Chief Minister Pema Khandu drops contentious PRC plan, a recipe for instability that we can ill-afford

The Arunachal Pradesh government, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to drop the idea of extending permanent resident certificates (PRCs) to five outsider tribals and Gorkhas in the forseeable future. While the co-option was conceived of as rewarding these communities, who have been domiciles for decades, the indigenous people, fearing large-scale demographic invasion of outsiders who would now be entitled to land, benefits and education, launched a state-wide protest with a fist of fury. One that quickly descended into widespread violence in the state capital of Itanagar and other areas, leading to deaths of at least three people, along with destruction of properties and vehicles. Even the deputy Chief Minister was not spared from being attacked. The Northeast, which has been on a tinder box ever since its unique identity was challenged by the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that proposed absorption of Hindu refugees from Islamic border states, is right now sore with the rights and opportunities of indigenous people being trampled upon. And Arunachal Pradesh, which has a cluster of 26 major tribes and over 100 sub-tribes, is probably the last outpost of traditional people which has not yet been swamped by the long arm of civilisation. However, by virtue of it being a frontier state and with the presence of Army posts, there has been a fair amount of mainstreaming with migrants from the mainland who over time have also found their way into the local economy. If they are allowed to share rights like the tribals, then the latter’s share in the resource pie and job quotas would reduce automatically. Some tribes are a pathetic minority and diluting PRC provisions could expose them to the risk of becoming microscopic.

The opposition to the PRC is not new and has always been powerful with the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), the apex students’ union body of the State, consistently campaigning against it and challenging the  BJP-led State Government’s hasty announcement of granting residency rights to non-Arunachalis. Although the Pema Khandu government did set up a joint high power committee (JHPC) to look into the intricacies and assess local anxieties, the AAPSU has been claiming that the former was overriding ground reports. Students insisted any announcement related to PRC be made only after the land for accommodating newcomers was demarcated, the cutoff date established and a proper legislation was passed in the Assembly. But with general elections and Assembly elections around the corner in a State, which has had a history of political instability, clearly the PRC issue is being used to gain political mileage and consolidate votes. The BJP, which has made Arunachal an arrowhead of its Look East policy for some time, is clearly pushing an incremental comfort zone now that it has a hold of neighbouring Assam. The new communities, mainly inhabiting Namsai and Changlang districts, which it hoped to bring into the PRC ambit — Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings — are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in Assam. The Gorkhas of Vijaynagar were brought in the State for a temporary and on lease settlement for 30 years. The deed of agreement on lease will be over by 2020. But the heartland party could expect returnee loyalty by extending some benefits to them. The Congress, which the BJP has accused of inflaming passions considering Khandu’s claims that he would not push through the PRC Bill without assessing impacts threadbare, is equally in need of wresting some ground in the Northeast. But the fact of the matter is that the scale, brutality and nature of the street rampage has confused even top AAPSU leaders, who have never resorted to such extreme methods. So clearly fans are being flamed for political purposes. But as indigenous people hold out with a self-determined purpose, any narrative push may put Arunachal on the boil, a State that big brother China anyway has its eyes on. We cannot afford a flashpoint.