ITANAGAR, 1 Jul: Four political parties in the state lodged an FIR against Chief Minister Pema Khandu and union Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju at the Kimin police station on Thursday over the Kimin episode.
The FIR, signed by seven leaders of the People’s Party of Arunachal, the Janata Dal (United), the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee, while referring to the “sequence of Kimin row before and after the inauguration of the 20-km Kimin-Potin road by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 17 June,” said that “facts and chain of events show that Pema Khandu and Kiren Rijiju in fraudulent connivance with Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have ceded Kimin town into Assam territory and consented by the union defence ministry, which has violated the Arunachal Pradesh Statehood Act, 1987.”
The FIR stated that the incident also violated the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 (Restricted Area Permit) and rules of the Arunachal Pradesh (Land Settlement & Record) Act, 2000, “by misrepresenting Kimin town, which is under the revenue jurisdiction of Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh.”
“Committing fraud and contempt of Article 3 of the constitution of India, 1949, CM Pema Khandu and union minister Kiren Rijiju have grossly abused their official authority and power, undermining the interest and the integrity of the state and its people,” the parties said in the FIR.
The political parties further said that “both Khandu and Rijiju have committed an unpardonable crime by compromising the territorial status of Arunachal Pradesh by attempting to illegally distort/alter the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary row, pending in the Supreme Court, by misrepresenting Kimin as a part of Assam.”
Referring to the covering up of the names of Kimin and Arunachal on signboards and foundation stones with white paste by the BRO, “despite objection from the residents of Kimin,” the FIR said: “The Kimin-Potin road inauguration itinerary and intimation letter dated 12 June, 2021, of BRO to Yupia DC has shown Kimin as a part of Assam as Bilgarh (Assam). But unfortunately no corrective measures were taken by the government of Arunachal Pradesh, despite the fact that CM Pema Khandu had a meeting with Brigadier AS Chonker, chief engineer, BRO, on dated 14 June, 2021, three days prior to the Kimin-Potin road inauguration programme.”
The parties further said that Khandu in his recent media briefing accepted that “he was aware of the Kimin white paste mishaps,” and that he had apprised Rijiju – who was travelling with the defence minister on the same day – of the same. However, the FIR said, till date, no statement and clarification has been issued by either of them.