Chakmas, Hajongs exempt from CAA: APCSU

ITANAGAR: Responding to certain statements made by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju after attending the Si-Donyi festival on Thursday, the Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students' Union (APCSU) General Secretary Supon Chakma stated on Friday via a press release that the Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh do not come under the ambit of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 because the Government of India legally brought the Chakmas and Hajongs during 1964-1969 and settled them permanently under the 'Definite Plan of Rehabilitation'.

Chakma said that under this plan, the Government of India in consultation with the then NEFA administration (now Arunachal Pradesh) allotted 5 acres of land permanently to each Chakma and Hajong family and provided ration cards, jobs, gun licenses, business licenses and other benefits.

He stated that the Chakmas and Hajongs came to NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh) much before the December 31, 2014 cut-off date stipulated in the CAA. Therefore, the Chakmas and Hajongs are governed by the Citizenship Act of 1955, and not the CAA, 2019.

"The Government of India settled the Chakmas and Hajongs in the then centrally-administered North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) along with ex-Assam Rifles for the defence of India, following the 1962 Indo-China war because this point of time was very crucial and critical for defending India's sovereignty, and therefore once they were settled permanently, the matter ends there. Moreover, the Supreme Court judgments on January 9, 1996 and September 17, 2015 directed the Central Government and State Government to protect life and liberty of Chakma and Hajongs under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and confer citizenship to around 14,888 Chakmas and Hajongs. Furthermore, the majority of the Chakmas and Hajongs who have been born in Arunachal Pradesh during the period of nearly 60 years, are citizens by birth under Section 3 of the Citizenship Act. What is legally needed now is to enroll them in the voter list and restore all withdrawn facilities to them", Supon Chakma stated.

The APCSU leader also always welcomed the CAA exempting some of the Northeastern States, including Arunachal Pradesh, so that no new refugees intrude into the State and the rights of the indigenous people are protected.

Responding to Kiren Rijiju's statement, "Hamne message bhi diya hai Chakma-Hajong logo ki Aap alternative sochiye', APCSU president Drishyamuni Chakma condemned any such so-called alternative or relocation outside Arunachal Pradesh.

He stated, "We have been living in Arunachal Pradesh for almost six decades and we have built our home and hearth here. Arunachal Pradesh has become our motherland and relocating any Chakma-Hajong outside the State is not acceptable as it is not an honorable solution to this vexed issue. Any relocation shall add more fuel to fire and prolong suffering. The Government's initiative to resolve the issue is welcome, but the permanent solution will have to be within Arunachal Pradesh."

Reacting to China's 'renaming' of 15 places of Arunachal Pradesh, Drishyamuni Chakma said that the APCSU strongly condemns and opposes China's illegal renaming of places because Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and any illegal steps of China to threaten India's sovereignty will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

"We shall be ever ready for defending our country's integrity and sovereignty. We shall keep the promise to defend our mother India, for which purpose we were settled here in 1964," he said.

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