KA organisations demands cancellation of land allotment to Art of Living

Our correspondent
Diphu, July 11 (EMN): Various social, students, tribals, farmers organisation of Karbi Anglong has came down heavily to Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council authority (KAAC) to cancel the land allotment of Havarpi Tourist Complex allotted to a Bangaluru based NGO Vyakti Vikash Kendra India (VVKI) Trust, popularly known as ‘Art of Living’. The Hills Tribal League (HTL) urged the concerned NGO VVKI, Art of Living to vacate the land immediately for the interest of tribal people.
In a press conference held at District Press Club (DPC) here on Monday, HTL Convenor Khorsing Teron said ‘it is quite surprising that the tourist department of KAAC authority has allotted land measuring of 62 bighas 2 kothas and 14 lusas of the Havarpi Tourist Complex with a mini park consisting of RCC sheds, the multi crore RCC building and two staff quarters at 5 k.m. Diphu-Lumding Road. Earlier, the issue has been raised by Karbi Students and Youth Council (KSYC), where it is not possible to allot land to a company from outside within the tribal land, he added.
Teron said ‘how can an NGO from outside like the ‘Art of Living’, which is run by highly sophisticated non-tribal people is against the Karbis and other indigenous hill tribe people of Karbi Anglong.’ It is a systematic alienation of tribal land in a tribal area he added. The KAAC is supposed to protect the land of tribal people, who on primitive condition and lack of awareness could not protect land from the non-tribal migrants. Paragraph3 (a) of the 6th Schedule confers legislative power to the KAAC to make laws with respect to allotment, occupation or use, or the setting apart of land, other than any land which is a reserved forest for the purpose of agriculture or grazing or for residential or other non-agriculture purposes or for any other purposes likely to promote the interest of the inhabitants of any village or town, Teron pointed out.
The land allotted to ‘Art of Living’ should instead be given to Karbi Lammet Amei (KLA) a non-profit organisation and the apex literary body of the Karbis. The KLA was founded way back in 1966 and after this long 50 years it still does not have land of its own. The KAAC authority cancelling the allotment of the land should be given to KLA for development of Karbi language, the HTL demanded. Blaming the KAAC authority for allotting land to outsiders without thinking of any far reaching consequences on tribal land Teron said if the KAAC authority want to appease to people of outsiders by depriving land to tribal people than it would be better to dissolved the KAAC and land over the whole land of Karbi Anglong to some multi-national company and become under them.
The KAAC should stop allotting land to outsiders or will lose all tribal land, he stated. The organisations demanding the cancellation of land to ‘Art of Living’ are Karbi Students Association (KSA), Gopal Thausen, Convenor, HTL; Karbi Anglong Indigenous Youth Association (KAIYA), People for People (PoP), United Karbi Students Association (UKSA), All India Karbi Students Union (AIKSU), Greater Guwahati KSA, Karbi Students and Youth Council, All India Karbi National Assembly (AIKNA), Karbi Longri & NC Liberation Front, Karbi Farmers Association (KFA) and others.