Chakma Refugees In A Fix Over Whom To Vote.

Wednesday September 29 2004 00:00 IST IANS ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh's ruling Congress party has pledged to evict 60,000 Bangladeshi refugees if voted to power in assembly elections. "The Congress would give top priority to solve the Chakma refugee issue and take steps to resettle them outside the state," Chief Minister Gegong Apang told IANS. The tribal Buddhist Chakma refugees had been staying in Arunachal Pradesh since 1964 as stateless citizens after fleeing their native Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh following alleged persecution by Muslims. India's Election Commission had in May, during the general elections, ordered inclusion of names of the refugees in the state's electoral rolls, sparking off angry protests among the tribal people in Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 1,497 Chakmas were listed in the voters' list and all of them voted in the parliamentary elections. The Chakma voters were, however, in a quandary with all political parties contesting the Oct 7 assembly elections in the state making a vow to resettle them outside Arunachal Pradesh. "We are unable to make up our mind which party to vote for as all of them were speaking the same language of expelling us from the state if they were elected," said a refugee leader, S. Chakma. "At the same time we don't want to abstain from casting out votes, a right that we have got after a long fight." The other two main parties contesting the polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Arunachal Congress, a regional party, are also adopting a similar line by harping on the issue of driving out the refugees. The locals allege that the Chakma's were indulging in social crimes, besides threatening to tear apart the cultural fabric of the society. "The Chakmas are a threat to our indigenous tribal culture and traditions," community leader Domin Loya said. The refugees have been staying in thickly forested areas in eastern Arunachal Pradesh and eke out a living by selling agricultural produce and running petty businesses. "We don't have any problems if the refugees are settled outside our state and provided Indian citizenship," the chief minister said. "The refugees have no place in our state although we don't want to take any hasty steps that could amount to violating human rights.

Chakma Issue Haunts BJP In Arunachal Pradesh.

Sanat K Chakraborty/ Shillong: After four decades of humiliating existence as refugees, at least 1,497 Chakmas and Hajongs will earn their dignity as citizens when they vote along with other Indians to elect one of the two members of the Lok Sabha from Arunachal Pradesh on May 5.

The Chakmas and Hajongs, who now constitute the fourth largest community in Arunachal, have been in the State since the early sixties when they fled to India from erstwhile East Pakistan, fearing religious persecution following their displacement by a mega-dam project.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made around the Chakma and Hajong settlements amidst a poll boycott call given by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU) in protest against the inclusion of the 'refugees' in the State's electoral rolls.

The ethnically touchy and contentious issue of granting voting rights to the Chakma and Hajong settlers in Arunachal Pradesh is bound to damage the prospects of the ruling BJP, which hopes to clinch both the seats. AAPSU leaders have urged the political parties not to participate in the elections, and asserted that unless the names of the Chakma-Hajong 'refugees' were removed from the electoral rolls, they would not allow elections in the State.

Chief Minister Gegong Apang, however, asked the students' organisation not to disrupt the poll process as 'the vexed Chakma-Hajong issue' could be sorted out by the elected people's representatives. The AAPSU decided to go ahead with the boycott, accusing the political parties, especially the BJP, of betraying public trust.

The student's body renewed its campaign as a major poll plank after the Election Commission (EC) enrolled the names of only 1,497 Chakmas and Hajongs out of over 15,000 applications in the voter's list. A core committee, comprising members of the AAPSU and all the major political parties, was formed with Chief Minister Apang as its chairman and AAPSU leader Domin Loya as convener to thrash out the contentious issue of granting voting rights to the Chakmas and the Hajongs.

The core committee resolved that the 'refugees' should not be allowed to vote and their names must be struck down from the voters' list. The political parties, aware of its electoral ramifications, meekly endorsed the AAPSU proposal for the poll boycott, if the EC failed to act on the issue. Recently, an AAPSU delegation met deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and the Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi in connection with this issue. But the discussion yielded no satisfactory results. The EC, too, did not change its stand.

Desperate AAPSU leaders made a last ditch effort to persuade political parties against taking part in the elections. It did not work. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Apang resigned from the core committee early this week, dissociating himself from the AAPSU-led anti-poll campaign. He cited constitutional responsibility of the State Government, and counselled the students' body for restraint. Student leaders now feel cheated by Mr Apang, who had earlier used the AAPSU platform to whip up ethnic emotions on the "refugee issue".