[ Prafulla Kaman ]
PASIGHAT, 22 Jan: Orik Moyong – the grandson of Eda Moyong alias Ada Moyong, who had served as a public interpreter (PI) during the NEFA period and died while assisting Indian Army personnel during the Chinese aggression in 1962 at Thin Patra [Tuting hill site] – appealed to the home department to complete the process for declaring his grandfather, late Moyong, as a martyr.
Petitioner Orik Moyong, a resident of Debing village in East Siang district, has been moving the state government to declare his grandfather as a martyr, but the issue is pending in the government’s office for the last six years.
Late Moyong, who hailed from Adi Pasi village in the present Upper Siang district, had joined service as a PI in 1945. It is worth mentioning here that a condolence message sent to late Moyong’s family by the then NEFA administration clearly mentions that he [Moyong] “died while discharging government duties.”
The Indian Army could not consign Moyong’s body to his family due to a communication bottleneck.
Orik Moyong had in 2016 submitted a petition to the then East Siang DC, seeking his initiative for recognition of his grandfather as a martyr.
Accordingly, the then DC had collected information about late Moyong from his contemporaries and officials of Upper Siang and West Siang districts, which was later forwarded to the social justice & empowerment and tribal affairs (SJETA) department for necessary action.
Official documents reveal that former SJETA undersecretary CK Gohain had dealt with the matter and processed the official work pertaining to the martyr declaration demand. But the process came to a halt after the official’s transfer.
However, in a recent development, Orik Moyong, following the instruction of SJETA officials, submitted a petition to the home department secretary and commissioner afresh, pleading for completion of the pending process.
Reportedly, the petitioner had earlier approached the MPs and MLAs of East Siang district, and even Chief Minister Pema Khandu, seeking action in this regard, but to no avail.
