Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 2 Aug: The 24-hour bandh jointly imposed by the Nyishi Youth Welfare Association (NYWA) and the Arunachal Indigenous Students Union (AISU) on Monday partially crippled normal life in the Itanagar capital region (ICR).
While shops remained closed in most of the sectors, some private and official
vehicles were seen plying around during the bandh hours.
The two organizations have accused the state government of misusing central government funds meant for Covid-19 management. They also alleged that three Tibetans have been given scheduled tribe certificates illegally, and demanded their immediate cancellation.
Other demands of the organizations include scrapping of the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2014; annulment of the Arunachal Pradesh District Based Entrepreneurs and Professionals (Incentives, Development and Promotional) Act, 2015; renaming of Indira Gandhi Park in Itanagar as Abo Tani Park, and introduction of a chapter related to Arunachal in the NCERT syllabus.
ICR SP Jimmy Chiram informed that three persons reportedly involved in the bandh call have been arrested, and that no incident of any public disturbance occurred on Monday.
Apparently, the three arrested persons had posted videos on social media while burning tyres and blocking National Highway 415. The capital police swung into action and arrested all three persons who appeared in the video.
Earlier, Koloriang MLA Lokam Tassar appealed to the people to defy the bandh imposed by what he called “unrecognized organizations.” Tassar stated that the AISU and the NYWA “are not social sanctioned and recognized organizations.”
“For the state, AAPSU represents indigenous communities, and for Nyishi community, the All Nyishi Youth Association represents the Nyishi youth level. These are social sanctioned ones. People should defy the bandh imposed by unrecognized organizations,” Tassar said.
“A bandh should be the last resort for the welfare of the people but should not be used as an instrument to harass the people. It should be through negotiation and dialogue,” he said, condemning the bandh culture in the state.
