Guwahati, April 27: The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) has urged Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu not to perpetuate prejudices against the Chakmas and Hajongs by terming them as refugees.

The CDFI made this appeal at the training programme commemorating the national Panchayati Raj Day in Itanagar. earlier this week, Khandu had declared that after resolving the Assam-Arunachal boundary dispute, he would resolve the Chakma and Hajong issue by sending them to other states as these tribals being refugees cannot be permanently settled in the state, which is protected as a tribal state under the Constitution.

“The Chakmas and Hajongs were settled by the Union of India, the competent authority of the then North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA), from 1964 onwards and those born in the NEFA/Arunachal Pradesh are citizens of India by birth. There is no provision in the Constitution empowering any state or UT to declare us as non-resident and therefore forcibly remove us from our territorial jurisdiction,” stated CDFI founder Suhas Chakma.

Mentionably, there are about 65,000 tribals belonging to Chakma and Hajong communities in Arunachal Pradesh who fled from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and were settled by the Central government in the then North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) in 1964 to beef up security following the 1962 Indo-China war.

He also said that most of those who had migrated during 1964-1969 are dead now, and those who are alive cannot be removed from the state as per the directions of the Supreme Court in its 1996 judgment in the NHRC vs State of Arunachal Pradesh case.

“There is also no provision in the Constitution defining Arunachal Pradesh or any other state as a tribal state, and in fact, Article 371(h) of the Constitution only gives special responsibility and powers to the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh,” further mentioned Suhas.