SUMMARY

The Dimasa ethnic group, also referred to as the Dima-fisa and Dimasa-Kachari, is a tribal group living mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam. The group is commonly viewed as being part of the wider Bodo-Kachari category that inhabits India’s north-eastern tribal areas. The name, in the Dimasa language, means the “sons of the great river”, with the great river being the Brahmaputra River that flows through the entirety of Assam.

The group is mainly located in the area of the North Kachar Hills District of Assam, but has a significant presence also in Karbi Anglong District and the Kachar District. In India the group numbers somewhere above 110 000 (1997 estimate), and it has significant political power in the tribal councils in which it participates. In terms of lifestyle the group is sedentary and involved in traditional agricultural practices. Religiously the Dimasa have not, like many other tribal groups in the region, converted to Christianity and they instead adhere to Hinduism mixed with traditional beliefs.

The group has in modern times had frequent conflicts, violent and non-violent, with other ethnic groups over land and land rights.

In conflicts with other ethnic groups in North Kachar Hills and Karbi Anglong districts the Dimasa people have often been represented by an organisation called the Dima Halim Daogah (DHD). The DHD is a severely fractionalised militant grouping, with the general aim of establishing a separate homeland for the Dimasas. Whilst Dimasa tribals unaffiliated with the DHD have partaken in clashes with other ethnic groups, such as the Hmar and the Karbi, the DHD has accepted responsibility for a number of violent attacks on other tribal groups. How firmly support for the DHD can be found amongst the Dimasa group is unclear, but the group claims to be representing the interests of the entire Dimasa group.

The Dimasa group has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.