ITANAGAR, 21 Aug: Referring to the recent public hearings conducted by the Hage Tari Committee (HTC) regarding the Kora/Korang administrative circle issue and the press statements issued by the GWS and the GPF before and after the public hearings, the Adi Ba:ne Kebang (ABK) and its frontal organizations have appealed to the state government to resolve the lingering problem “in the spirit of the assurance given by chief minister in the floor of the assembly in April, 2014 by passing a fresh bill to further amend the AP (Reorganization of Districts (Amendment) Act, 2013, to formalize continuation of Korang administrative circle in the parent district of East Siang.”
The organization in a statement on Saturday said that the CM had given a solemn assurance on the floor of the assembly that “appointed date for Lower Siang will be notified only after resolution of the dispute regarding inclusion of Adi areas in the new district” after strong opposition and protests by all Adi MLAs regarding inclusion of Adi land in Nari subdivision in the Lower Siang district during the discussion on the AP (Reorganization of Districts) (Amendment) Bill.
“Adis are awaiting resolution of the pending dispute in consonance with the assurance given in the floor of the house,” the said.
Regarding the demand for “implementation of the AP (Reorganization of Districts) (Amendment) Act, 2013, as enacted by the AP legislative assembly in 2014,” the organization claimed that “There is a calculated effort by the GWS and the GPF to convey an impression to the people that the above act was passed without opposition both inside and outside the legislative assembly.”
The organization further said that the Adis never opposed the creation of Lower Siang district. “What they objected to was the proposal to include Adi traditional and customary land in Nari subdivision in Lower Siang without the consent of the Adis, and opposition was there right from the beginning when the entire Nari subdivision was proposed to be merged in the new district, completely ignoring customary rights and tribal territorial jurisdiction of Adis,” said the ABK (Apex) in a statement.
“Adis and Galos have been living in harmony in East Siang in general and in Legong Banggo and Ramle Banggo in particular. This beautiful and humane tradition requires further strengthening the bond for future generations. As far as Adis are concerned, that cannot be achieved by summarily ignoring customary rights of Adis and deeply felt emotional attachment of Adi landowners to their land in Ramle Banggo area,” the organization said, and added that “Villages under Korang circle – Korang Lipin, Mane Tene Sido – all fall under the Ramle Banggo area.
The ABK said that “interested parties will always cite point considered favourable to them, but the root of the problem must be clearly understood for an acceptable solution.”
“We also appeal to our Galo brothers to honour the customary rights of Adis in Ramle Banggo area for restoration and betterment of age-old good relations between the two communities,” the statement said.
