'Chakmas will live & die in Arunachal Pradesh'

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Five Chakma-Hajong bodies have joined hands to resist the proposed move of the Arunachal Pradesh Government to deport nearly 70,000 Chakmas and Hajongs to other states.

"We reject any idea or suggestion or proposal to relocate the Chakmas and Hajongs outside the State of Arunachal Pradesh," a joint statement from the five Chakma-Hajong bodies reads.

Subimal Bikash Chakma – president of the Committee for Citizenship Rights of Chakmas & Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh (CCRCHAP); Mahendra Chakma, president of the Chakma Rights & Development Organization (CRDO); Drishya Muni Chakma, president of the Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students' Union (APCSU); Maya Devi Chakma, president of the Chakma Women Welfare Society (CWWS); and Rakesh Chakma, president of the Chakma Youth Federation of Arunachal (CYFA) issued the joint statement.

President of Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students' Union Drishya Muni Chakma told reporters here on Tuesday that the fear of displacement and anger has gripped Chakmas living in Arunachal after Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju recently announced that the Chakmas would be shifted out the State for rehabilitation.

He said over 90 per cent of Chakma people were born in Arunachal Pradesh and are citizens by birth. They will live and die in the State with dignity and cannot suffer through another mass migration to start life afresh outside Arunachal Pradesh, Drishya Muni Chakma said.

The Chakmas or Hajongs were settled between 1964 and 1969 in Bordumsa-Diyun and Kokila area in Changlang and Papum Pare district. But tribal groups in Arunachal Pradesh have been agitating for years against their settlement.

Also Read:  Removal of Chakmas and Hajongs from Arunachal opposed by various organisations

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