REORGANIZATION OF NORTH-EAST INDIA SINCE 1947

Dr. B. DaUa Ray, (b.1925) a pioneer in promoting and popularising res~archin social sciences in the tribal areas of the North-Eastern India, is the founder-Secretary of the North- East India Council for Social Science Research. Aveteranfreedom fighter and a Tamrapatra holder, Dr. Datta Ray is a former Head of thePolitical Science Department of St. Edrnund's College, Shillong, and has authoredand edited a number of publications.

S. P. Agrawal (b.1929) was Director, National Social Science DocumentationCentre, ICSSR, and Member·Secretary, Indian Association of Social ScienceInstitution. He was also the Vice-Chairman of the Asia and Pacific InformationNetwork in Social Sciences (APINESS).ln 1988, he was awarded the degree ofPhilosophy in Education (Honoris Causa) by International University Foundation.Presently, he is a Member, Round Table on Research in Reading, IFLA andMember, International Committee for Social Science Information andDocumentation. He is also Member·of Board of Studies of National Archives ofIndia and Hindi Advisory Committee, Ministry of Coal, Government of India Bornand brought up in the cradle of freedom movement which he joined at the tenderageof twelve, he gained an insight into political problems and developed a senseof responsibility which bore fruit as an information scientist committed toGandhiji's philosophy and action-plan in the field and its social concept. He haswritten extensively on various aspects of education, Indian polity and library andinformation Science.

REORGANIZATIONOF

NORTH-EAST INDIA SINCE 1947' ..

Edited byB. DATTA RAY

SecretaryNorth-East India Council for Social Science Research

SHILLONG

S. P. AGRAWALFormer Director

National Social Science Documentation Centre. ICSsR.NEW DELHI

CONCEPT PUBLISHING COMPANY, NEW DELHI-llOO59

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ISBN 81-7022-577-9 -,

First Published 1996

c Editors 1994

B.Datta Ray (b.1925)S.P.Auawal (b.I 929)

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INTRODUCTION

The British took over Assam in 1826 to make the eastern frontierof the British possessions secure, although the architect of theBritish possession of the extended north-east frontier, DavidScott, initially was against the permanent occupation of Assam.But the scene completely changed with the discovery that thetea plant was a native of Assam. The realisation that the plantwas genuine tea and capable of manufacture into a marketableitem and later discovery of open seams of coal and presence ofpetroleum and other minerals made Assam attractive to Britishcapital investment in progressive measure. The initial hesitancy .vanished and Assam was finally annexed in 1838. Assamunderwent rapid transformation after this and British investmentincreased. With the final annexation of Assam, the Governmentof India assumed as successor government, the paramountcyover the north-east Hills. Like the Ahoms, the SupremeGovernment pursued a policy of non-interference tempered byconciliation and display of force. During the period of 1826 and1874, the British authority extended over the hills borderingAssam and Barak valley.

During this period, relations with the hills had been handledon an adhoc basis by the officials in the neighbouring areas. Thedegree of authority exercised by the British on becoming theparamount power had varied in different areas and in referenceto different races of hillmen. The object of British policy towardsthe hills had been conciliation and penetration giving the north-east India a new territorial and administrative unity.

The British inherited and continued the Inne Line policy fromthe Ahoms. This was assimilated and brought into line with theirown political philosopy of broad non-intervention pursuedelsewhere in India at that time. The Inner Line Regulation of1873, the Scheduled Districts Act, 1874, the Government of IndiaAct, 1919, the Government of India Act, 1935 broadly unfold theBritish tribal policy, and administration of north-east India.

6 Reorganization of North-East India Since 1947

Under the Government of India Act, 1935, the administrationof hill areas of the province of Assam were classified into Excludedand Partially Excluded Areas, Excluded Areas remaining withGovernor of Assam exercising power in his discretion withoutministerial advice. The initiative in all legislative and executiveacts in the Partially Excluded Areas lay with the ProvincialMinisters, but the Governor of Assam had a special responsibilityacting in his individual judgement in this field.

With the coming of the Constitution of India in 1950, the tribalareas of north-east India were placed in two parts, A and B in theTable appended to the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. In thepart A, the United Khasi and Jaintia Hills District, the Garo HillsDistrict, the Naga Hills District, the North-Cachar Hills and theMikir Hills District were placed. The North-East frontier Tractsincluding Balipara Frontirer Tract, Tirap Frontier Tract, AborHill and Mishmi Hills and the Naga Hills Tribal Areas werecategorised in Part B . Part A areas formed the AutonomousDistricts and were administered by the Government of Assamwith the Autonomous District Councils established in 1952 exceptin Naga Hills District. The Governor of Assam continued toadminister at his discretion Part B areas as Agent to the Presidentof India. The Naga Hills were restive and refused the schemeunder the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. In 1954, after minorterritorial adjustments, the North-East Frontier Tracts with AborHills and Mishmi Hills Districts were transformed into North-East Frontier Agency, under Ministry of External Affairs.Subsequently in 1965, the Ministry of Home Affairs took chargeof it. The Lushai Hills District became Mizo District in 1954.

The Tuensang Division of North-East Frontier Agency andthe Naga Hills District became a new administrative unit underthe Ministry of External Affairs in 1957. The Government ofAssam lost its authority over the Naga Hills District and therolling back process began. In December, 1963, the State ofNagaland was born. Nagaland became the trend-setter. Thedemands for separate political identities in the hills gatheredmomentum. A short lived experiment was made to stem the tidein the form of Autonomous State of Meghalaya in 1970.Meghalayawas made a full state in 1972.The North-Eastern Frontier Agencywas transformed into Arunachal Pradesh and upgraded alongwith Mizoram into Union Territory. The Governor of Assam lost

Introduction 7

his administrative control over Arunachal Pradesh. The dreamof greater Assam ended thus in 1972. The princely States ofManipur and Tripura which acceded to Union of India in 1949under the Instrument of Accession were initially under respectiveChief Commissioners and in 1972 they became full fledged states.

The Government of India Act, 1935 and the Constitution ofIndia kindled the aspirations of middle class leadership of theBrahmaputra valley for an expanded Assam. The innercontradiction of the emerging society, the emergence of newmiddle-classes in the Hills, ethnic and linguistic assertions, thelack of sensitivity for equitable economic development in theleadership led to the break up of Assam as it stood on the comingof Constitution of India which released new social forces all overthe north-east. Insurgency for ethnic identity broke the fragileadministrative unity believing that homelands would give betterchance in the changing geopolitical scenario. History is a hardtaskmaster. Like nature, it asserts itself. Reorganisation is acontinuous process. So, further reorganisation of north-east,within the broad frame of the Union of India cannot be ruled out.

B. DUTTAROY

ACKNowLEDGEMENTSThe papers included in this volume were presented to a Semi-nar on Reorganization of North-East India since 1947 organisedby North-East India Council for Social Science Research,Shillong, in February 1993. The basic perimeter of the seminarwas framed by Professor Imdad Hussain of the Department ofHistory, North Eastern Hill University. Professor B. Pakem, Vice-Chancellor, North Eastern Hill University not only inauguratedthe seminar with an exposition of the basic issues of North-East India reorganisation but was a source of academic inspi-ration for this work.

We remain very grateful to the Indian Council of HistoricalResearch, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi,North Eastern Council and Government of Mizoram for givingus generous support to undertake this study.

We wish to record our appreciation of the services of Mr.Rajarishi Roy, a journalist of Calcutta, who read the manu-script and of Mr. H.KGupta who gave me a strong secretarialsupport in the preparation of this volume.. To Mr. Ashok Kumar Mittal of the Concept Publishing Com-

pany, New Delhi, we owe a debt of gratitude for agreeing topublish this volume expeditiously.

B.DATTARAYS. P. AGRAWAL

CONTENTSIntroductionAcknowledgementList of Contributors

58

12

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

11 Assam: Unification and Roots of Division 15-Imdad Hussain

2./ The Future of the Hills of North-East India1928-1947: Some British Views 24-David R. Syiemlieh

PERSPECTIVE

3. The Issues of State Reorganisation:Some Reflections 37-A.C. Talukdar

4. Citizen's Problem, State Response:Crisis of Policy in North-East India 46-S.N.Ali

5 Constitutional Developments in North-East Indiasince 1947 57-S.K. Agnihotri

6. Issues of Reorganisations in North-East India 93-Sucheta Sen Choudhuri & Sarit Choudhuri

7. Some Reflections on the Reorganisation ofNorth-East India 101-Sukhendu Mazumdary. Ethnic Assertion and Reorganisation of Assam. 106

-, -Prafulla Misra

J The State and the Middle Class: The Case ofAssam (1979-90) 114-Samir Kumar Das

~Prospects for Ethnic Reorganisation 128-B. B. Goswami

10

, 18..>

23.

~

Reorganization of North-East India Since 1947

11. Reorganisation of North-East India:APoint of Economic Viability 138-R. P. Bhattacharjee

12. Deorganisation of Assamafter Independence 145-Nitendra Nath Das

13. Reorganisation of North-East India 155-Po C.Biswas

14. Balkanisationof North-East India:ATentative Hypothesis 168-BimanKar

15. Costsand Benefits of Reorganisation:The case ofNorth-East India since Independence 171-Archana Sharma

MICROSTUDIES

17.

Reorganisation and the Economic Problems of theBorder Areas of Jainta Hills 177-L. S. GassahTribal Problems: AReorganisationalMattar of Assam 184-Jagdish KalitaThe Reorganisation of Assamand the BodoMovement 198-So K. MukherjeeSettlement on Bodoland :AFew Points to Ponder 205-P.S.DattaReorganisation of the HillAreas of Assam:AStudy of Karbi AnglongDistrict 209-R. P. AthpariaTribal Policyand ConstitutionalDevelopment of Arunachal Pradesh 215-J.N. ChowdhuryReorganisation of North-East India: Process,Problems and Prospects (Ananalysis in thecontext of Arunachal Pradesh) 232--M. C.BeheraPoliticaland Constitutional Development inNagaland 241-R.P.Singh

19.

21.

22.

...

Contents 11

24. Territorial Issues and Manipur 251-Asok Kuinar Ray

25 Reorganisation of Mizoramsince Independence 260-M. M. Das, N. N. Sengupta, Mrinmayi Banerjee

26/ Reorganisation of North-East India:AStudyof Mizoram 268-R.N. Prasad

27. Conceptof Smaller States and the Pace ofDevelopment: ACase of Mizoram 284~S. S.Mishra

28. Reorganisation Question of Tripura (1949-62):Reactions of Different PoliticalParties 294-Mahadev Chakravarti

29. Tripura in Transition of PoliticalReorganisation Since 1947 308-Jagat Jyoti RoyAppendixReport of the Seminar 319-A.K.Neog

BibliographyIndex

331

433

LIST OF CONTRmUTORSS. K. Agnihotri- Scholar, Meghalaya House, New DelhiS. N. AIi- Deptt. of Political Science, Arunachal University, ItanagarR. P. Athparia - Anthropological Survey of India, ShillongMrinmayi Banerjee- Anthropological Survey of India, ShillongM. C. Behera - Zero, Arunachal Pradesh.R. P. Bhattacharjee- Economic &Statistical Deptt, Arunachal Pradesh,ItanagarBimanKar-Deptt. of Economics, Gauhati University, GuwahatiP. C. Biswas- Scholar, CalcuttaMahadev Chakravarti - Deptt. of History, Tripura University AgartalaSucheta Sen Choudhuri - Anthropological Survey of India, ShillongSarit Choudhuri - Anthropological Survey of India, ShillongJ. N. Chowdhury - Scholar, ShillongM. M. Das - Anthropological Survey of India, Shillong.Nltendra N ath Das - Scholar, Sibsagar, AssamSamir Kumar Das- Deptt. of Political Science, Calcutta University, CalcuttaP. S. Datta - La! Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussurie,

U.P. .L. S. Gassah - Deptt. of Political Science, North Eastern Hill University, ShillongB. B. Goswaml- Scholar, LucknowImdad Hussaln - Deptt. of History, North-Eastern Hill University, ShillongJagdish Kalita - Barama College, Barama, AssamSukhendu Mazumdar- Scholar.Assam Rifles, 99 A.P.O.Prafulla Mlsra - Shillong Observer, ShillongS. S. Mlshra - Anthropological Survey of India, Ranchi, BiharS. K. Mukherjee - Anthropological Survey of India, ShillongA. K. Neog - National Commission of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,

ShillongR.N.Prasad-DepttofPublicAdministration,NorthEasternHillUniversity,Aizawl,

MizoramAsok Kumar Ray - Presidency College, Mothung, Manipur.JagatJyoti Roy - Scholar, Tripura Darpan, AgartalaN .N. Sengupta - An thropological Survey of India, ShillongArchana Sharma - Deptt. of Economics, Gauhati University, GuwahatiR. P. Slngh - Deptt. of Earth Science, Manipur University, ImphalD. R. Sylemlieh- Deptt. of History, North-Eastern Hill University, ShillongA. C. Talukdar- Deptt. of Political Science, Arunachal University, Itanagar

I'

No region in India has undergone such frag-mentation as North-Ea·st has in the four decadesafter independence. What remains of the oldprovince of Assam after the last reorganisationin 1972 are virtually the districts of theBrahmaputra and barak valleys where Britishrule in the north-east began after the first AngloBurmese War (1824-26). The hill regions thatwere brought under the administrative controlof Assam as the eastern frontier of the empireextended, now formed as separate states. Whilethe process of expansion and integration wasspread over a century, the disintegration andterritorial reorganisation has occurred within arelatively short time.

The volume is planned to go into the histor-ical background of the problem with specialreference to the fragile nature of the administra-tive unity given to the erstwhile province ofAssam by the British; the partition at Indepen-dence and the question of ethnic identity in-cluding the role of language and the demand forreorganisation. It further examines the conse-quences of partition and reorganisation parti-cularly on the social and economic develop-mental process in the region and the politicalfall-out.

Rs.600

f,

Dr. B. Datta Ray,(b.1925) a pioneer in promoting.and popularising research in social sciences in thetribal areas of the North-Eastern India, is thefounder-Secretary of the North-East India Councilfor SocialScience Research. A veteran freedomfighter and a Tamrapatra holder, Dr. Datta Ray isa former Head of the Political Science Departmentof St. Edmund's College, Shillong, and has authoredand edited a number of publications.

S. P. Agrawal( b.1929) was Director, National SocialScience Documentation Centre, ICSSR: andMember-Secretary, Indian Association of SocialScience Institution. He was also the Vice-Chairmanof the Asia and Pacific Information Network inSocial Sciences (APINESS). In 1988,he was awardedthe degree of Philosophy in Education (HonorisCausa) by International University Foundation.Presently, he is a Member, Round Table onResearch in Reading, IFLA and Member,International Committee for Social ScienceInformation and Documentation. He is also Memberof Board of Studies of National Archives of Indiaand Hindi Advisory Committee, Ministry of Coal,Government of India. Born and brought up in thecradle of freedom movemen t which he joined at thetender age of twelve, he gained an insight intopolitical problems and developed a sense ofresponsibility which bore Fruit as an informationscientist committed to Gandhiji's philosophy andaction-plan in the field and its social concept. He haswritten extensively on various aspects of education,Indian polity-and library and information Science.

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