11/05/2024
ChakmasandHajongs:Nobody’schildren?
—DR KONKUMONI BORO, The Assam Tribune.
The issue has been over-politicized, and, if a permanent solution is not found at the earliest, the prolonged humanitarian crisis will worsen.
Partition in 1947 divided the Indi- an subcontinent into two separate nations of India and Pakistan, mak- ing a non-Muslim majority dis- trict, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a part of Pakistan. The Radcliff line, dividing India and Pakistan, separated fam- ilies and lands of several communities dwelling by the sides of the newly imposed border, putting them in a state of dilemma – to join India, the country they wanted to be a part of, or join Pakistan, which they were compelled to be a part of. This came as a huge blow to the dwellers of CHT, who, even after they had made pleas to remain in India, were forcefully attached to Pakistan.
The Chakmas and the Hajongs migrated to India from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The Chak- mas, during their migration, followed two routes to reach India – one through Tripu- ra and the other through the Lushai Hills district (present-day Mizoram). As they moved to Assam, the Government of As- sam expressed its incapability to accom- modate the Chakmas as many new refu- gees had already settled in the State. Vish- nu Sahay, then Governor of Assam, wrote a letter (No.GA-71/64 dated April 10, 1964) to then Chief Minister BP Chaliha regard- ing the Chakma refugees’ settlement in the Tirap frontier division. In another letter (No.RHM-24/6410 dated April 27, 1964), AN Kidwai, then Chief Secretary, Govern- ment of Assam, wrote to the Advisor to the Governor of Assam (who was in charge of North East Frontier Agency, or NEFA) to make necessary arrangements for the settlement of 10,000 Chakma refugees. Again, on April 21, vide letter No.RR-17/ 64, the Advisor to the Governor General of Assam sought proposals from the political officers for the resettlement of refu- gees along the Indo-China border to strengthen the frontiers and remonstrate against China’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh and its continuous attempt to occupy that State. As a result, 2,902 Chakma and Hajong families, consisting of 14,888 persons, were resettled in Tirap (now Changlang), Subansiri (now Papum Pare) and Lohit (now Namsai) districts of Aru- nachal Pradesh in various batches with full support and assistance from the then gov- ernment.
The resentment against the Chakma- Hajongs was first spread and most power- fully exercised by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), a significant pressure group led by students. Since then, very systematically and consistently, it has been spearheading the anti-Chakma move- ment and resisting their settlement in Aru- nachal Pradesh. In the initial years after the settlement of the Chakmas between 1964 and 1986, there was no resentment among the people of Arunachal Pradesh against the Chakmas. But, a sudden change in the atti- tude of the people of Arunachal Pradesh towards the Chakmas became evident in the 1980s. In 1980, the Chakmas and Ha- jongs were banned from government serv- ices, and Chakma and Hajong children from government schools. The ration cards that were given to the Chakmas as refugees were taken away in the 1980s. Chakmas were denied birth certificates, employment was banned in 1987, trade licences were revoked, issuance of ration cards was stopped in 1991, and panchayats were re- voked in 1994. A complete social boycott and economic blockade were exerted against the Chakmas and Hajongs.
Very recently, the AAPSU also resented the nomination of a Chakma candidate, Dhrishya Muni Chakma, for the Diyun Bor- dumsa constituency in Arunachal Pradesh in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The Chakma-Hajong issue has been over-politicized, and, if a permanent solu- tion is not found at the earliest, the situa- tion will only aggravate in that State. Polit- ical leaders like Kiren Rijiju recently came up with statements that stimulated a long- standing issue. This is not the first time that the Union Minister has made such com- ments on the Chakma-Hajong issue. On September 13, 2017, Rijiju, then the Un- ion Minister of State for Home, conveyed that the Centre is hopeful of finding a mid- dle ground in implementing the 2015 or- der of the Supreme Court on conferment of citizenship rights to eligible Chakmas and Hajongs; at the same time taking care of the indigenous people’s rights, so that the rights are protected and not diluted. The ‘middle ground’ was proposed in the form of ‘limited citizenship,’ by which the Chak- mas and the Hajongs would be granted cit- izenship without access to special rights that have been imparted to the ‘indigenous people,’ like ownership of land and the Aru- nachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) status. This decision to achieve a middle ground was vehemently criticized by both the parties, the AAPSU as well as the Chak- ma leaders.
The Chakmas and the Hajongs are the victims of Partition and the consequent mod- ern state-building process and homogeniz- ing tendencies, leading to a majoritarian de- mocracy where the voices of the minori- ties were suppressed. Furthermore, the so- called refugees very well qualify to be citi- zens according to the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955. The Chakmas who migrated are eli- gible for citizenship under Section 5(a) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and those who were born in India are already citizens un- der Section 3(a) of the same. So, the Chak- mas have already been deprived of their rightful entitlements and benefits for more than five decades now. Further delays will only worsen the situation and lead to great- er deprivation of the community. Here is a case in which refugees were settled with full support and assistance from the gov- ernment, but in a place that is protected under several laws restricting the entry and settlement of Indian citizens, let alone ref- ugees. Hence, these refugees are now left in a state of statelessness. This also shows the nonchalance of the Centre towards the peripheral regions and its people. In such a situation the need of the hour is to come to a resolution that does not challenge the rights of both parties.
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