GUWAHATI: Chakma and Hajong community-based organisations in Arunachal Pradesh continued with their “non-cooperation” movement as the state government has not revoked a notification that cancelled residential proof certificates (RPCs) issued to people belonging to the two communities.
The organisations said the protest, which started on December 23, would continue till December 30. They said people were wholeheartedly supporting the movement with the students boycotting their classes to participate in it.
“The RPC is a basic document possessed by the Chakmas and the Hajongs to get admissions to educational institutions and jobs, especially in the defence forces. It is the fundamental right of the two communities,” the organisers of the movement said in a statement.
“The abrupt cancellation of RPCs to these two marginalized communities would deprive them of their basic rights to education and livelihood. They suffered for the past four decades due to the systematic effort of successive governments to take away the basic rights,” the statement said.
Drishya Muni Chakma, president of Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students’ Union, said the Chakmas and the Hajongs waited patiently for a positive response from the government but as it remained silent, people were compelled to launch the movement.
He warned that the protests would continue till the government responds positively. He said the protests would be spread to other states and taken to New Delhi if the RPCs are not restored.
Some organisations recently said a number of Chakmas and Hajongs were selected for jobs in the Assam Rifles but the paramilitary force, through an order issued on November 23, notified “Temporary Residential Certificate not accepted as proof of domicile/permanent resident certificate” for joining services.
The RPCs were issued by the Changlang district administration but cancelled later by the state government in the wake of protests by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union.
The Buddhist Chakmas and the Hindu Hajongs in Arunachal were displaced by a dam in the then East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh). They have a combined population of around 65,000 in the state.
According to the leaders of the two communities, these people were resettled in Arunachal by the central government in 1964 to beef up security following the 1962 war with China.