GUWAHATI: The BJP government in Arunachal Pradesh will conduct a probe into the issuance of residential proof certificates (RPCs) to Chakmas and Hajongs by the Changlang district administration.
The RPCs, issued to an unspecified number of individuals, had riled the influential All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU). It had announced a phase-wise bandh across the state from August 3 demanding the cancellation of the same.
The government decided that all RPCs would be “suspended” with immediate effect and cancelled in due course if found they were erroneously issued.
Official sources said a committee would be constituted with two members drawn from the AAPSU to get the matter probed. It will submit the preliminary report within 15 days. The final report will be submitted within 45 days.
Displaced by a dam in then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the Buddhist Chakmas, and the Hindu Hajongs were resettled in Arunachal during 1964-69 by the central government. Their population in the state is believed to be anything from 60,000 to 1 lakh, according to different estimates.
Various Chakma-Hajong organisations had on Saturday appealed to the AAPSU to call off the proposed bandh. They claimed it was “absolutely legal” to issue the RPCs.
“Under the Finance Act of 2020, any person staying in India for an aggregate period of 120 days or more is an ordinarily resident. In fact, Form 6 of the Registration of Electors Rule-1960 does not specify the time period to be included as an ordinary resident and voter under the Representation of the People Act, 1950,” Krishna Chakma, who is the spokesperson of Chakma Hajong Rights Alliance, claimed.
“All persons in India are required to be issued proof of residence and the same can be issued by any authority. Therefore, the issuance of proof of residence certificate to the Chakmas and the Hajongs is not illegal,” he further said.
Earlier, various Chakma-Hajong organisations petitioned authorities, including the National Human Rights Commission, alleging “racial” discrimination against people belonging to the two communities in Arunachal.