Bandh over APPSC paper leak affects life in Arunachal

 OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: Life in the state capital town came to a grinding halt on Friday in a dawn-to-dusk “public” bandh called to press for the fulfilment of the 13-point charter of demands of the Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee-APPSC related to the alleged leak of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) question paper. The bandh began at 5 a.m., and thousands of people, including aggrieved aspirants and their parents, came out to the streets of the capital town in the early morning hours to demand cancellation of the scheduled swearing-in of the new APPSC chairman on Friday evening. They damaged posters of President Droupadi Murmu, who is scheduled to arrive in the northeastern state on February 20 for a two-day visit.

Several protestors were reported to have been injured as a result of police lathi-charges. All top police officers are on the job, and the situation, though tense, is said to be under control. In the capital town, business establishments, markets, banks, educational institutions, government offices, and private offices are closed, and vehicles are kept off the road due to the bandh. The Committee is demanding, among other things, that all exams conducted by the APPSC in which question papers were leaked be declared null and void; the immediate arrest of the former Commission’s chairman, secretary, members, and other officers; a court-monitored Enforcement Directorate probe into the fiasco; and the immediate dismissal of state government officers involved in it.

It also demanded that the recruitment examination be henceforth conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, the report of the three-member committee on the AE (Civil) paper leak be made public, the three state government officials posted under the APPSC be recalled, and all aggrieved candidates be given compensation of Rs five lakh each. In an emergency meeting, the state cabinet decided to call off the swearing-in of the APPSC chairman and its members, IGP (Law & Order) Chuku Appa said. It was also decided that the matter would be discussed with all community-based organisations and stakeholders, he said. The adamant protestors have, however, ruled out any further discussion and asked the state government to resolve their demands by 3 p.m.

The aggrieved aspirants had earlier written to Governor BD Mishra, strongly objecting to the appointment of the new APPSC chairman and members, and requesting that he not go ahead with their oath-taking. Mishra has been made the lieutenant governor of Ladakh, and Lieutenant General Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik was sworn in as the governor of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday. The issue affects each and every Arunachali. “We are handing it over to the people now; they will decide what is to be done,” PAJSC-APPSC member Tadak Nalo said. He added that the committee should not be blamed for anything that happened. The state government has recommended a CBI probe into the alleged question paper leak, and the central agency has begun investigations.

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