Chakmas to move supreme court over citizenship

GUWAHATI: The Committee for Citizenship Rights of the Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh (CCRCHAP) and Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students' Union (APCSU) on Thursday disapproved of the resolution moved and adopted by Arunachal Pradesh government in the House rejecting citizenship for Chakmas and Hajongs in the state on Wednesday.

President of the CCRCHAP Subimal Bikash Chakma said that the organization is likely to bring this matter to the notice of the Supreme Court. "The fact that the state government has moved and adopted a resolution rejecting grant of citizenship to the Chakma and Hajong applicants shows that it is not implementing the September 2015 judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and deliberately creating obstacles to scandalize and lower the dignity of the apex court. Under these circumstances, the CCRCHAP shall have no option but to bring these deliberate contemptuous acts to the notice of the apex court for appropriate redress," Chakma said.

' "This is nothing but an excuse to contemptuously reject the judgements and directions of the Supreme Court, vitiate the atmosphere of peace, communal harmony and intercommunity relationship established and strengthened in the past 53 years and continue the repression of the Chakmas and the Hajongs," president of CCRCHAP Subimal Bikash Chakma said.

The CCRCHAP stated that 47,471 Chakmas and Hajongs, as per 2011Census, cannot pose any threat to the 1.4 million people of Arunachal Pradesh. "The government adopted the resolution on the false pretext of protecting the rights of the tribals in the state. The Chakmas and Hajongs are tribals, Tibeto-Mongloid race and Buddhists like many communities in the state and they come from the Chittagong Hill Tracts which was covered under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BERF) of 1873, much before the Sadiya and Balipara Frontier Tracts were brought under the BERF. If any community poses threat to local tribals of Arunachal Pradesh, it is the other non-tribals who have increased from 36,614 persons in 1961 and increased to 3,84,435 persons in 2011 i.e. a 1000% increase," he said.

"That the state government is politicizing the miseries of the Chakmas and Hajongs stands manifestly exposed from the fact that neither the Tibetan refugees nor other non-tribals were discussed on the issue of so called threats to the tribals of the state," Chakma added.

The Chakmas and Hajongs were settled in the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA, present day Arunachal Pradesh) which was under direct administration of the Union of India under "Definite Plan of Rehabilitation" during 1964-1969. Subject to fulfilment of conditions under the Citizenship Act, any person coming to India can obtain citizenship by naturalization and thousands of Hindu refugees from Pakistan have been conferred citizenship by the NDA government during the last three years.

"The Hindu refugees who came to Rajasthan from Pakistan as late as 2000 have been given citizenship. The Chakmas and Hajongs are citizens of India but are being denied the same because of racial discrimination," he said.