[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 22 Feb: Even as clashes broke out between the indigenous Tangsa tribe and the Chakma settlers recently in Neotan village in Miao circle of Changlang district over boundary demarcation, just a few kilometres away from Neotan, in another refugee settlement – a Tibetan rehabilitation camp – things looked absolutely normal.
Popularly known as TR Camp, Miao, this settlement for the Tibetan community, who originally hailed from Pemako in southeastern Tibet, was established in 1975 by the government of India.
They were settled in an area of 2,000 acres, just a few kilometres away from the present Miao town. At first, when they arrived in Arunachal Pradesh through the Tuting border in Upper Siang district, they were settled in Changlang town.
“At the time of settlement at TR Camp, our population was 400. As per the latest 2022 census, it is 2,623. The population growth is very minimal in the Tibetan community,” informed Tenzin Rangdol, office secretary of the TR Camp.
Unlike the Chakmas, who are often accused of encroaching on land belonging to the indigenous tribes, the Tibetans say that they have never crossed the settlement area. “We have never had any issue with the local tribal community and have never gone beyond our original settlement area. The local tribals have been very gracious to give us land for temporary stay. We will never disregard their act of generosity by going out of the settlement area,” he said.
Further, he said that the majority of the Tibetans living in the refugee settlement area still yearn to return to Tibet.
“We don’t intend to stay forever here and one day hope to return to Tibet. If we can’t return to Tibet, we will look for a better opportunity in the western countries,” said Tenzin Rangdol.
“We are a guest here in Arunachal Pradesh and know the rule of the law very well,” he added.
T Mossang, the gaon burah of Neotan village, said that the local indigenous population never had any conflict with the Tibetan refugee settlers. “Barring a few odd individual cases, there has never been an issue with them. They respect the tribal ethos and also never venture out of the settlement area,” said the GB.
However, it is not that the Tibetan refugees have remained out of controversy in the state. There have been instances of the natives of Tawang and West Kameng districts accusing Tibetans of fraudulently acquiring Arunachal Pradesh scheduled tribe (APST) certificates. In 2018, the All Tawang District Students’ Union had accused three candidates from the district of acquiring fake ST certificates while applying for government jobs. The union had alleged that the fathers of the three candidates hailed from Shyo village, which it claimed was notified by the state government as a ‘refugee village’. The union has also alleged that some people are availing both ST and Tibetan refugee benefits.
