NEW DELHI, 11 Feb: The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) on Friday filed a complaint, seeking the National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) intervention vis-à-vis the allegation of “false prosecution of Chakma human rights defenders/community rights defenders of Dharmapur village in Miao circle of Changlang district” by the local administration.
In its complaint to the NHRC, the CDFI said, “The Chakmas and neighbouring communities have been living peacefully for the last five decades and the Buri Dihing river was the recognized natural boundary between Dharmapur in the north and neighbouring Neoton village in the south.
“However, a problem started in November 2021 when the Chakma villagers of Dharmapur allegedly stopped one of the leaders of Neoton village from illegally quarrying boulders/stones from the new canal situated inside Dharmapur village for commercial supply to an illegal stone boulder/crusher nearby,” it claimed.
It said that the administration, “instead of inquiring into the illegal quarrying, sought to draw illegal and arbitrary boundary pillars between the two villages,” and requested the NHRC to direct the Arunachal government and the authority concerned to “stop harassment of the Chakma community human rights defenders and ensure respect for the Supreme Court judgment in NHRC vs state of Arunachal Pradesh and Anr of 9 January, 1996, in letter and spirit.”
