Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Jun 8: The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) organised a statewide sit-in protest on Saturday over the massacre of 11 people, including Khonsa West MLA Tirong Aboh, near Tirap HQ Khonsa on 21 May. Several of the union’s federating units across the state joined the protest.
At the sit-in which was staged at IG Park here, AAPSU members demanded justice for the families of the slain, and expulsion of insurgent groups from Tirap, Changlang and Longding (TCL) districts. The union also demanded that the incident be investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The union home affairs ministry already on Thursday directed the NIA to take over the investigation.
The AAPSU also demanded ex gratia for the families of the deceased, and government jobs for the next-of-kin of the government employees who perished alongside the MLA. The government has already announced ex gratia and jobs for the next-of-kin of the deceased.
“We demand immediate expulsion of all the underground elements from Tirap Changlang and Longding areas,” AAPSU general secretary Tobom Dai said.
“People only know about Wangcha Rajkumar and Tirong Aboh because they were public figures. There are many unreported incidents in which innocent people were killed by insurgents,” he added.
“It is an opportune moment. The BJP government needs political will to find a permanent solution in the TCL region. Whatever problems have come to the TCL region came from across the border,” Dai said.
“It’s been more than 20 days but no perpetrator has been booked so far. Why are they killing innocent people in a political fight?” said Chasat Siksa, the widow of slain PSO Khundung Siksa.
She also appealed to the central and the state governments to end insurgency in the TCL region.
In Daporijo, the All Upper Subansiri District Students’ Union organised a sit-in protest and expressed solidarity with the bereaved families of those who perished in the massacre.
In Tirap, members of the All Tirap District Students’ Union, along with representatives of civil society bodies and NGOs of the district, staged peaceful sit-in protests at the markets in Khonsa and Deomali on Saturday to protest the brutal massacre.
The protestors demanded that the state government ensure security of the lives of the people of Tirap, Changlang and Longding, and sought immediate expulsion of all underground elements from the three districts.
A sit-in protest was also organized by the Deomali College Union.
