Express News Service
GUWAHATI: The Chakmas and the Hajongs in BJP-ruled Arunachal Pradesh vented their ire on the streets on Saturday against the state government’s alleged attempt to throw them out of the state through the denial of Residential Proof Certificates (RPCs).
The state’s Changlang district administration had issued the RPCs to an unspecified number of the Chakmas but the process was “suspended” by the state government as the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) had announced a phase-wise protest demanding the cancellation of the same.
The state government had also ordered a probe into the issuance of the certificates. A five-member committee, which has two AAPSU leaders, is conducting an investigation.
The Chakmas and the Hajongs criticised the Pema Khandu government for allegedly yielding to the AAPSU’s pressure.
“The denial of the RPCs is nothing but the continuation of racial profiling of the Chakmas and the Hajongs. The Chakmas and the Hajongs will not accept Kangaroo justice where the AAPSU has become the complainant, investigator, prosecutor and judge,” said Krishna Chakma, a spokesperson of the Chakma Hajong Rights Alliance which is leading the protest.
Various Chakma and Hajong organisations viewed the government’s action as an attempt to deny existence to people belonging to the two communities in the state.
In the wake of the protest being staged by the Chakmas and the Hajongs in Changlang district, the authorities beefed up security to thwart any untoward incident.
The Buddhist Chakmas and the Hindu Hajongs in Arunachal were displaced by a dam in the then East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh). They have a combined population of around 65,000 in the state.
According to the leaders of the two communities, these people were resettled in Arunachal by the central government in 1964 to beef up security following the 1962 Indo-China war.
“Though they are citizens, Arunachal has been denying the same despite the Supreme Court directing to process the citizenship applications on January 9, 1996. Not a single application has been processed as on date and in 2021, the Chief Minister announced to resettle them outside the state. The denial of the RPCs is a part of the same campaign,” a Chakma leader said.