ITANAGAR, Jul 31: The All Nyishi Students Union (ANSU) has expressed grave concern at the Mon Autonomous Region Demand Committee's memorandum pressing  for creation of Mon Autonomous Region stating that demand for autonomous status goes against "Pan Arunachal " as visualised by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
It also claimed that demands made while referring to the sixth schedule of the constitution is wrong and clarified that that sixth schedule provide rights for an autonomous council in order to safeguard the practice of customary law and traditions but Arunachal Pradesh being a tribal-state enjoys all these privileges, therefore, there is a no need to accord special status to a particular region or community.
"The demand for MAC will create inequality among the people of the state and give rise to conflict between different tribes, as all will start demanding autonomous status for their own tribe."
It also said that autonomous status is only given to a community or region that is weak, underdeveloped with little political representation and refuted any claim that the two districts are deprived enough to be granted special status.
"What more can  people of a  district ask for when the Chief Minister of the state who is in his second consecutive term and a Member of Parliament belongs to the same district," it pointed out.
ANSU also claimed that when it comes to the development, both districts receive  a lot of funds and various development projects and schemes are earmarked for the two districts, many of which are either completed or on the verge of completion.
The union took serious exception wherein it was mentioned that people of the two districts will boycott upcoming panchayat election if their demands are not fulfilled backed by elected representatives, government employees mostly OSD to CM. Since those seeking special status are headed by MLAs, including OSD to CM,  the union insisted that the CM's involvement cannot be ruled out in the matter.
It further also stated that MARDC should have consulted with people of Lada and Bana Circle of East Kameng which shares boundary with West Kameng and comes under proposed boundary for Mon Autonomous Region. While condemning the move,  Nyishi Ethnic Students' of Arunachal said  if the demands for creation of MAC and the Patkai Autonomous Council (PAC) comprising Tirap, Longding and Changlang districts are accepted, it will compel the Nyishi community to go ahead with similar demand for preservation of its culture, ethnicity and other rights. 

“If the autonomous councils are created, the Nyishi inhabited areas will be deprived of socio-economic and overall development,” the release mentioned. 
Alleging that the issue is being misguided by the MLAs of Tawang and West Kameng districts, the union said the move will create division among the state’s tribes, all of whom enjoy equal status. Referring to the issue of development of these areas, NESA said that departments such as Karmik and Adhyatmik Affairs and DoTCL are already there to cater to the developmental needs along with allotment of substantial state and central development funds. “The eastern districts especially Longding, Tirap and Changlang are declared disturbed by the central government because of the insurgency problem. However, flow of funds has not been stopped to these districts and in fact, more funds are being channelized through DoTCL, Border Area Development Plan (BADP) besides the funds specific to these districts,” the release added. The union has appealed the state government to ensure inclusive development for the state as a whole and act with caution while dealing with the issue which is sensitive in nature.
“The state government must not allow fault lines to be drawn on the basis of region or community, else NESA might be compelled to organise democratic movement similar to the one organised during granting of PRC to non-APSTs,” the release read. ANSU/ NESA PR 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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