DIYUN, 19 Jul: The Chakma Rights and Development Organisation (CRDO) has condemned the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) over the union’s press conference on 18 July, “wherein they discussed about denying issuance of residence certificates to the Chakma and Hajong people for education and job purposes and labelled wild and unwarranted allegations against them.”
“The AAPSU has termed the Chakma and Hajong people ‘refugees, foreigners, outsiders, illegal migrants, etc’ without knowing/acknowledging the fact that Chakmas and Hajongs were taken to NEFA by the government of India and they were rehabilitated from 1964-1971, long before Arunachal Pradesh as a state was born,” the CDRO stated in a release.
Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students’ Union (APCSU) has requested the chief minister to “reject the AAPSU’s ultimatum as all allegations made by the union, including against Robin Chakma and issuance of residence certificate, are baseless.”
It also urged the CM to extend full support to the Changlang district administration “from the onslaught of the AAPSU while discharging official responsibilities regarding the Chakmas and Hajongs of the state.”
On Monday, the AAPSU sought actions against a number of persons and officials relating to the Chakmas and Hajongs after visiting and inspecting the records of the Diyun EAC office, and gave 15 days’ ultimatum to the chief minister to take the actions.
“Nowhere in India, a students’ organisation, or for that matter any non-state entity, can visit the offices of the state government or the government of India and videograph the meetings with the officials as claimed by the AAPSU leaders. This is a blot on Arunachal Pradesh. The state government should therefore direct the Diyun EAC and the Changlang DC to initiate necessary legal proceedings if there were any instance of illegal trespass and/or obstruction in the discharge of official duties by the Diyun EAC and his staff,” APCSU president Rup Singh Chakma said.
Countering the AAPSU leaders’ statement on protecting their motherland Arunachal, Chakma further stated, “The Chakmas and Hajongs are born and brought up in Arunachal Pradesh and it is their motherland too. The Chakmas and Hajongs are citizens of India, recognised by the various judgments of the constitutional courts, and they have been casting their votes. The time has come for the AAPSU to accept the reality and bring an end to discrimination against the Chakmas and Hajongs.”
The APCSU urged Khandu to implement the Supreme Court judgments on granting of citizenship to “the migrants of the 1964-1969 period.”
