Itanagar: The Chakma Hajong Rights Alliance (CHRA) on Tuesday announced that no dialogue can be held with the Arunachal Pradesh and Central governments unless Chief Minister Pema Khandu clarifies that resolution of the Chakma-Hajong issue would be found within the state by fully complying with the 1996 Supreme Court judgment and granting of full rights to them as citizens of India.
The Chakma Hajong Rights Alliance (CHRA), a representative organization of the two tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh, on Tuesday, discussed the Chief Minister’s statement in March that he would call them to resolve the long-standing issue and his statement on April 24 at a government function at Itanagar that the Chakma-Hajong problem would be resolved by distributing them in different states of India.
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“The Chakmas and Hajongs need resolution, not relocation. Under the laws of India, a person is considered an ordinary resident after six months’ residence but the state of Arunachal Pradesh has proposed relocation of the Chakmas almost 60 years after their settlement which is inhumane and cruel,” CHRA Convenor Pritimoy Chakma said in a statement.
The CHRA also adopted the resolution “to appeal to Khandu to not mislead the people of Arunachal Pradesh on the issue of the state being a tribal state and therefore protected, and the Chakmas and Hajongs cannot be permanently settled. Arunachal Pradesh is not recognised as a tribal state under the Constitution of India including Article 371(h) and the Chakmas and Hajongs were settled in the then North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) by the Government of India permanently”, the statement said.
It claimed that the Chakmas and Hajongs are not refugees, they are casting their votes and they are only victims of racial discrimination.
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