ITANAGAR, May 31: The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) on Wednesday condemned the Patkai Autonomous District Council (PADC) Committee for organising a rally recently demanding autonomous council.
The apex students’ body said the demand for PADC was within the framework of the Indian Constitution but questioned the genuineness of the demand. The issue is misguided and is creating a divide among the people of the state where every tribe enjoys equal status, it said.
“The eastern districts especially Longding, Tirap and Changlang are declared disturbed by government of India because of the insurgency problem. However, the flow of funds has not been stopped to these districts. In fact, more funds have been given under the Department of Tirap Changlang and Longding (DoTCL), Border Area Development Plan (BADP) besides funds specific to these districts,” AAPSU president Hawa Bagang said in a statement here.
“The people or organisation should focus for the awareness on the implementation of the funds in the districts, as the common people have been kept in the dark since many years and the developmental activities have taken a slow pace,” he added.
“The recent rally organised had misguided the people. Demanding autonomy under Article 371 (A) is illogical when Longding, Tirap and Changlang are parts of the state. The rally is politically motivated by a few selfish individuals and has no public support in clear sense. The AAPSU) has always been clear about not tolerating any external elements trying to degrade the integrity of the people and its land,” Bagang said.
The union also sought unconditional public apology from the PADC committee for misguiding the people and including the demand under Article 371 (A). It also asked the committee to shed the idea of autonomous district council for Patkai region which would divide the state.
“It is an open secret that the districts have severely been affected by underground activities and taxes are being imposed, which have retarded developmental activities,” the AAPSU said.