimisas are laying claim to Dimapur, Dimapur is Nagaland’s largest town (spread over 121 sq km) and headquarters of Dimapur district, one of 11 in the state bordering Myanmar. It is the only plains tract of hilly Nagaland.