Editor,
Whenever there arises hopelessness in the masses, a common cry is made and the authority in power is always challenged; more so in situations where it affects the larger population, cutting across religious, social and cultural differences.
The anti-PRC movement in 2019 was one such movement. It had put on halt the entire state, with capital city Itanagar tightly engulfed in its grip. Likewise, the unrest among the masses today, specifically the young aspirants, is like a tsunami wave visible on the horizon far in the ocean. This tsunami needs to be prevented. The state cannot be sent into the dark days of the yesteryears. We cannot anticipate another anti-PRC-like movement.
With the unfolding of the recent events in the APPSC fiasco, several students have formed groups of respective exams and collectively formed the Pan-Arunachal Joint Steering Committee- APPSC (PAJSC-APPSC). The numbers of groups are growing under the PAJSC-APPSC, and with their collective 13-point charter of demands, the number of arrests has also increased. Looking at the numbers of people involved from top to the bottom, it feels like there will be a breakdown of state apparatus. The promise made by the government about ‘zero tolerance’ against corruption seems paradoxical, since the rate of corruption has only increased.
Ironically, all the arrests made are from examinations held during the years under the leadership of the current chief minister. Not to forget the infamous APSSB fiasco. This leaves one wondering two things: either the government is in nexus with the perpetrators, or it is too incompetent to comprehend whatever is happening inside the commission. In both the cases, it is accountable to the public.
Adding to this, the investigating agency and the police department seldom act on prima facie evidence when it comes to anomalies in the exams conducted by the commission. It is only after the streets are filled with slogans, hunger strikes staged, numerous memorandums submitted and intervention of student unions that such cases are taken up.
I find it wise on the part of the government to bring justice till the last perpetrator is terminated and put behind bars. It should make a revolutionary effort to provide us not just a fair recruiting agency but also a body of individuals who are in nation-builders in the true sense.
With so many things happening simultaneously in and outside the state against the government, delivering justice in this case will also clear the image of the government to some extent.
So, what’s next? Will the government play accountable to the youths, or is this going to be just another dead case in the police diaries and a failed movement on the part of the youths of the state?
Comrade G