[Harshwardhan Pillai]
ITANAGAR, 5 Jun: The Adi Students’ Union (AdiSU) on Thursday rejected the recent resolution made during the Pangin mandal coordination meeting of the BJP in Lileng village.
The meeting, held by the mandal on 3 June, made a resolution that the BJP workers would maintain party discipline and appropriate action would be taken against those found engaging in anti-developmental activities, while referring to those who are opposing the survey for preparing the pre-feasibility report (PFR) for the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).
During the coordination meeting, the mandal members also decided that the mandal would agree to the conducting of the survey for the PFR, and that an awareness programme would be organized by the BJP workers and the party’s senior leaders, saying that the SUMP is a national project.
The Pangin BJP mandal has also appealed to the state government to initiate appropriate action against government employees or any government honorarium recipients (such as GBs) found to be violating governmental order, and against those instigating anti-developmental activities vis-à-vis the SUMP.
AdiSU spokesperson Dutin Jamoh said that the SUMP in Siang district is being proposed to be developed without the consent of the public.
Jamoh said, “The affected region consists of not only just BJP affiliated public but also public from other backgrounds,” and added that “all these public protests are solely for public welfare as the dam could bring many disaster for the villagers.
“Also, the allegation about being anti-development is also clearly wrong as the government has not taken any consent from the Adi community or from the people of affected area,” he added.
“Our protest against the SUMP is not targeting anyone or any political party,” Jamoh said, and added that the developmental activities should be rooted in public welfare. He condemned the order passed on by the mandal.
The union said that it will not remain silent if the government imposes the survey on the people without prior consent. “The government should try to convince the people but not force it,” it said.
Jamoh further said that the Pangin BJP mandal passed the resolution without approaching the affected families.
The AdiSU demanded that the mandal roll back its resolution, saying that the government should conduct multiple roundtable discussions with the project-affected people, “which is the need of the hour.”
