Darlong community in ST list

Darlong community in ST list

Subject: Geography

Section: Tribes

Context: Darlongs – a small community of around 11,000 people in Tripura – was officially included in the list of Scheduled Tribes after the Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Concept :

Tribes of Tripura

• Tripura has 19 tribal communities.
• These include Tripuri or Debbarma, Reangs or Brus, Jamatia, Noatia, Uchoi, Chakma, Mog, Lushai, Kuki, Munda, Kour, Oram, Santhal, Bhil, Bhutia, Chaimar or Sermai, Garo, Khasi, Lepcha and Halam.
• Many of these communities are further divided into sub-tribes. For example, Kukis have nearly 17-18 sub-tribes within the community. It is an umbrella tribal community including many smaller clans like Khasi, Lushai, Hmars and other generic clans. In course of time, Lushai, Hmar, Garo etc. came out of Kuki as separate communities. Halam community also has several sub-tribes such as Rangkhawl, Ranglong, Dab, Chaimar or Sermai, Bong, Korbong, Harbong, Bongcher etc.

Who are Darlongs?

Darlong is a tribal community of 11,000 people. Despite its small population, the community has a high prevalence of education, cultural activities and members of the community are serving in different high positions in the local administration

Darlongs, despite being Scheduled Tribes, were never given ST certificates. Since they were considered a generic tribe under the Kuki community, they were handed their tribal certificates as members of ‘Kuki’ community. The subsequent identity crisis among them, especially Darlong youths, who were equipped with modern education, culminated in the demand for a separate statutory identity of their own in 1995.

The group is a small tribal clan but has produced a high number of educated people proportionate to its population in the state. People from the Darlong community, like many other tribal communities, are now serving in high positions in the state administration, academia, and public services. Tribal musicologist and Rosem (tribal instrument) maestro Thanga Darlong was conferred the prestigious Padma Shri award a few years back for his contribution to culture.