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Karbi (Mikir) Nation (India)

image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 16 April 2009

Karbi (Mikir) Nation
KLNLF - Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front

See also:

Karbi (Mikir) Nation

Total Karbi population in Karbi Anglong District : 353, 513 ( 2001 Census). However the actual population figure of the tribe for the whole of NE of India is more than 800, 000. Most are Hindu (84.64 %) but 15 % are Christian, the rest follows the traditional beliefs. Racially the Karbis belong to the Mongoloid group and linguistically they belong to the Tibeto-Burman group. The original home of the various people speaking Tibeto-Burman languages was in western China near the Yang-Tee-Kiang and the Howang-ho rivers and from these places they went down the courses of the Brahmaputra, the Chindwin and the Irrawaddy and entered India and Burma. The Kabis, along with others entered Assam from Central Asia in one of the waves of migration.

The Karbis, mentioned as the Mikirs in the Constitution Order, Govt. of India, constitute an important ethnic group in the hill areas of Assam. However, they never call themselves Mikir but call themselves Karbi and sometimes Arleng which literally means a man. Although at present, they are found to inhabit in the Karbi Anglong District, nevertheless, some Karbi inhabited pockets are found in the North Cachar Hills, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon and Sonitpur Districts also.

More on Karbis at http://karbi.wordpress.com/about-karbis/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karbi, http://karbianglong.nic.in/, http://karbianglong.nic.in/ataglance.html.

More militant Karbi organizations demand a separation of Karbi homeland from Assam. Some are fighting for complete independence.

James B. Minahan (Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations - Ethnic and National Groups Around the World - volume III) describes the flag (using the name: Mikir")
"The Mikir national flag, the flag of the nationalist organizations, is a blue field bearing a white crescent moon and two white, five-pointed stars at the points."
Chrystian Kretowicz, 16 April 2009

KLNLF - Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front

image by Eugene Ipavec, 17 April 2009

The most active group fighting for self-rule and self-determination of the Karbi Nation - "Hemprek Kangthim" - is KLNLF - Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front. They used to have their own website, but it was deleted recently from the net. Jaume Ollé prepared the provisional image of their flag sometime ago for Flag Report, based on the above mentioned defunct website.

KLNLF profile at http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/terrorist_outfits/KLNLF.HTM.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 16 April 2009

The stripes appear to be unequal, ~31:42:27.
Eugene Ipavec, 17 April 2009

Detail of Badge

image by Eugene Ipavec, 17 April 2009