Arunachal ministers Not Tribals Anymore

Sir,
Despite stiff opposition, the Arunachal Pradesh Government is adamant on continuing with the construction of dams. The CM of Assam Tarun Gogoi a least has a heart which has been proved by the heart surgery. Gogoi is somewhat considerate to the concerns of the grassroot peoples. But the CM of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu is a robot employed by the ministers and industrialists of central government. The way poor villagers were mercilessly beaten in the Pongging near Pasighat will go down as a black day in the history of the Adi tribe and all the marginalized poor people of the world. No media covered this merciless attack which was no less than a massacre. Only a few days back, labourers in the NHPC dam project were also beaten mercilessly by the Indian army and Arunachal police.

“We are happy and welcome the NHPC’s announcement that the Subansiri project would be commissioned in 2012,” MP from Arunachal Pradesh Takam Sanjay. Takam Sanjoy, Dorjee Khandu, Gegong Apang, Mukut Mithi, Bosiram Siram, all politicians of Arunachal Pradesh should not be tagged as tribals anymore. Their reservation facilities under the scheduled tribe category should be stopped. These ministers who are going against the spirit of democracy should be excommunicated and be regarded as outcast by the tribal forums of the state and the country. The United Nations Forum for Indigenous People should also de-recognise these politicians of Arunachal Pradesh as tribals.

There lives have become far removed from the life and living of a tribal. A tribal man loves nature and not money. A tribal man fights for his environment, and does not sell out his land for apartments in Delhi, Mumbai, London and New York. The lives of the ministers of this so called tribal state has become far removed from the lifestyle of a tribal. They send their children abroad and have no concern for their state or people. They talk to them in Hindi and no longer use their tribal languages or Nefamese. They are torturing the tribal people in the villages and using armed force and police to beat poor villagers. Can the present ministers and politicians who have gone against the spirit of humanity for the sake of money and power be any longer called tribals? They can only be called the stooge of industrialists and the voice of the Hindi lobby from mainland India. These so called ‘tribal’ ministers of a tribal state have become as money-minded as a shopkeeper in Jaipur or Delhi. Even dowry in the demanded form is showing its ugly head in Arunachal Pradesh. Their only contribution to tribal ethos is the one-day drama where they come in the traditional waist coats to attend the traditional festival nowadays organized in the state capital by some students union.

Yours faithfully,
Vox populi       
(Voice of the People)