The bandh, seeking bifurcation of the district among the Dimasas and the non-Dimasas, has been called by the North Cachar Hills Indigenous Peoples Forum (NCHIPF), an umbrella organization of the Bietes, the Hrangkhawls, the Hmars, the Kukis, the Karbis, the Vaipheis, the Zeme Nagas, the Jaintias, the Khelmas and other non-Dimasa ethnic groups.
In a statement issued here on Friday, the NCHIPF said the bandh would start at 1 am on August 8 and continue till 5 am on August 12. An NCHIPF said train services would also be under the bandh purview.
The NCHIPF and organizations affiliated to it have been calling marathon bandhs, rail blockades and rallies over the issue ever since the Assam government rechristened the erstwhile North Cachar Hills district into Dima Hasao on April 1, 2009 following demands from the now-surrendered DHD(J). The demonstrations had crippled life in the district on several occasions. On July 12, 2010 and January 21, 2011 the non-Dimasa tribal groups had called 100-hours bandhs in the hill district on the same issue.
The Dimasas, the single largest community in the district, are against any division of the hill district, while the NCHIPF wants bifurcation of Dima Hasao in accordance with provisions of Sections 244 (2) and 275 (1) of the Sixth Schedule. "The proposed autonomous council should remain within undivided Assam," the forum added.
The NCHIPF said it wanted that the Dimasa-dominated Maibang sub-division be made a separate autonomous council as Dima Hasao, while should be another district comprising the Haflong sub-division and be known as NC Hills.
The NCHIPF spokesman alleged that the government was reluctant to meet the non-Dimasas' demands despite.
Recently, the DHD(J) had called a 24-hour bandh in Dima Hasao district. A spokesman of DHD(J) on Monday in Haflong said they had called the bandh in protest against atrocities by the Army and the security forces in the district.