Arunachal Chakmas, Hajongs protest denial of residential proof certificates

The demonstration coincided with the visit of a five-member team to Diyun, the largest settlement of the refugees in the State’s Changlang district

The Chakmas and Hajongs rehabilitated in Arunachal Pradesh in the 1960s on Saturday protested the denial of residential proof certificates (RPCs) to them, allegedly carried out as part of the State policy to throw them out of Arunachal Pradesh.

Hundreds of refugees organised a peaceful demonstration at Diyun, their largest settlement in the State’s Changlang district, on Friday to demand the resumption of the process to issue RPCs. The sit-in coincided with the visit of a five-member enquiry team to Diyun.

The Pema Khandu government had on July 30 constituted the committee comprising three bureaucrats and two representatives of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) for probing the issuance of the RPCs to at least 500 Chakmas and Hajongs by the local administration.

Under pressure from the AAPSU, which had threatened a State-wide shutdown, the State government had on July 29 suspended the RPCs issued and stopped the issuance of fresh certificates.

"The denial of the RPCs is nothing but the continuation of the racial profiling of the Chakmas and Hajongs. We will not accept kangaroo justice where the AAPSU has become the complainant, investigator, prosecutor and judge – all rolled into one. This is not something allowed in a country governed by the rule of law,” Krishna Chakma, spokesperson of the Chakma Hajong Rights Alliance said.

“The first victim of the denial of the RPCs are job-seekers who are students. They are citizens of India and often go for recruitment in the Army. They are being denied the opportunity through the suspension of RPCs when a recruitment drive has started,” Rup Singh Chakma, the president of the Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students’ Union (APCSU) said.

“We are merely seeking RPCs as proof that we live in Arunachal Pradesh. This is not PRC,” he added.