Darlongs In Tripura
A Note to the Celebration
The Tharlȃk Kût 2023 cum Recognition
Celebration was a grandly extravaganza celebration festival observed by the
Darlong folk where flashes of their grand past can be reflected by the common
men and women. Fashioning oneself in Black, yellow, green, red, green, yellow
and black strip, the festival’s arena can never be much magnificent and
astonishing: it is a time for sharing joy and woe, an hour of love for lovers
and beloveds, a moment to cherish for families, a platform to pluck beautiful
and handsome life partners and a leisure period for busy men and women, the arena’s
melody is a whistle of phone and camera clicks, the bikes station in colours,
the vehicles parks in file, the banners singing alongside the sign of the
breeze, the exhibitionists in public’s trial, the models flung their beauties
in gaze lust, the passers-by in wonders, the singers, dancers and performers
all in the tune of the mood – a twenty seven years of wait coup at the season
of harvest.
Brief
Account on the Recognition
Application for recognition of
Darlong as separate tribe in the list of Sch. Tribes of Tripura was jointly
signed by the following beloved elders of Darlong community and submitted to
the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Welfare, Tribal Development Division, Shastri
Bhawan, New Delhi-110001 vide letter dated 17th July 1995 for consideration by
the following personnel namely, Late Rev. Lalsiama Darlong, Late Rev. Lalhuala
Darlong, Late Rev. Tlanglawma Darlong, Late Johana Darlong, Late Rev.
Lalkhawlawma Darlong and Co-ordinating Members. Thereafter, the Dy. Director,
Ministry of Welfare, Govt. of India vide letter, dated, 17th August 1995 has
forwarded a copy of the representation submitted by the above respected elders
of Darlong tribe to the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, SC Welfare Dept., Govt. of
Tripura requesting to furnish comments/recommendations of the State Government
into the matter. This was followed by a reminder vide letter, dated, 20th
November 1997 from the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
In the light of the above notes, the
Director, Tribal Welfare Dept. constituted a committee vide notification,
dated, 1st January 2000 to examine and submit a report in matter of inclusion
of Darlong tribe independently in the list of Tribal of Tripura. The member of
the committee comprised of the following:
•Mr. Depak Choudhury, Member,
Registrar, Tripura University.
•Mr. Surendra Debbarma, Member,
Publication Officer. (Rtd.), SCERT.
•The Director, Tribal Welfare.
Member Secretary.
Meetings
of the committee were held on 5th August 2000, 13th March 2001 & 3rd June
2002 respectively. The foresaid meetings were attended by the then Darlong
tribe’s leader viz. Mr. V L Lawma Darlong, the then General Secretary, DHI,
Late Rev. Tlanglawma Darlong, Late Rev. Lalhuala Darlong and Late. Johana
Darlong on one occasion i.e. 13th march 2001 where individuals strongly
deputized the case before the committee. Besides, Late Rankhuma Darlong, Ex.
President, DHI, Late Rev. Tlanglawma Darlong & Late, Rev. Lalhuala Darlong
submitted documents (as per say) sought by the committee from time to time.
Eventually, the committee finalized
a report with recommendation for recognition of Darlong tribe as sub-tribe of
Kuki Community wherein the Tribal Welfare Department placed the report before
the Council of Ministers in its meeting held on 16th November 2002 for
consideration and approval. The Council of Ministers approved the proposal for
recognition of Darlong tribe as Sub-Tribe of Kuki community in its meeting held
on 16th November 2002, aftermath of which Mr. Banamali Sinha, IAS, the then
Commissioner, Tribal Welfare Department, submitted the proposal to the Joint
Secretary to the Govt of India, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
vide letter dated 1st January 2003 for consideration. In parallel, in the year
2003, Mr. V. L. Lawma Darlong (the then General Secretary, DHI) was herald as
representative visiting Delhi with an objective to pursue the matter to higher
authority.
In the following year, the Joint
Director, Ministry of Tribal vide letter,
dated, 9th June 2004 intimated the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Govt. of
Tripura, Tribal Welfare Department that the proposal for recognition of Darlong
tribe as Sub-tribe of Kuki community was forwarded to the Office of Register
General of India on 17th May 2001 for necessary action. However, the office
failed to communicate the matter. The failure was pursued by a reminder that is
sent to the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment by the Joint Secretary
to the Govt. of Tripura. Tribal Welfare Dept., vide letter dated 9th July 2004.
Unfortunately, the voice of the Darlong folk failed in being heard.
In the next episode, Late Mr.
Neikhuma Darlong, the then President of DHI, visited Agartala, the Capital city
of Tripura state, (sometime) in the year 2008 to pursue the recognition of the
tribe resulting in a meeting at the residence of Mr. Laihlia Darlong, Mission
Compound, Arundhuti Nagar, Agartala West. In that meeting, Rev. Lalrema
Darlong, Mr. Lalhminga Darlong, Mr. Letthuama Darlong and others participated.
Nonetheless, the meeting was a failure.
In the early 2010s, fortune smile on
the tribe for good. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs called a Review Meeting at
Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi on 6th & 7th August 2012 – one of the agenda for the
review meeting was scheduling/re-scheduling of Scheduled Tribes. As per the
letter of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, it appeared that the
proposal of Tribal Welfare Dept., Govt. of Tripura for recognition of Darlong
as Sub-tribe of Kuki Community was missing but proposal for inclusion of 2(two)
tribes from Assam was found. In spite of the fact, Mr. Laihlia Darlong, (then
IAS officer) Director-cum-Secretary, Tribal Welfare Dept. raised the matter in
the Review Meeting on 6th & 7th August 2012 and all correspondences in the
matter were submitted to the then Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs followed
by closed-door discussion with Dr. A K Dubey, IAS, Joint Secretary to the Govt.
of India. This was followed by D.O letter from Mr. Laihlia Darlong, IAS, the
then Director-cum-Secretary, Govt. of Tripura vide letter dated 3rd September
2012 requesting the Joint Secretary, Govt. of India to consider the proposal of
the Govt. of Tripura.
Much to the delight of the
folk-applicant, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, out from the
blue received feedback from the Register General of India, Govt. of India,
requesting to the Director, Tribal Welfare Dept. to submit a ethnographic study
report including size of population of the Darlong, socio-economic and
educational status, No Objection Certificate from the TTAADC and more. The
Director of Tribal Research, Govt. of Tripura, asked to submit an ethnographic
study report of the Darlong tribe, failed to do so on account of unspecified
reasons. Consequently, Mr. Saithankhuma Darlong, (then IPS officer) Dy.
Inspector General of Police, Govt. of Tripura, was requested to write about the
ethnographic study report on tribe. Accordingly, Mr. Darlong submitted the
ethnographic study report including size of population, socio economic and
educational status and the likes within a stipulated time. The action was
subsided by submission of the report to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for
consideration. In reaction to the above report, the Ministry called a ‘Task
Force Meeting’ at Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 24th & 25th April 2014, to have a
discussion on the recognition of Darlong as Sub-tribe of Kuki by the Govt. of
India. It was also recommended by the Tribal Welfare Dept. Govt. of Tripura,
that, Mr. Laihlia Darlong & Mr. Saithankhuma Darlong will participate in
the meeting while the meeting expenditure was held accountable by the Tribal
Welfare Dept. Govt. of Tripura. Nonetheless, foresaid personnel could not
attend the meeting due to unavoidable circumstances. Hence, the Ministry
informed the Secretary, Tribal Welfare Dept., Govt. of Tripura, that a team
from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and National Commission for Scheduled
Tribes will be visiting Tripura in subject to the matter and yet the visit was
cancelled lately.
In 2014, the National Commission for
Scheduled Tribes, Govt. of India, in its 62nd Meeting held on 17th October 2014
recommended the recognition of Darlong as Sub-Tribe of Kuki Community. The
Director, Ministry of Tribal Affairs vide letter dated 3rd December 20114,
forwarded a copy of the minutes of the 62nd Meeting of the National Commission
for Sch. Tribes, Delhi to the State Government with a request to send the
correct Devnagiri version of Darlong at the earliest possible. The Devnagiri
version of Darlong was sent to the Director, Ministry of Tribal Affairs vide
letter dated 3rd January 2015. The proposal of Govt. of Tripura, along with the
proposals from Assam, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were placed before
the Council of Minister, Govt. of India, for consideration and approval. The
Council of Minister has approved the proposals. Accordingly, Draft Bill 325 of
2016 under the title “The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes)
Orders (Amendment) Bill 2016, was prepared for lying on the floor of
Parliament. But before the Bill was placed, on further scrutiny, it was noticed
that one tribe approved by the Council of Ministers has already been included
as SC. Hence, the Bill-325 could not be
laid on the floor of the Parliament for discussion. Ever since, there was
neither development nor enhancement in regard to the progress of recognition of
Darlong as Sub-tribe of Kuki Community in Tripura.
In the late 2010s , Mr. Buatsaia
Darlong, Ex. President, DHI, Mr. Zosanga, Ex. General Secretary, DHI & Mr.
Tinkunga Darlong, Ex, President, Darlong Socio-Cultural Society, visited
Agartala to pursue the matter once more time. The visited was welcomed by a
meeting, organized by DHI officials at the residence of Mr. Laihlia Darlong,
Nandannagar, Agartala, West Tripura. In the said meeting, Mr. Ngurchawikunga
Darlong, (then IAS officer), Secretary, Tribal Welfare Dept., Mr. Tinkhuma
Darlong, (then TCS officer), Addl. Director, Tribal Welfare Dept., Mr.
Vanlalmuana Darlong, Assistant Professor, Tripura University and few more participated in the meeting. The
meeting prioritizes 2(two) decisions;
i. Mr. Tinkhuma Darlong, then Addl.
Director, Tribal Welfare should visited Delhi to enquire about the latest
update of the proposal made years ago.
ii. The President, DHI & other
officials should seek and appoint a meeting with the then Chief Minister,
Tripura, to apprise him on the matter.
Accordingly,
Mr. Tinkhuma Darlong, then Addl. Director, Tribal Welfare Dept., (SSG), visited
the office of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, New Delhi, to persuade the matter. On
his return from Delhi, Mr. Tinkhuma Darlong reported that there is no progress
relating to recognition of the Darlong tribe. At the same time, the DHI
official failed to meet the then Chief Minister of Tripura. However, in a
period of six months, Mr. Tinkunga Darlong contacted Mr. Laihlia Darlong to
arrange a meeting at Agartala. However, the objective was not met.
The above agenda(s) was soon
collaborated with the effort of Mr. Lalhmingthanga Darlong, (IAS officer) the
hour he was posted as Director, Tribal Welfare Dept., on 27th January 2020. He
pursued the matter with the concerned authority in the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs post pandemic Covid-19. Stepping
further, when he was transferred and posted as Addl. Secretary, Finance w.e.f
30th October 202, Mr. Lalhmingthanga
continued to pursue the matter on regular basis with the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs. Besides, in Delhi, Mr. John Thanglura, (then IFS, govt. of India)
& Mr. Vincent Thansanga Darlong, (Scientist & then Country Programme
Officer at International Fund for Agricultural Development, Delhi, India) too
were constant in their pursued to the Govt. of India. It is also mention worthy
that the then Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Tribal Affairs was
very positive and helpful on the matter while also expressing his high hope of
approval once the proposal is to be put up in the Cabinet, Government of India.
Eventually, the Govt. of India and
Govt. of Tripura notified the Darlong (the people) as sub tribe of Kuki
community vide Dated 18th April 2022 and 4th August 2022 respectively. It took
not less than twenty seven years of wait for the Darlong to make an entry in
the Tripura Scheduled Tribe list. Nonetheless, the wait was worth it for the
tribesmen and women. It was concerted and collective efforts of all Darlong –
the common folk that championed it. With this note, ‘We’ – the people salute
our bygone leaders who couldn’t reap their harvest in their living years:
•Late Rev. Lalsiama Darlong
•Late Rev. Lalhuala Darlong
•Late Rev. Tlanglawma Darlong
•Late Johana Darlong
•Late. Rev. Lalkhawlawma Darlong
•Late Neikhuma Darlong
Kirats, Darlong, Kuki relation ani chiang no chu te
ReplyDeleteKuki ti hi tak taka chun hnam rihming a chang no a, 'Hnam Changkangloi, Mi hnokhnawl, Miluk MIlai' eiti thin angka hi a loi chang zawk.
DeleteKuki tihi sap heiin eini Zo-kuki-Chin hnam hei hi anni koina thin. Mahabharat lai hachun 'Kuki' anloi ti no a, 'Kirat' tiin an loi koi thin. Chun, Bristish imperial hunlai han 'Kuki' tiin an ne koi ve a chang. Mahnung chun, Ram Gopal Singh, 'The Kukis of Tripura' inzia pu han, "Kukis are called Darlong in Tripura" ati ve nawk a chang. Ma dungzuiin ei sut chun, ei hnam rihming hi 'Kirat' aloi changa, mataka tang chun 'Kuki' an niti nawka, tunhma hichun 'Darlong' a chang ta a chang.
Ni hawithei ai mo nang ki zuk hril aw chu. A omzia achun hnam khatka rihming rit aloi chang. A hnu nih a hmun inthlengin, an ni loi koina rihming ha an pher vu vu tina.