[Tesam Pongte]
I was barely four-and-a-half months old when our great land was bestowed with a Legislative Assembly on 15 August, 1975. The Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (APLA) has completed a glorious journey of 50 years, and I too have completed my 50th, and celebrating the golden jubilee of the Assembly as its Speaker constitutes a rare coincidence.
The state has had a memorable past and the last 50 years have been remarkable as the state has witnessed progress in every area. Etched in the parliamentary debates of 1988 is a mention of an anecdote of an MP in the Lok Sabha from Arunachal, who said that to travel from one corner of his constituency to the other corner it would take two months. Today, one can traverse the state in mere hours. The state is directly connected to New Delhi by train and air, and the distance has shrunk between the state and the Centre. The legislature and the executive have worked in tandem to take the state to a greater height and place Arunachal Pradesh as the most promising state in the country.
Looking back at the political history of Arunachal, we may explore its past across three different time-periods: pre-British, British, and post-British. During the pre-British time, the hilly region came to be known by numerous indigenous tribes, each with their unique socio-political structures and cultural practices. These tribes inhabited near inaccessible rugged terrains of the eastern Himalayas, forming small communities and often engaging in conflicts over control of social norms, resources and territory. The absence of a formal unifying authority resulted in a decentralized and informal governance system, with local tribal leaders exercising authority within their respective areas and domains.
The advent of British colonial rule in the 19th century brought significant changes to the region’s political landscape, which we see today. The British established administrative control over the region, introducing policies aimed at regulating tribal areas and asserting colonial authority.
After independence in 1947, it witnessed an administrative transition. The Indian Independence Act of 1947 brought the region under the direct control of the Assam government, leading to the establishment of the North East Frontier Tract (NEFT) and subsequent administrative changes. A significant development occurred in 1954 with the passing of the North East Frontier (Administration) Regulation, which reorganized the frontier tracts into a single administrative unit named the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA). The NEFT was renamed as NEFA, and various frontier tracts were rechristened as frontier divisions. In 1957, a commissioner’s post was created to assist the governor of Assam. In 1965, following lessons from the 1962 Chinese attacks, the territory came under the Ministry of Home Affairs from the Ministry of External Affairs, leading to the renaming of frontier divisions as districts.
The NEFA Panchayat Raj Regulation in 1967 created the ground for the APLA. This regulation introduced a three-tier system: gram panchayat at the village level, anchal samiti at the block level, and zilla parishad at the district level. An apex advisory body, known as the Agency Council, with the governor of Assam as its chairman, came into being on 29 December, 1969. A step further in the direction was taken with the enactment of the NEFA (Administration) Supplementary Regulation, 1971, which provided for replacement of the Agency Council by the Pradesh Council and appointment of five councillors, one from each district, namely, Kameng, Subansiri, Siang, Lohit and Tirap, who were in charge of various development departments. This Pradesh Council thus became effective from the 2 October, 1972.
As a natural outcome, the demand for a Legislative Assembly was pressed in every sitting of the Pradesh Council, which compelled the central government to send a study team to assess the standard of parliamentary acumen attained by the people of Arunachal.
The central government, after considering all aspects of the demand, agreed to the wish of the people for a Legislative Assembly, and on 15 August 1975, the Constitution (37th Amendment) Act, 1975, the Pradesh Council was converted into the provisional Legislative Assembly of the union territory with all the members of the Pradesh Council consisting mostly of representatives of zilla parishads, becoming members of the provisional Legislative Assembly and the councillors being given the rank of ministers, specified in Article 239A of the Constitution.
By this historic act, the power to make regulations for the UT of Arunachal was transferred from the president of India to the newly constituted Legislative Assembly.
The year 1987 witnessed Arunachal’s elevation to full statehood, through the State of Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986, marking a significant milestone in its political evolution.
A consequent milestone in the history of Arunachal was moving the State of Arunachal Pradesh (Amendment) Bill, 1988 in the national Parliament to further amend the Arunachal Pradesh Act of 1986 to provide for 60 seats in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly, which got operative in 1990, paving the way for the first full-fledged Legislative Assembly of the state. The earlier Assembly had a total of 33 members, out of which 30 members were elected and three were nominated by the union government.
The 45-day celebration of the golden jubilee, inaugurated by Governor KT Parnaik on the 3 July, will be culminating on 18 August in the Assembly House, where most of the old veterans who painstakingly worked to keep up the democratic values alive in the state will be present. Stalwarts such as PK Thungon, who was the first chief minister of Arunachal and a member of the Pradesh Committee, and TL Rajkumar, having the unique distinction of serving two full terms as Speaker of the Assembly, will be sharing their experiences with the new generation.
Various outreach programmes to educate the youths of the state about instilling democratic values are already underway in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi University and other educational institutions, and will culminate on 26 November on the occasion of the Constitution Day with an award ceremony for the youth winners of essay and debate competitions.
Lastly, I would like to add that Arunachal has seen a dynamic interplay of indigenous traditions, colonial legacies, and post-independence aspirations. The region’s resilience in overcoming challenges and conflicts underscores its determination to chart its own course towards progress and prosperity within the framework of the Indian union. And the golden jubilee celebrations will not only remind our youths of the contributions made by our great leaders to build the Arunachal which we are so proud of today, but will also invigorate them to dream and work for a Viksit Arunachal, which will then realize the dream of all Indians of having a Viksit Bharat by 2047. (The author is Speaker of the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly)
