Arunachal Pradesh govt urges Congress to stop politicising issue of Chakma, Hajong refugees

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh government on Saturday asked the Opposition Congress to stop politicising the Chakma-Hajong refugee issue and to work together for a logical solution. The Union home ministry’s recent decision to grant citizenship to Chakma and Hajong refugees in North East has evoked resentment in the state. Apex students’ body of the state, All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), has called for a statewide dawn-to-dusk bandh on 19 September. “It is the time that all political parties should join hands for a solution to the vexed issue,” state government spokesman Passang Dorjee Sona told a press conference. [caption id=“attachment_4051267” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu. AFP[/caption] He also urged the Congress to work with the state government for a result instead of giving the issue a political colour. Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on 14 September criticised the Centre’s decision to grant citizenship to Chakma and Hajong refugees in the state. Sona said Chief Minister Pema Khandu has informed Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju that granting citizenship to Chakma-Hajong refugees would distort the social fabric of the state. “The government had earlier filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court and another SLP filed by the AAPSU was pending in the court,” he said. To a question on the Tibetan Refugee Rehabilitation Policy, Sona said the state government has made it clear to the Union home ministry that the policy would be implemented but the interest of the indigenous people should not be hampered. “The government will provide the basic facilities to the Tibetans living in the state in their respective settlements o the humanitarian ground which will not affect the indigenous population at any cost,” he added.