In the small town of Mahadevpur, a sense of betrayal, hopelessness and anger prevails among Morans, Ahoms, Deoris, Adivasi, Kachari and members of other groups of Assamese origin ahead of Thursday’s Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
In Assam on the other side of the state border, these are among dominant groups but here in the hamlets of Arunachal Pradesh’s Namsai district these groups which have been fighting for a permanent residence certificate (PRC) are facing a bleak future.
In Mahadevpur’s Lekang assembly constituency, these communities make up an overwhelming majority of the voters. The Congress has fielded Takam Sanjoy, the president of the state unit, while the BJP has given a ticket to Jummum Ete Deori, one of 12 woman candidates in the fray for the state’s 60 Assembly seats.
For the locals in Mahadevpur, it is a struggle not only to get the PRC but also to build bridges with other communities opposing their demands.
Just over a month ago, the BJP’s announcement that it will discuss the contents of a high-powered committee report which recommended issuing the PRC to these communities on the floor of the Assembly, had led to a cycle of violence.
{{/usCountry}}Just over a month ago, the BJP’s announcement that it will discuss the contents of a high-powered committee report which recommended issuing the PRC to these communities on the floor of the Assembly, had led to a cycle of violence.
{{/usCountry}}While anti-PRC protests started in Lekang, three persons belonging to local Arunachal Pradesh scheduled tribe communities were killed allegedly in police firing when mobs took to arson on the streets, targeting even ministerial residences.
A worried Chief Minister, Pema Khandu announced that the PRC will never be discussed again.
“The BJP-led state government closed the chapter by saying it will never be discussed again,” said Priyadhan Khattiya Deori, the president of the United Indigenous People’s Forum of Lekang (UPIPFL), one of the groups spearheading the pro-PRC agitation. “This is no justice. They have left us with no option,” he said.
This is perhaps the reason why deputy chief minister and sitting MLA Chowna Mein, who last year announced that the PRC will be a 2019 new year gift, decided to not contest this time.
“We told him, if you do not give us PRC we will be forced to throw you out,” Deori said.
Young community member Madhab Moran pointed out that members of such Assam-origin groups who live in in Arunachal Pradesh have to get an Inner Line Permit for visiting Itanagar and other parts of the state and do not qualify for a loan either. “Without the PRC, we cannot call the land our own,” he said.
But BJP candidate Jummum Eti Deori pointed to how Takam Sanjoy, an ‘outsider’, had hijacked the issues of the people of Lekang and spread hate.
“It is the Congress state unit president and Lekang assembly poll candidate, Takam Sanjoy, and not the BJP, that people are angry with. Whatever happened in Itanagar was Sanjoy’s doing. He played with the sentiment of the people,” she said on the sidelines of a meeting this week. “We will find a way out later. Right now we don’t want to talk about the PRC,” she said.
UPIPFL activist Deori has a different take. “It was a pre-planned conspiracy to close the chapter forever,” he claimed, pointing out that the BJP did not take the local indigenous communities from Arunachal Pradesh into confidence before announcing the decision to abandon the discussion on the PRC.
“Bridging the gap with anti-PRC communities, the Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribes is more important right now,” he said. “We need to make them understand our problems and tell them it will not hurt them,” Deori said. “It is unlikely that anyone will support us for we are important only in one constituency,” he said, but expressed hope that Takam Sanjoy would act as a bridge. “We told him that he will have to help us,” Deori said.
Sanjoy confirmed that he was “invited” to Lekang “by the locals”
“BJP made the biggest blunder on the PRC and killed innocent youth,” he said. “A lot of repair is needed. The state belongs to everybody,” Sanjoy said, but refused to comment on whether the communities should be given the PRC or not.
The BJP’s Jummum Eti Deori, who belongs to the Adi community and is married to a Deori, too, felt she could be a bridge. “The people of Lekang know the truth. I may be a tribal but my kids are not. They are also victims like everyone else,” she said.