A delegation of Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), Janata Dal (Secular) and National People’s Party (NPP) on Wednesday met Arunachal Pradesh governor B. D. Mishra at Raj Bhawan here and served a memorandum demanding dropping of chief minister Pema Khandu from his post.
They also gave a three-day ultimatum to the governor for sacking Khandu.
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Addressing media persons later in the evening, Arunachal Pradesh Congress president Takam Sanjoy said they have asked the Governor to practice his power and functions by sacking Khandu from his post.
“The governor, during his deliberation with us was very clear that the army was not a party of the firings during the recent anti-Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) agitation that claimed three innocent lives. The home minister has also clarified that he did not give out the firing order and was moreover unaware of it. So it is obvious that the shooting orders were given either by the chief minister or his deputy and they are responsible for the deaths of the three youths,” Sanjoy said.
The Arunachal Pradesh Congress president also said union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju should also step down from his post for allegedly sending the army to the state capital.
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Echoing Sanjoy, former chief minister and JD(S) leader Gegong Apang also said chief minister Khandu should resign from his position as it was under his command the state has lost three youths and many were left injured after the recent PRC protest.
Apang added that the police officers, who were on duty during the agitation, should also be terminated from their posts.
Terming the youths who died in police firing as martyrs, he informed that the party leaders requested the governor to build a memorial for them.
“The governor was positive towards the demand,” Apang said.
PPA president Khafa Bengia alleged that the Khandu-led BJP government is trying to convert Arunachal into a non-tribal state and said that the lives of the three youths killed in the firing cannot be compensated by government jobs and announcement of ex gratia.
Calling for imposition of President’s Rule, Bengia said, “During the reign of previous government, President’s Rule was imposed in Arunachal when a mithun (Bos Fontalis) was killed near the Raj Bhawan. Now, the government is hesitating to impose the same when the state has lost three innocent lives.”
State NPP leader Tangya Byaling ruled out the clarification given by chief minister Khandu that the recent chaos was caused due to political intervention.
“Under his (Khandu’s) leadership, the state has witnessed a war like situation in the capital where three died and many are still recovering from their injuries. The CM’s statement of the PRC protest being ‘political chaos’ is only to garner votes from the public,” Byaling said.
He also asked the state government to declare February 24 as Martyrs’ Day.
The parties have threatened to sit for a dharna in front of the Raj Bhawan if their demands are not met.