Arunachal students’ body demands refugee census despite PMO’s veto
The Hindu
A foundation had petitioned the PMO saying the exclusive census was nothing but racial profiling of the Chakmas and Hajongs settled in the State
The apex students’ body of Arunachal Pradesh has set a 15-day deadline for the Pema Khandu Government to conduct an exclusive census of the Chakma and Hajong refugees.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had asked the State Government to take appropriate action after a petition from the Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) said such an exercise was nothing but racial profiling aimed at throwing the refugees out of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Buddhist Chakmas and Hindu Hajongs, displaced by a dam in erstwhile East Pakistan and subsequent religious persecution, had been settled in Arunachal Pradesh in the 1960s. Indigenous communities have been demanding their ouster.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.