[ Pisi Zauing ]
MIAO, Oct 30: The political department has yet again excluded the Singphos from the joint high power committee (JHPC) meeting on permanent resident certificate (PRC) scheduled to be held at Itanagar 31 October.
The department’s attempt to bar the Singpho Students’ Union (SSU) and the Singpho Youth Organization (SYO) from the JHPC meeting has been condemned by the leaders and elite groups of the community.
The SYO and the SSU, who have taken part in JHPC meetings in the past, have never been made members of the JHPC again, whereas other fellow student unions representing the affected communities of Khampti, Mishmi, Tangsa and Nyishi are invited.
Several Singpho leaders have expressed astonishment at the “suspicious intent” of the political department, and said the Singphos have been the most affected by the issue in question and therefore the JHPC should have taken the Singpho community into confidence.
They said the Singpho community has been “deliberately” left out for reasons best known to the political department and the state government.
“Unfortunately, we do not have any elected representative. But it does not mean that the Singphos are extinct. Singpho is a major tribe of the state and the most affected by outsiders, which means our participation in every JHPC meeting is mandatory,” a member of the community, P Singpho, said.
The deputy commissioners of Papum Pare, Changlang, Lohit and Namsai districts, AAPSU representatives, and student unions representing the Khampti, Mishmi, Tangsa and Nyishi communities have been invited to the meeting.