Why Arunachal is burning & what is the permanent resident status problem

Six communities which have been living in the region for over 100 years have been demanding permanent resident status, but indigenous people are up in arms.

A building set on fire in Itanagar after a mob went on a rampage during a protest against the move to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities | PTI Photo

Guwahati: It took more than three days for Chief Minister Pema Khandu to make a serious intervention and bring the situation in Arunachal Pradesh under control. By then, violent protests against a proposal to grant Permanent Residential Certificates (PRC) to six ‘non-indigenous’ communities residing in the state had already taken a heavy toll.

At least three persons were killed, countless vehicles, shops and other business establishments as well as the private residence of a senior minister were set ablaze, and many government offices, including at least one police station, were vandalised.

Plying of trains and buses to the twin capital cities of Itanagar and Naharlagun have remained suspended, while the government has shut down the internet and all social media as a preventive measure. No newspapers could be published in the state for three days in a row.

Irate mobs even set ablaze the venue of the first-ever Itanagar International Film Festival a couple of hours before the event was scheduled for inauguration Saturday, and delegates from different parts of the country had to be escorted out under heavy security cover after they remained confined to their hotels for one whole day.

The nub of the problem 

The demand to grant PRCs to six communities which are not enlisted as Scheduled Tribes of the state is as old as Arunachal Pradesh itself.

There are about 500 families who have been living in Namsai and Changlang districts in eastern Arunachal Pradesh since much before the British created the North East Frontier Tracts (NEFT), an administrative unit attached to Assam, in 1914. NEFT was renamed North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) in 1951, which in turn became the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh in 1972, and a full-fledged state in 1987.

These people belong to the Mising, Deori, Sonowal Kachari, Moran and Adivasi communities, apart from some Gorkhas who belong to the World War II era.

Two Joint High Power Committees (JHPCs) constituted by two different Congress governments in the past had remained unimplemented for various reasons. The second JHPC report, for instance, had the signature of only the chairperson.

This time round, the BJP government of Pema Khandu had constituted a new JHPC, headed by senior minister Nabam Rebia, which held as many as eight sittings. It took the opinion of various stakeholders, including political parties and student bodies. The committee report was slated for submission in the budget session of the legislative assembly Saturday, when rumours spread that the government would also soon announce granting of PRC to the ‘non-indigenous’ communities.

The rumours spread through social media, triggering quick reactions, with protests fast turning into mob violence. The violence has occurred at a time when the frontier state, which shares a 1,080 km-long international boundary with China, is heading for assembly elections alongside the Lok Sabha elections.

The rumours had spread despite the BJP government making it clear Thursday that a decision on providing PRCs would be taken only after receiving recommendations from the JHPC.

“The government will ensure that any decision will be arrived at only on the recommendation of the JHPC, and the PRC, if so issued, will be done without compromising on the rights of the indigenous people,” government spokesman Bamang Felix had said that day.

He had also clarified that the government would “not take any decision which would be against the interest of the indigenous tribal people”.

Security personnel patrol a street during restrictions, imposed after a mob went on a rampage during a protest against the move to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities living in the state in Itanagar | PTI photo

Rijiju blames Congress

Kiren Rijiju, the MP for Arunachal West and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, has pointed the finger of suspicion for the violence at the opposition Congress party.

He alleged Sunday that while the Congress had supported and instigated the non-Arunachal Pradesh ST communities in Changlang and Namsai districts to fight for a PRC, it was also ‘misguiding’ the people in Itanagar against granting of the same.

He said a section of the people were instigated by the Congress despite CM Khandu making it amply clear that the government was not bringing in the bill, and would only table the report of the JHPC in the state assembly.

“From the beginning, I have strongly urged the state government not to grant PRC unless people are convinced of full protection of indigenous rights,” he said.

Rijiju also tweeted: “It means the state government has not accepted it (the JHPC report). In fact, Congress is fighting for PRC but instigating people wrongly.”

However, he also underlined the need for confidence-building, in order to restore normalcy at the earliest. “Now the state government must secure the confidence of the people,” Rijiju said in another tweet.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Guwahati who has reported on the Northeast for nearly four decades. He can be reached at [e-mail])