Chakma, Hajong groups criticise Arunachal govt for opposing 'citizenship' rights to refugees

Two Chakma-Hajong groups have slammed the Arunachal Pradesh government for passing resolution against the citizenship rights of the refugees.

Itanagar, Oct 20: The recent resolution passed by the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly to move the Centre to protect the rights of the local communities in the state by stopping the grant of citizenship rights to the Chakmas and Hajongs has been severely opposed by two groups representing the refugees.

After Arunachal Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday adopted the resolution to approach the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre in case the refugees are granted citizenship rights, a press conference was hosted on Thursday in Guwahati, Assam, by members of Chakma-Hajong groups to criticise the BJP government in the border state.

It's an excuse of the Arunachal Pradesh government to deny citizenship rights to the Chakmas and Hajongs on the "false pretext" of protecting the rights of the indigenous communities, stated the members of the Committee for Citizenship Rights of the Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh and the Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students Union.

"The 47,471 Chakmas and Hajongs living in Arunachal Pradesh according to the 2011 census, cannot pose a threat to 1.4 million people of the state. The Chakmas and Hajongs belong to the same Tibeto-Mongloid race and Buddhists like many other communities in the state and they come from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which was covered under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873.

"If any community poses a threat to the local communities of the state, it is the other non-indigenous people whose number has increased from 36,614 in 1961 to 3,84,435 people in 2011. This is nothing but an excuse to contemptuously reject the judgments and directions of the Supreme Court," Subimal Bikash Chakma, the president of the committee, said.

"Subject to fulfilment of certain conditions under the Citizenship Act, any person coming to India can obtain citizenship by naturalisation and thousands of Hindu refugees from Pakistan have also been offered citizenship by the NDA government.

"The Hindu refugees who came to Rajasthan from Pakistan as late as 2000 were given citizenship. The Chakmas and Hajongs are citizens of India but are being denied the same because of discrimination," he added.

Between 1964 and 1969, after being displaced from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, around 14,800 Chakmas and Hajongs belonging to both the Buddhist and Hindu religions came to Arunachal Pradesh and settled in Changlang, Papum Pare and Lohit districts of the state. Now, reports say their numbers have increased to around 50,000.

Back in September 2015, the Supreme Court had passed an order to grant citizenship to Chakma and Hajong refugees in Arunachal Pradesh within three months. The order of the apex court was not honoured by the state government back then because of the intense opposition from various groups representing the indigenous people of Arunachal Pradesh.

The All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union has been at the forefront in opposing the decision of the apex court.

The issue of citizenship rights to the refugees hogged the limelight once again after the Narendra Modi government on September 13 this year decided to grant citizenship to the refugees.

However, the Centre was immediately forced to take a U-turn on the matter after facing opposition from local groups and political parties of the border state. Now, the Modi government maintains that it would move the Supreme Court to modify its earlier directive.

OneIndia News