| Staff REPORTER |
ITANAGAR, Aug 12: The All Arunachal Pradesh Youth Organization (AAPYO) has urged the state government to constitute a high-power committee to urgently resolve the longstanding land dispute at Hime village under Lower Siang district.
The demand comes in the wake of Monday’s violent clash at Hime village involving local residents and people from Bogoti and other Mising villages of Assam, in which scores of people were injured.
Addressing reporters at the Arunachal Press Club here on Wednesday, AAPYO general secretary Tapor Maying questioned the delay in resolving the issue and said the matter should not be allowed to escalate further.
“Will the matter only be solved if there is bloodshed? Will you take responsibility then?” he asked.
Maying alleged that the Home Departments of both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh had prior information about the possibility of the clash but failed to take preventive measures. He said the incident could have been avoided had adequate security forces been deployed after receiving the information.
He termed the episode a failure of the Lower Siang district administration and expressed apprehension that the dispute could gradually take on a communal dimension.
Maying maintained that the issue was a land dispute and not an interstate boundary dispute, and appealed to the Mising community to resolve it through dialogue.
The AAPYO general secretary also urged the state Home Minister to deploy adequate police personnel at entry gates across the state, particularly in areas affected by the economic blockade imposed by the Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK).
He said the blockade had disrupted movement of people, including those travelling to Itanagar for medical treatment. “People living in Aalo and beyond and those from the eastern part of the state, who want to come to Itanagar for medical purposes, are now cut off because of this issue,” he said.
Maying criticised the state government for its failure to resolve several long-pending interstate boundary-related disputes with Assam, alleging that successive high-power committees had been constituted but had failed to produce a concrete solution.
Adi Mishing Students’ Union president Tapi Gao appealed to the Mising community to settle the Hime issue amicably through dialogue and mutual understanding.