[ Indrajit Tingwa ]
NAMSAI, 18 Mar: The Tai Khamti Singpho Council (TKSC), along with the Tai Khamti Development Society, the All Tai Khamti Singpho Students’ Union, and the All Namsai Area Youth Association on Monday slammed candidates from outside Namsai district attempting to contest elections from Namsai.
Addressing the media, TKSC secretary-general Jaling Mannow said that “the trend has been set over the few previous elections, when outsiders from the district and of the area started trying their political luck in the Tai Khamti and Singpho areas of Bordumsa in Changlang district and Namsai district, and this trend is spreading further.”
“While the liberties given under parliamentary democracy are appreciated, the tribal and ethnic setup of Arunachal Pradesh ought to be kept in mind for peaceful continuity of the harmonious coexistence of the various tribal communities,” he said, and termed the trend “a threat to the identity of minor tribes like the Tai Khamti and Singpho.”
Mannow added that “there might be a larger design at play for political annihilation of minor tribes, while it is desired that inter-tribal mutual respect and communal harmony must be upheld on the concept of ‘unity in diversity’, which Arunachal Pradesh has carried forward for so long.”
The TKSC secretary-general pointed out that “these are the areas of the Tai Khamtis and Singphos, which have been taken for granted and assumed as being a soft target by these outsiders trying their political luck.”
Saying that allowing the trend to continue may “decimate political representation of the minor tribes,” Mannow told the people of the district that “if there is any discord or dissatisfaction, it can be sorted out, and if seeking for a change in leadership, it could be done by choosing for a change among the locals.”
Responding to a question, he said that the Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum (AITF) has not yet communicated with them in this regard, and added that “the AITF is expected to act in order to dissuade outsiders seeking to contest elections in the district.”
