NCHISF called the bandh seeking bifurcation of the district into Dimasa and non-Dimasa area. The bandh was supported by the North Cachar Hills Indigenous People's Forum (NCHIPF) and the North Cachar Hills Indigenous Women Forum (NCHIWF).
Sources in Haflong, the district headquarters, said, "While the bandh was total in Haflong, Harangajao and Mahur areas, it failed to evoke any response in the Dimasa-dominated towns and villages, including Maibang and Umrangshu. Work was uninterrupted in the Neepco's Kopili Hydro Electricity project and some cement manufacturing plants in the industrial township of Umrangshu. In Maibang, a cultural hub of the district, there was no impact of the bandh.
However, normal life was disrupted in the tribal-dominated areas of the district.
An official said no shops or business establishments were open in Haflong. Banks and other government establishments also remained closed. Attendance in the office of the deputy commissioner and Autonomous Council was also thin. Traffic was off the roads in the district headquarters. Trains did not run on the Lumding-Silchar section of the NFR that runs across the district.
Bandh supporters were seen picketing on the streets of Haflong town during the day. However, nobody was arrested. A police officer said the bandh, so far, passed off peacefully with no report of any untoward incident.
NCHISF and its sister organizations have been agitating through bandhs, dharnas and rallies for past more than one year, seeking the bifurcation.
A spokesman of NCHISF on Monday said they would soon launch the next phase of agitation if their demand was not met. "The nomenclature of the district from North Cachar Hills to Dima Hasao was changed against our will. Now we want that Maibang subdivision, dominated by Dimasas, should be made the Dima Hasao district and Haflong sub-division, dominated by non-Dimasa tribals, should be identified as NC Hills district", said the spokesman.