Rights View
Published on Feb 25, 2019
Arunachal Pradesh has been in flames over the recommendation of the Joint High Power Committee to grant permanent resident certificates (PRC) to Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Misings and Gorkhas in Changlang and Namsai districts. Two persons have died, many injured while private residence of Deputy Chief Minister Chona Mein and properties of Nabam Rebia, Chairman of the JHPC in Itaganagar had been burnt.
Both Changlang and Namsai districts originally were part of the erstwhile Lakhimpur Frontier Tract notified under the 1873 Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act. Indeed, Lakhimpur Frontier Tract has been the homeland of the Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans and Misings and therefore, they are not “outsiders”. The Gorkhas were settled by the Government of India in the post 1962 Indo-China war and they too are not illegal as the Inner Line Permit is applicable to persons who are outsiders and those born and brought up inside an area following settlement by the Government of India, the competent authority under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation.
Suhas Chakma, Director of Rights & Risks Analysis Group in conversation with Dilip Chakma explains the history of these peoples and law relating to the debate on the PRC.
