GUWAHATI:
The Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students Union (APCSU), on July 19, urged Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu to reject the demand of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU) to cancel all the residential proof certificates (RPCs) of the Chakma-Hajong community and threatened to launch a state-wide strike from August 2 if the government fails to heed their demand.
“Reject all the demands of the AAPSU, including those against Robin Chakma and issuance of RPCs. We also urge the chief minister to extend full support to extra assistant commissioner (EAC) of Diyun, S Roy and deputy commissioner (DC) of Changlang, Sunny Singh, from the onslaught of the AAPSU while discharging official responsibilities regarding the Chakmas and Hajongs of the state,” Rup Singh Chakma, president APCSU, said in a statement.
The APCSU also said that nowhere in India, a students’ organisation or for that matter any non-state entity can visit the offices of the state government or the government of India and videograph the meetings with the officials, as claimed by the AAPSU leaders.
“This is a blot on Arunachal Pradesh. The state government should therefore direct the EAC of Diyun and DC of Changlang to initiate necessary legal proceedings if there were any instance of illegal trespass and/or obstruction in the discharge of official duties by the EAC, Diyun and his staff,” the statement read.
Earlier on July 18, the AAPSU had served a 15-day ultimatum to the Pema Khandu-led government to cancel all the RPCs allegedly issued to the members of the Chakma-Hajong community, claiming that it had found at least 500 Chakma-Hajong refugees were issued RPCs at Diyun in Changlang district. The student body also warned that it would launch an indefinite state-wide bandh if their demand is not fulfilled within 15 days.
“Arunachal is not a laboratory of Chakma and Hajong refugees,” AAPSU president Dozi Tana Tara had said, while addressing a press conference at the Arunachal Press Club on July 18.
Tara had also demanded the suspension of Changlang DC and EAC of Diyun immediately and “seizure of all the benefits and facilities availed by Bordumsa-Diyun MLA Samlung Mossang”.
Countering the AAPSU’s statement on protecting their motherland Arunachal Pradesh, Chakma said, “Chakmas and Hajongs are born and brought up in Arunachal Pradesh and it is their motherland too. The Chakmas and Hajongs are citizens of India, recognised by the various judgments of the constitutional courts and they have been casting their votes. The time has come for the AAPSU to accept the reality and bring an end to discrimination against the Chakmas and Hajongs.”
The APCSU also urged the chief minister to implement the Supreme Court judgment on granting of citizenship to the migrants of the 1964-1969 period.