The first press briefing by new Home Minister Bamang Felix has left the people of the state confused and scratching their heads. Felix while addressing the press at the police headquarters in Itanagar on Thursday claimed that there was no record of government employees being forced to pay taxes to the underground elements in the troubled districts of Tirap, Changlang and Longding. The minister might be correct in claiming that there is no record, but it is an open secret that various factions of Naga militants are known to collect taxes, which no one refuses to acknowledge publicly. It would have been better if Felix had assured to probe the claim and take strong action in this regard.
Felix is considered to be a no-nonsense minister. There is huge expectation from him to bring law and order under control in the state. Starting from the anti-PRC agitation to the election-related violence, Arunachal Pradesh has witnessed complete lawlessness in the last three months. There is no fear for the law, and people do not hesitate to take the law into their own hands. It’s in this context that the people of the state were expecting the new home minister to send out a strong message. Also, the statement of state police chief SBK Singh that the police department alone cannot be squarely blamed for intelligence failure with regard to the assassination of MLA Tirong Aboh is a big joke. Instead of making such a laughable statement, Singh should have gracefully accepted that there was failure of intelligence, and vowed to pursue the killers. The police intelligence agencies are professional people and are paid to do their job. A group of 20 people enters the state, kills 11 people, including a sitting MLA, and then escapes without being caught. If the DGP thinks this is not intelligence failure then god save this state. The present DGP has been found wanting on several occasions. Why did he not visit Tirap after two of his own jawans, who had been deployed as bodyguards of Aboh, were also killed in the massacre? Being the leader of the forces, he should have been present on the ground to monitor the situation. The state deserves a better DGP than the present one.