DIYUN, 26 Dec: All Chakma and Hajong community-based organisations here in Changlang district, led by the Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students’ Union (APCSU) and the Arunachal Pradesh Hajong Students’ Union, said on Sunday that they have launched a “non-cooperation movement against the state government’s inaction to revoke the notification (No CHG/JS/GUARD-01/2022) that cancelled the issuance of residential proof certificates (RPC).”
They stated in a release that the movement began on 23 December and will continue till 30 December.
“RPC is a basic document possessed by the Chakma-Hajongs for admissions to educational institutions, getting central government jobs, especially in Indian paramilitary forces and private jobs, and it’s the fundamental right of the Chakma and Hajong communities.
The abrupt cancellation of RPCs to these two marginalised communities would deprive them of their basic rights to education and livelihood. The systematic effort of the government to take away the basic rights one after the other over the last four decades has led the two communities to silently suffer and face rejections and hardships despite successive governments making unfulfilled promises to resolve the issues with respect to the Supreme Court’s judgment of 17 September, 2015, WP (C) No 510 of 2007, Committee for CR of CAP & Ors vs the state of Arunachal Pradesh & Ors,” the release stated.
It said that the Chakma-Hajong bodies, under the aegis of the Joint Action Committee, staged a peaceful protest here against the government’s order, “where thousands of protesters expressed their dismay over the order that deprived them of the right to serve the nation by joining the Indian defence forces, private sector employment and pursue higher education.”
APCSU president Drishya Muni Chakma said, “This protest is in continuation of the previous protest where the Arunachal government was asked to revoke the notification and restore the RPCs within 15 December, 2022. We patiently waited for a positive response from the government, but in vain. Therefore, we are compelled to resort to a non-cooperation movement.
“In a series of democratic protests, we will continue to escalate until and unless Arunachal government comes up with a positive response,” he said, adding that “the protest would be spread to other states and taken to the national capital if the notification is not revoked and the RPCs are not restored.”
APCSU general secretary Sonjit Chakma described the cancellation of the RPCs as “a complete violation of human rights, which also violates the judgments of the Delhi High Court 2000 (WP No 886 of 2000) which ruled Chakmas and Hajongs as citizens of India by birth and many of whom are voting as citizens of India.”
“The Gauhati High Court’s order of 2013 (PIL No 52 of 2010) also categorically stated that the Chakmas and Hajongs don’t require any inner line permit in Arunachal Pradesh,” the release said.
