Rabha organisations across Assam have intensified their mobilisation, launching coordinated protests and planning a December 12 dharna in Delhi to pressure the Centre for constitutional recognition.
BY PC Bureau
Renewing a demand that has remained unresolved for over two decades, thousands from the Rabha community staged a massive torch-light rally in Boko on the evening of Saturday, December 6, demanding that the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The demonstration—organised by the Kamrup District Rabha Students’ Union along with the Kamrup District Women’s Council and the Sixth Schedule Demand Committee—reflected growing anger over what community leaders describe as the government’s prolonged neglect of their constitutional rights since 2003.
The rally set off from Gandhi Maidan and wound its way past the Boko Primary Health Centre and Boko Police Station before concluding near the Boko Regional Rabha Students’ Union office. Protesters from ten regional units of the Students’ Union across Kamrup district took part, joined by men and women from several neighbouring villages. As the torchlight procession moved through the town, slogans such as “Assam Government Hai Hai,” “Assam Government Liar,” and “Sixth Schedule is our rightful demand” echoed through the streets.
Saturday’s protest is part of a broader wave of mobilisation across Kamrup and Goalpara districts. Over the past two months, the All Rabha Students’ Union, All Rabha Women’s Council, and the Sixth Schedule Demand Committee have coordinated a series of demonstrations to revive the long-pending demand. Leaders have announced that the movement will now escalate to a major dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on December 12, aimed at pressuring the Centre to act.
Addressing the crowd, Sixth Schedule Demand Committee president Dashanan Rabha accused the government of misleading the community with “false promises” and warned that the patience of the Rabha people is wearing thin. He said that unless the Sixth Schedule demand is fulfilled before the upcoming Assembly elections, Rabha organisations will intensify their agitation—and are prepared to enter the electoral fray themselves.
Dashanan Rabha added that preparations are already underway to field candidates from the Rabha Hasong region, with plans to contest in four Assembly constituencies within or adjacent to Rabha-dominated areas. “We are ready to fight politically if our democratic rights continue to be ignored,” he declared.
Echoing this resolve, All Rabha Students’ Union vice-president Pradip Rabha said the movement would continue relentlessly until the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council is formally granted Sixth Schedule status.
As Assam moves closer to the next Assembly elections, the escalating protests signal a renewed and assertive political push from the Rabha community—one that the state government may no longer be able to sidestep.
