Shillong, Nov 27: With the approach of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) elections next year, the issue of non-tribal candidates and non-tribal voters is again coming to the fore.
Today, several pressure groups urged political parties not to field non-tribal candidates in the polls. Currently several seats in the outgoing GHADC are held by non-Garos – including members of the Koch tribe and minority Muslim MDCs. Although the GHADC is meant to safeguard the rights, land and cultural practices of the Garo tribe, there is no bar on non-Garos standing for election, becoming MDCs or voting in the polls.
Today, the Tura-based Constitutional Rights Forum (CRF) wrote to five political parties – the ruling National People’s Party, Congress Party, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress and United Democratic Party – urging them not to field non-tribals.
“The participation of non-tribals in the GHADC elections would not only be against the spirit of the Sixth Schedule (of the Constitution) but also undermine the rights and interests of the tribal population,” the CRF said.
Meanwhile, several pressure groups from the Phulbari area signed a joint missive calling on political parties to refrain from fielding non-tribal candidates, using many of the same arguments of the CRF but while also highlighting the plight of Garos in the plains belt, which has seen the population of non-tribals only grow over the years.
