HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 25: The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) on Tuesday urged Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu not to perpetuate prejudices against the Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh by terming them as refugees, not eligible for permanent settlement in the state and therefore, proposing their relocation in different states of India.
While addressing three-day training programme for trainers commemorating the National Panchayati Raj Day at Itanagar yesterday Khandu had declared that after resolving Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary dispute, he will resolve the Chakma-Hajong problem by distributing them in different States of India as the Chakmas and Hajongs being refugees cannot be permanently settled in the state, which is protected as a tribal state under the constitution.
“The Chakmas and Hajongs were settled by the Union of India, the competent authority of the then North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA), from 1964 onwards and those born in the NEFA/Arunachal Pradesh are citizens of India by birth. There is no provision in the constitution of India empowering any State or UT to declare a non-resident and therefore forcibly remove from its territorial jurisdiction,” said Suhas Chakma, Founder of the CDFI.
Chakma cautioned Arunachal Pradesh by stating that, “if Arunachal Pradesh expects other States to take a few thousand Chakmas and Hajongs, there will be call upon Arunachal Pradesh to share the burden of 1.9 million people excluded from the NRC in Assam and other states like Tripura considering that the density of population in 2022 was 17 persons in Arunachal Pradesh compared 431 people per square kilometer in India. “
“The chief minister must realize that the deplorable economic conditions and extreme poverty have been created by the state of Arunachal Pradesh by denying all the rights and facilities to the Chakmas and Hajongs in the last 60 years,” Chakma added.
