Members of the Chakma and the Hajong communities held a protest at Diyun in Changlang district on Saturday against the Arunachal Pradesh government’s order to suspend the issuance of residential proof certificates (RPC) to them allegedly “as part of its policy to throw them out of the state”.
The two-hour protest was held a day after the visit of a five-member government team to Diyun to probe the issuance of the RPCs. The state government had on July 31 suspended all RPCs issued till date in Changlang district and also issuance of fresh RPCs.
RPC is a proof of residence, used by the two communities to apply for higher studies and jobs under the central government and in private companies.The protesters accused the Pema Khandu-led BJP government of sending the probe team “under pressure” from the influential All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU).
The students' union had demanded an inquiry into the issuance of the RPCs or “face a general strike” which was deferred once the issuance of RPCs was suspended and a probe ordered.Two AAPSU representatives were part of the team, the protesters said.“The denial of the RPCs is nothing but denial of our basic rights. The Chakmas and Hajongs shall not accept Kangaroo court-type justice where the AAPSU has become the complainant, investigator, prosecutor and judge – all rolled into one. This is not something allowed in a country governed by the rule of law,” Krishna Chakma, spokesperson of the Chakma Hajong Rights’ Alliance, which led the peaceful sit-in protest at Diyun on Saturday.
The AAPSU sees the two communities as refugees and has always objected to any move that may open the door to citizenship in the frontier state, a protected area where outsiders, even Indians, need inner line permits to enter the state. There is a fear among the state’s indigenous communities that they may be swamped by outsiders given their population growth.Former AAPSU general secretary Tobom Dai told The Telegraph: “RPC and PRC (permanent residence certificate) is just a twist of the words but the basic agenda it seems to remain the same. Indigenous people of the state view issuance of RPC to refugees as the opening of floodgate for their permanent settlement claim in future.”Dai said the issuance of the RPC has been opposed because its issuance is illegal.
“It (RPC) has never been approved by the cabinet or the Assembly or through any gazette notification, so everything done is illegal, something which the AAPSU has rightly dubbed as a conspiracy against the indigenous people of the state.”He said they came to know about the issuance of RPC only recently as it was “never” in the public domain.The AAPSU had last year sought a census of the communities, a move which was dubbed racial profiling by the two communities.There are about 65,000 Chakmas (Buddhists) and Hajongs (Hindus) in Arunachal Pradesh. They fled from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) to displacement triggered by a dam and then to escape religious persecution. They were settled by the Centre in North East Frontier Agency (now Arunachal Pradesh) between 1964 and 1969 to “beef up” security following the 1962 Indo-China war.
The two communities are mainly concentrated in three of the state’s 26 districts — Changlang, Papumpare and Namsai.AAPSU says their population has exceeded over a lakh.Both sides seem firm on their respective stands.Krishna Chakma said the idea to hold the protest was to send a message to the state government that they are citizens of India and they want their RPC right restored. “RPCs don’t affect the indigenous people in any way. We have been getting it since 2016. We were settled in NEFA in the sixties. Arunachal attained statehood in 1987. We want our rights restored. And we are not relocating anywhere as announced by the government last year,” he said.“Though we are citizens, Arunachal Pradesh has been denying our rights despite the Supreme Court directing it to process our citizenship applications on January 9, 1996. Not a single application has been processed as of date but in 2021, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister announced that they would be resettled outside the state. The denial of the RPCs is a part of the same campaign,” Chakma said.
The rally saw the participation of various organisations representing the two communities such as the Chakma Hajong Rights’ Alliance (CHRA), Committee for Citizens’ Rights of the Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh, Chakma Mahila Samiti, Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Hajong Students Association, Chakma Hajong Elders Forum and Chakma Gaonburah Council, with the youths, the “most affected by the government decision”, leading from the front at the protest.
