𝐑𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐇𝐀 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬

Members of the All Rabha Students’ Union (ARSU), All Rabha Women Council (ARWC) and the Sixth Schedule Demand Committee staged a two-hour protest at Jantar Mantar on Friday, December 12 renewing their long-pending demand for the inclusion of the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

Demonstrators, wearing traditional Rabha attire, raised slogans calling for immediate constitutional safeguards for the indigenous communities of the RHAC region in Assam. The protest drew nearly 500 participants from Goalpara and Kamrup districts, marking one of the strongest collective mobilisations of Rabha organisations in recent years.

Following the demonstration, a delegation representing the groups met senior officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and submitted a comprehensive memorandum addressed to the Union Home Minister. The memorandum was formally acknowledged by the Ministry on December 12.

The memorandum outlines three decades of the Rabha community’s struggle, recalling that the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council—constituted in 1995 as a protective institution—continues to operate with limited administrative and financial authority. The organisations noted that the absence of constitutional backing under the Sixth Schedule has hindered both development initiatives and institutional empowerment.

Expressing strong concern over demographic shifts caused by illegal migration, the memorandum describes the RHAC region as a “vulnerable corridor” lacking constitutional and administrative protection. The signatories stated that successive Assam governments had recommended Sixth Schedule inclusion for RHAC, pointing to its core and contiguous geography and its 779 revenue villages.

The Rabha bodies reaffirmed that only a constitutionally empowered autonomous council can safeguard indigenous rights and ensure long-term socio-political stability in the region. They urged the Centre to initiate a tripartite dialogue involving the MHA, Government of Assam and Rabha organisations to resolve the longstanding issue.