Union Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju, said that the violence in Arunachal Pradesh against granting permanent resident certificates to six tribes stemmed from a “communication failure”.
Speaking to the BloombergQuint, Rijiju said, “There was a miscommunication when the proposal granting the permanent status to the six tribes was to be tabled in the assembly session, people thought that the government is going to immediately agree to it...all communication must be sent to the people that the government is not going to accept the PRC in total.”
Before the communication went through, violence had already erupted killing three and injuring many.
The protests were against the government’s move to grant Permanent Residency Certificates (PRC) to non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe communities of Namsai and Changlang districts living along the Assam-Arunachal border.
The Pema Khandu government received recommendations from a Joint High-Powered Committee (JHPC) report to grant the PRCs, but it bowed down in the face of rising violence, declaring via an order that it will not implement PRC.
Rijju added that the state government did not realise that “ a situation like this could arise.”
“It is unfortunate that such violent protests took place in peaceful Arunachal Pradesh”Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State, Home.
North-East Violence
Arunachal Pradesh was the latest to join the North East states facing protests over citizenship issue.
Rijiju added, “People in the North East are concerned about the protection of the individual rights and identity with regards to linguistic, cultural and constitutional rights which are being provided by various provisions and acts.”
“We are very clear that any decision taken by the state or central government should not harm the interests of the local indigenous people.”Kiren Rijiju
He added, “Any decision which will adversely affect the identity and the rights of tribal people will not be allowed, especially when I am a minister representing the North East.”
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