Union Home Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest on the occasion of the Statehood Day celebration in Itanagar. The people had much expectation from the visit and were waiting to hear from the second most powerful man of India. He came and delivered the usual lecture of praising the people of Arunachal for their patriotism towards the nation. There was a political punch too in his speech, with the claim that the BJP government has invested more money into the road sector in the state than the previous Congress government. But overall, the visit was a huge disappointment. There was no announcement of any special development package for the state.
Shah did not even consider it important enough to address the burning issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). A large section of the northeastern states has been bitterly opposing this act. Even during the day of his visit, the students of Rajiv Gandhi University staged a protest over the CAA. The decision of the union home minister to completely ignore the protest and speak not a word on the contentious act shows the arrogance of the BJP government. Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who spoke ahead of Shah at the same event, made a passionate appeal to the central government to create a separate IAS and IPS cadre for the state. The union home minister should have at least addressed to this appeal of the CM. For a state like Arunachal, where powerful union ministers rarely make a visit, there was huge expectation from Amit Shah. But to the utter disappointment of everyone, the visit of Shah was fruitless.