Editor,
One of Aalo’s oldest heritage buildings, ‘Donyi-Polo Dere’, which was built between 1968 and 1972, has been renamed ‘Central Donyi-Polo Kargu Gamgw Council’, which surprised me during my last recent visit to Aalo. As one of the Donyi-Polo’s conventional devotees, I was extremely disheartened by the development.
Constructed between 1968 and 1972, the Donyi-Polo Dere, Aalo, is the state’s first historic Donyi-Polo religious centre. All Donyi-Polo believers contributed to the construction of the dere during the undivided Siang district with government assistance. The dere opened on 6 April, 1972.
The Donyi-Polo Dere was earlier managed by the Donyi-Polo Trust Board, which was later renamed Donyi-Polo Dere Management & Welfare Society (DPDMWS), headed by DC Aalo as chairman and the DACO as member secretary in the ex-officio capacity. The earlier, DPDMWS was the registered society under the Society Registration Act. The property was under the Art & Culture Department.
The Donyi-Polo Dere, Aalo is meant to be used by all Donyi-Polo believer residents of Aalo town and nearby areas, regardless of their tribe. Numerous elderly devotees who named the Donyi-Polo Dere left this world for the heavenly realm, and their memories and spiritual souls are linked to this monument.
Many of the devotees were taken aback when the Donyi-Polo Dere was renamed Central Donyi-Polo Kargu Gamgw Council (CDPKGC) recently. How and who approved the transfer of the property to the NGO may be known to the West Siang DC, as the DC was the caretaker of the property. The following are the background of the development that needs public awareness.
# The Central Donyi-Polo Kargu Gamgw Council (CDPKGC), coined at Niti Vihar, Itanagar, is a recently registered NGO under the Society Registration Act. All Donyi-Polo believers and Galos are not members of the so-called Central Donyi-Polo Kargu Gamgw Council. This new nomenclature is strange to us. As a result, we are not free to visit the Donyi-Polo Dere nowadays.
# The said property has been established through public contribution and government aid. It stands on community land. It cannot be that the assets of the NGO belong to a particular section of the society. It was a property under the Arts & Culture Department.
# Due to the renaming of the name of the heritage building, Donyi-Polo Dere, with which we have an emotional attachment and with those (who coined the heritage building) for the last 53 years will become like a recently constructed building or simply a prayer centre.
In view of the above, I have requested the West Siang DC to look into the sentiments and also informed the arts and culture secretary for retaining the old name of the monument.
Dr Kirki Ori,
Pinku-Pinte Colony,
Gumin Nagar, Aalo