PRCs
IN DENIAL: Senior Congress leader Jarjum Ete has vehemently denied supporting PRCs for non-Arunachalees. Image Credit - Northeast Now

All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) general secretary, Jarjum Ete, on Thursday clarified that she never supported or spoke about granting permanent resident certificates (PRCs) to the non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) communities living in Lekang circle of Namsai district.

Ete’s clarification comes in light of serious allegations levelled on her by many on social media that she had supported the granting of PRCs to the non-Arunachalees. Apparently, a video of her speaking to media persons in Namsai in the year 2017 has of recent gone viral following which social media users have been alleging that she had expressed her views on granting PRCs to the non-APST communities.

“Besides questioning my stand on PRC in social media, people have also been approaching me and asking me to clarify my stand. I have never supported or uttered a word on PRC during the interview I gave to the journalists,” Ete, who was addressing a news conference at the press club here, said.

Giving more details of the episode she said: “There was a mass rally and joining programme of the Congress party in Namsai in 2017. Though I did address the gathering and journalists, I never spoke about PRC in any of my deliberations.” “I had actually asked the people of the area to support Bida Taku (a local leader) as I have great respect for him and his work for the public,” she said.

Ete further requested the people to stay away from leveling allegations on someone without knowing the truth and conducting a basic analysis on the issue. “Fictitious remarks as such on my dignity and work leaves a negative impact on the people who support me and have faith in me,” she added. Ete said that the video went viral on social media a few days after the anti-PRC protests that rocked the state, however, she came to know about the same quite late as she was out of town.

Replying to a question on her candidature for the Lok Sabha elections for the West constituency seat, Ete said she has applied for the party ticket, however, the final declaration is yet to come from the Central Congress Committee.

Damien Lepcha is Northeast Now Correspondent in Arunachal Pradesh. He can be reached at: [email protected]