The Students United Movement of All Arunachal (SUMAA) has strongly opposed the recent announcements made by Chief Minister Pema Khandu
and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein that the State government was
considering issuing permanent resident certificates (PRC) to six
Non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) communities living in the
Namsai and Changlang districts and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar.
The
SUMAA on Tuesday cautioned that the State government would face strong
opposition from the Union if the PRCs were granted to the Non-APSTs.
“The
work of an elected leader is to focus on development and safeguard the
rights of the indigenous people. Instead of doing so, the leaders here
are polluting the peaceful scenario by making such statements and
assurances,” SUMAA general secretary Suraj Ligu said in a statement.
“The claims made by the people of Lekang area that they are ok with
the granting of PRCs to the Non-APSTs are baseless and it will soon face
strong resistance from every corner of Arunachal,” he said.
Khandu,
while addressing a public meeting at Vijaynagar in Changlang on Friday,
had announced that his government is looking upon the odds on granting PRCs to the non-APST communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts.
He,
however, said the interests of the indigenous tribal population would
be taken into consideration and cut-off dates would be set to qualify
for PRC. Mein said in Assam recently that granting PRCs to the Non-APSTs
would be a New Year gift for them.
The SUMAA alleged that the
politicians of the State were repeatedly breaching the Bengal Eastern
Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act of 1873 which protects and preserves the
tribal identity of the indigenous population of Arunachal Pradesh.
The BEFR Act prohibits all citizens of India from entering the state without an inner line permit (ILP). It also forbids the foreigners from buying land, settling and doing business in the State.
The
All Changlang District Students’ Union (ACDSU) has also condemned the
statements of Khandu and Mein, particularly the one made by the former
on granting PRCs to the Gorkha community living in Vijaynagar in the
Changlang district by January 2019.
“The government needs to
respect the rights and concerns of the indigenous people. Before making
such hasty announcements, the government should also give an opportunity
to the locals of the district to speak,” Chumtu Tunghkhang, the general
secretary of ACDSU said.
The Gorkhas presently settled at
Vijaynagar were brought in the state for a temporary basis and on lease
settlement for 30 years.
The deed of agreement on lease will be
over by 2020. Granting PRC to Gorkhas would eventually lead to more such
demands by several other communities in the coming days, the union
added.
Besides the SUMAA
and ACDSU, several other organizations like the All Arunachal Pradesh
Students’ Union, All Papum Pare District Students’ Union and Arunachal
Pradesh Abotani Community Confederation have already raised their voice
against the government’s announcement.
Representatives from a
number of communities that are not recognized as Scheduled Tribes (STs)
in the State have been demanding that they should be provided with PRCs
as they have been living in the State for decades.
Amongst those
communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings.
Most of these communities are recognized as Scheduled Tribe communities
in Assam.
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