DIMAPUR, JULY 18 (MExN): The Nagaland Garo Tribal Council (NGTC) will abstain from attending the second consultative meeting on Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) which has been scheduled on July 20 at Chümoükedima, Dimapur.
A press release issued by NGTC secretary Karampal G Momin on Thursday said it was extremely ‘displeased and humiliated’ that the Nagaland Government failed to invite them during the RIIN consultative meeting convened on July 17 despite being one of the aboriginal and recognized tribe of Nagaland.
The council felt it baseless to attend the July 20 meeting when it has been excluded from the imperative and decisive RIIN meeting of July 17.
The council also pointed out that Garo being one of the recognized tribe of Nagaland has five villages concentrated in the district of Dimapur and also settled in other parts of the state. It mentioned that the first Garo village after shifting from Panbari village around the foothills of Samaguting (present day Chümoükedima) in Nagaland by name of Darogapathar was established in 1811, Eralibill (1910), Dubagaon (1910), Ekaranipathar (1942), Samaguri (1951).
Despite the historical facts, the council termed it unfortunate that the Garo tribe find no mention in the list of tribes of Nagaland. It lamented that the Garo tribe of Nagaland are at present socially, economically and politically backward in comparison with other tribes of Nagaland and has been deprived of rights and neglected for many years in almost every field.
“We are also an integral part of Naga society and have every right to enjoy like our brothers,” it added.
