Which tribe first? Chief Secy learns it hard way

Things reached such a pass that the All Nyishi Students’ Union (ANSU) not only accused Bam of hijacking the official agenda but also termed him “anti-Nyishi”. The union also demanded immediate removal of the Chief Secretary and announced an agitation to press for their demand.

Bam, however, clarified that he had never tried to sideline the Nyishi demand, and even pointed out that he himself, as Chief Secretary, had written as many as five letters to the Centre in this regard.

“I have equal respect for all communities of the state and I am responsible for addressing genuine grievances of various sections of the people,” Bam said, adding that he was keenly pursuing the Nyishi case.

His last letter to the Secretary of the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry detailed all possible reasons to justify the demand, Bam said.

Bam also clarified that he had only mentioned in passing whether the Galo issue could be included in the agenda because the Galo community too had submitted a memorandum, but had never insisted on that. He also described the whole affair as a “communication gap” and appealed to the ANSU to give up the matter.

The ANSU, however, perisited, eventually forcing Chief Minister Dorjee Kahndu to intervene, and send Bam on leave. Kahndu also constituted a high-power committee headed by state Rural Works Minister Chowna Mein to find a solution to the controversy.

“Our community has been pressing for the change of nomenclature from Dafla to Nyishi for over 30 years now. The reason is that the word ‘Dafla’ is an alien term imposed by outsiders, while ‘Nyishi’ is what we actually call ourselves,” TT Tara, secretary of the Nyishi Elite Society, which has been spearheading the renaming campaign, told The Indian Express from Itanagar over the telephone.

Arunachal Pradesh has a complex situation with its nearly 11 lakh population comprising as many as 26 ‘major’ tribes and over 110 ‘sub-tribes’.

The Nyishis, who are spread over five districts — Upper Subansiri, Lower Subansiri, Kurung Kumey, East Kameng and Papum Pare — belong to the Indo-Mongoloid group of people and their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family.

Though the 2001 Census puts the number of Nyishis at only over 45,000, TT Tara of the Nyishi Elite Society put the number at 3.5 lakh.