SHILLONG, June 24: KHADC Chief Executive Member Titosstarwell Chyne on Friday went on damage-control mode by asserting that the autonomous district councils were not against non-tribals.
Seeking to dispel the common notion that the ADCs were anti non-tribals, Chyne said, “We are not anti non-tribals. If KHADC was anti non-tribal then why were ADCs set up in 1952?”
Asserting that the state got the ADCs under the provision of the Sixth Schedule because the local indigenous communities are minorities, Chyne recalled that when JJM Nichols Roy got the opportunity to become a member of the sub-committee of the panel drafting the Indian Constitution, he thought about the smaller tribes.
“This is why right from that time the ADC was created to protect our interests. I appeal to all the non-tribal friends that they should not be misled by such concepts,” he said, making it clear that the purpose of this institution is only to protect the tribals and their traditional customs and unique culture.
