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Arunachal suspends residential proof certificates, upsets Chakma-Hajong bodies
The order to suspend RPCs in Changlang district was issued after All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU), the state’s most influential student body, threatened to go on strike on August 3
GUWAHATI: The Arunachal Pradesh government on Sunday decided to suspend all residential proof certificates (RPC) in Changlang district, a move criticised by the Chakma and Hajong community which described the decision as an infringement of their basic rights.
The order, which also suspends the issuance of new RPC certificates in the southern Arunachal district of Changlang, was issued by Kaling Tayeng, commissioner (political). Unlike permanent residence certificates, RPCs are temporary documents issued to persons residing in a particular place.
RPCs have been issued to those from Chakma and Hajong communities who are yet to get Indian citizenship and don’t possess documents such as passports or voter identity cards. The RPCs help members of the two communities to pursue higher education in other states and join paramilitary forces.
Sunday’s order came a day after the state government constituted a five-member committee headed by Opak Gao, secretary (food and civil supplies), to inquire into the issue of RPCs in Changlang.
The committee will include two members of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU), the state’s most influential student body, that threatened to launch a strike on August 3 against issuing RPCs to Chakmas and Hajongs in Changlang. The protest was called off after the government constituted the committee, which has been mandated to report its findings within 15 days.
“The Changlang district administration was issuing RPCs to Chakmas and Hajongs since 1982 whereas there was no such directive from the Supreme Court. The committee will inquire how the RPCs were issued,” AAPSU vice president (protocol) Nabam Gandhi said in Itanagar on Sunday.
Reacting to the government decisions, the Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students Union (APCSU) said the state government has been issuing RPCs to Chakma and Hajong youths for many years to enable them to pursue higher education in other states and to enable them to join paramilitary forces.
“The recent order to suspend all RPCs, and further such suspension of issuing fresh RPCs, would destroy the future of today’s generation and generations to come. Denying RPCs to the youth will deprive them of their basic rights, such as education, to take admission in various universities and colleges,” APCSU president Drishya Muni Chakma said.
Chakmas and Hajongs, who are Buddhists and Hindus respectively, migrated to India between 1964 and 1966 from Chittagong Hills Tract (CHT) of then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to escape religious persecution and were settled in North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), present Arunachal Pradesh under a rehabilitation plan to help them rebuild their lives.
Though both communities initially enjoyed several rights and facilities including government employment, but over the years many privileges were withdrawn by successive governments in Arunachal Pradesh. Most indigenous organisations and tribal groups in the northeastern state see Chakmas and Hajongs as illegal migrants and want them out of Arunachal Pradesh.
The 2011 census put the number of Chakmas and Hajongs in Arunachal Pradesh at 47,471. Nearly 90% have been given Indian citizenship by birth but nearly 4,627 requests for citizenship have been pending for years. In 2015, the Supreme Court ordered that the pending citizenship applications be processed within three months. The direction has not been complied with yet.
