Kohima: The Dimasa Youth Organisation Nagaland (DYON) slammed Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio for calling the Kachari people migrants. The group claims this label ignores hard facts and official government data. They fired back on November 10, stating the remark "disregards both the community's documented history and the State's official records."
History tells a different story. Dimapur served as the seat of the Kachari Kingdom centuries before 1963, when India made Nagaland its 16th state. The group pointed to Ahom buranjis, British records, and ancient monoliths standing in the district today as proof of their long roots. They noted that census data from colonial times through the modern era confirms the Kachari presence in the area.
Legal records support this stance. A Land Revenue Department memo from November 7, 1979, officially lists Kacharis alongside Naga tribes as indigenous inhabitants. That same month, a government notification placed the community inside the Dimapur Tribal Belt. The 1970 Constitution (Nagaland) Scheduled Tribes Order also officially recognizes the Kachari as a Scheduled Tribe. The state government previously acknowledged that Kacharis lived in the region before December 1, 1963. Eligible descendants may still obtain tribe and inhabitant certificates after proper checks.
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