June 20, 2017: Arunachal Pradesh will move the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to revive the Joint High Power Committee, which was constituted to study the issue of Chakma and Hazong refugees in the state. The decision was taken in an all party meeting convened by Chief Minister Pema Khandu at Itanagar on Monday to discuss the issue.
The house also unanimously resolved to exhaust all legal means to defend and protect the interest of the indigenous tribes of the state.
Supreme Court in 2015 had directed the centre to grant citizenship rights to the Chakma- Hazong refugees in Arunachal Pradesh.
But All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union and various other organizations have been opposing the judgment and have been demanding for ouster of these refugees from the state.
These refugees were originally from Bangladesh who were relocated by the Indian government in the erstwhile North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), now Chowkham, Miao, Bordumsa area in Arunachal Pradesh, in the 1960s.
(AIR NEWS)