Assam CM says no proposal to resettle Chakma Hajong in State

However, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma immediately came before the media and clarified that there has been no such proposal to relocate Chakma-Hajong from Arunachal Pradesh to Assam. “I don’t know what Mr Kiren Rijiju said to media, there is no such proposal. Neither Chakma-Hajong leaders met me nor central government has ever contacted me on this issue. I have agreed to provide Permanent Residence Certificate to few hundered Assamese people living in Arunachal Pradesh.”

Realising the impact of it on ensuing Lok Sabha polling, Mr Sarma said that Mr Rijiju is not any authority on making such remarks. “He may have said so for some political reasons, I will talk to him after the elections,” said Mr Sarma visibly not happy over the development in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Asserting that Chakma Hajong refugees would be relocated outside the frontier state before being granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Mr Rijiju told reporters, “They are staying in Arunachal Pradesh as guests. They are not entitled to get a permanent resident certificate (PRC) of citizenship in the frontier state,” said Mr Rijiju said this in the presence of state home minister Bamang Felix and BJP MLA from Itanagar, Techi Kacho.

Mr Rijiju went on saying, “The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a blessing for Arunachal Pradesh. It is out of the purview of Arunachal Pradesh. The CAA grants citizenship to non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries. So we will not grant them citizenship or permanent residents in Arunachal.”

He claimed, “We are already in touch to the Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma about the resettlement of Chakmas in Assam. It is a big issue. There is also resistance from local residents.”

He informed, “We also initiated talk with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. But we don’t want to make it public. We have been trying for their resettlement for the past three years. We are looking for suitable land for their resttlement. When we will get land we will tell them to leave the state.”

He reiterated, “We have been working silently on the issue and and Assam government has been urged to identify an appropriate location for their relocation.”

In 1996, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and the Arunachal Pradesh governments to grant citizenship to Chakma and Hajongs. Still, the state government has refused to accept the judgment and has refused to implement it.

In August 2022, the Arunachal Pradesh government announced that it would no longer be issuing “residence proof certificates” to the Chakma and Hajong refugees in Changlang district following opposition by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU).

As they do not have the “proof of residence” Chakmas and Hajongs are not Indian citizens and, therefore, are ineligible for official identification documents. The residential proof certificates which were issued by an extra assistant commissioner (EEAC) of Changlang district were also suspended from his service.

On April 24, 2023, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu announced that after resolving the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary dispute, he will resolve the Chakma Hajong problem by distributing them in different states of India as the Chakmas and Hajongs being refugees cannot be permanently settled in the state, which is protected as a tribal state under the Constitution of India.

Meanwhile, several organisations in Assam including Asom Jatiya Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) has registered a strong opposition to the proposed resettlement of Chakma-Hajong in Assam.