Beneath the fissures

The agitations in Tawang are not merely a tussle between pro- and anti-dam campaigners. A closer look reveals a power play in the monastery
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/know/a-closer-look-at-the-agitations-in-tawang/article8621329.ece

Tawang, the normally placid town better known for its spiritual heritage, natural beauty and strategic importance, suddenly found itself at the centre of a bloody incident a few days ago. What appears on the surface to be a “pro-dam versus anti-dam” tussle reveals disturbing undercurrents on close examination.

Lama Nima Wangde, a student at the Tawang monastery, fell to one of the several hundred bullets fired by policemen that also killed one other person and injured at least eight on May 2, 2016. The cops had opened fire without warning and without an official order. The district administration erred by detaining the monk-turned-activist Lama Lobsang Gyatso, general secretary of Save Mon Region Forum (SMRF) under a non-bailable section for the second time within 48 hours. He was first arrested on April 26 on the charge of leading a protest at Gongkhar village, where the six-megawatt Mukto Shakangchu hydel project is coming up, and again on April 28 for defaming Guru Tulku Rinpoche, the abbot of Tawang monastery.

His jailing for 72 hours on flimsy grounds led hundreds of angry supporters to troop into the prison complex and culminated in the tragic turn of events. Despite having four days’ time and intelligence inputs, the administrators failed to respond appropriately. Why were the students of Tawang monastery supporting Lobsang after he was accused of insulting Guru Rinpoche? Is there a design to undermine the Dalai Lama’s authority over Tawang monastery? Media reports may have simplistically reduced this conflagration to an attempt “to silence anti-dam protesters”, but there is more to it.

To better understand this, one must first be familiar with the characters who have locked horns in a power play within and outside the second-oldest Mahayana Buddhist monastery, the Gaden Namgyal Lhatsen or Tawang monastery, as it is popularly known. The seat of the ‘abbot of Gaden Namgyal Lhatsen’ is highly revered. The life of the Monpas, the most populous tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, is delicately interwoven with religion, with the abbot exerting a pervasive influence on their socio-cultural life and, hence, a political influence too.

Amid the hullabaloo, word is out that three of the five secretaries at Tawang monastery are seeking the ouster of Guru Rinpoche; the two who support him are Lama Ngawang Tsering and Lama Dorjee Namgey. It is alleged that the rebel monks — Lama Lobsang Phuntsok, Lama Lobsang Thapkey and Lama Sang Leta — have been aiding Lama Lobsang’s campaign against the political and religious establishments.

The large presence of Gelukpa monks in that emotive, yet unruly May 2 protest could be construed as a rebellion within the monastery, as also an attempt to undermine the Dalai Lama, as the abbot is directly appointed by him. Such a construct is not unfounded, given the threat perception to the life of Guru Rinpoche, who is camping at Dharamsala. Sensing danger, he had earlier moved out of Tawang monastery to take shelter at an Indian army guesthouse. A day later, he left for Bomdila but the local administration expressed its inability to provide security. Guru Rinpoche later tendered his resignation to the Dalai Lama on May 6 but suspense over its status remains.

Ahead of the incidents of May 2, there were rumours that the powerful troika of Pema Khandu, his brother Tsering Tashi and cousin Jambey Tashi who represent the three legislative assembly segments in Tawang district — were miffed with the SMRF after it won a favourable verdict from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal had on April 7 suspended the environment clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest for the Nyamjang Chhu hydropower project in Tawang’s Zemingthang area. There are allegations that the trio had instigated the non-bailable arrests of Lobsang.

Another version doing the rounds is that Guru Rinpoche, during a courtesy call on new chief minister Kalikho Pul on March 11, had agreed to support pro-dam activities. This, in turn, had angered Lama Lobsang and he released an audio clip questioning the Rinpoche’s nationality. This version however has been challenged by both factions. Supporters claim the Rinpoche never gave his assent when Pul had raised the subject; rather, he had sought aid to protect the Tawang monastery against the recurring landslides. Lobsang, on the other hand, said the audio clip was from 2012 when Guru Rinpoche had given a clarion call to monks to stay away from political activities related to the anti-dam movement.

The Panchayati Raj elections in 2013 and the Assembly elections in 2014 were contested on the ‘anti-dam movement’ plank in the Monyal region, comprising Tawang and West Kament districts. The much-venerated monk Tsona Gontse Rinpoche (TGR), who dabbled in electoral politics, was then attempting a comeback after the death of former chief minister Dorjee Khandu, the man who had reduced TGR to a political non-entity. TGR took the anti-dam posture and several monks were reportedly sourced from the Sera Jey Monastic University at Mysore in the build-up to the anti-dam agitations. It was alleged that Lama Lobsang, who had studied at this institute, played an instrumental role in this mobilisation. Though public sentiment was against the dams and the political hegemony of the Khandu family, TGR’s team failed to dent the family’s political fortunes. Today, this family is led by a political greenhorn, Pema Khandu, the eldest son of the late Dorjee Khandu.

A couple of months after the elections, 47-year-old TGR died under mysterious circumstances in New Delhi. It was reported that he had committed “suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan at his sisters’ house in Vasant Kunj, South Delhi”. Thereafter, the mantle fell upon Lama Lobsang to continue the struggle. Apart from the multiple versions and realities, a new conspiracy theory doing the rounds is that of possible Chinese involvement in derailing the Tawang hydro projects, which have a cumulative potential of generating 2,792 MW once commissioned. This theory assumes an added importance given the Dragon’s penchant for Tawang as an integral part of Southern Tibet’s geo-political history. In this evolving discourse of “my views vs your views”, undeniable is the need to investigate this new angle.

Jarpum Gamlin is the founding editor of Eastern Sentinelan English daily published from Itanagar

(This article was published on May 20, 2016)

BJP has long way to go in north-east

Arunachal Pradesh is a Christian majority state with 30.3 per cent of the 14 lakh population owing their allegiance to various denominations of Christianity, as per the 2011 Census. 

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/527423/bjp-has-long-way-go.html

Of all the denominations, the Roman Catholic Church takes the lead with nearly 1, 80,000 followers. Therefore, it was an unfortunate political swansong for a leader like former Congress chief minister Nabam Tuki, a catholic, to term the Raj Bhawan as BJP headquarters. If that was a subtle push which failed to ruffle feathers, then it definitely was a shove when he pushed the envelope in calling Governor J P Rajkhowa an agent of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). 

These verbal exchanges did not augur well amid a high-tension political drama that saw 47 Congress legislators in a 60-member Assembly holding an entire state to ransom.

In that sense, what Tuki said was a fatal political slur that could have had collateral impact on the socio-cultural fabric of the tribal society. Without an exception, many discerning eyebrows were raised, however, fortunately, not a single soul bit the bait, leave aside the sinker. The state BJP leaders displayed political maturity and refrained from calling the Congress a “Christian party,” which otherwise is often used in the political corridors here ever since the then chief minister Jarbom Gamlin, an indigenous faith believer, tendered his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi paving the way for Tuki’s regime. During that crisis, the Congress had deputed an observer, who was a Christian.

Despite serious attempts to hype the current political crisis as “Saffron vs Church” among certain quarters in New Delhi, the people back home did not give a hoot about such propaganda fully aware that differences within the Congress’ family led to washing the dirty laundry. Finding this as an opportune moment to strike, the BJP pursued the Raj Bhawan route, which acted like a tough cop, going by the rule book.

Legal and constitutional complexities aside, the talking heads in Lutyens Delhi should make an effort to understand the nuances of politics in a close knit tribal society which is not the same as the rest of India.

In Arunachal’s tribal society, an affiliation or membership to a political party is loosely driven by convenience and has absolutely nothing to do with ideology or philosophy. One dare add, affiliation to a particular political party could be a passport but without any guarantee of “success” visa stamped on it. Victory or defeat in an electoral contest here is more of a linear calculation based on binary concept of “clan and matrimonial alliances”. Hence, one will find most of the successful politicians to be either polygamous or from a large clan. 

For instance, between 2009 and 2014 during the fifth Legislature, 39 legislators were polygamous. The statistics has not changed much during the current sixth legislature and the general consensus surrounding politicians and political parties in the state clearly validates this binary concept.

By and large, the religious bodies—churches and saffron brigades–have kept away from active politics and confined themselves to imparting education, healthcare and preaching at the grassroot level. Essentially, religion has very little place in tribal style of politics.
Case in point is the 2014 Assembly election when unsure of victory, the Tuki led Congress stifled the democratic rights in 11 constituencies in Christian dominated areas of Western Parliamentary segment.

Superiority of the church

Must one add, those pitting the churches against the saffron brigade in the current turmoil is overlooking the numerical superiority of the churches compared to the RSS. In stark contrast, preachers and pastors of Christianity run to 5-digits, whereas the RSS has a miniscule seven pracharaks to cover the geographical spread of 83,743 sq km with 26 major tribes and more than 100 sub-tribes, speaking as many different languages.  

Strategically, the RSS is not into proselytisation and tactically, it plays the role of friend, philosopher and guide to indigenous population in maintaining and evolving the age-old faith and culture. Unlike in the rest of India, the state BJP doesn’t have a full-time organisation secretary who generally has an RSS background. It is also pertinent to burst the mythical discourse given by few scholars and chroniclers attributing usage of Hindi as an official language to the Hindu missionaries. Factually it is way off the mark. Credit goes to the large presence of defence personnel who have taken Hindi to the interiors. Even today, despite the spread of modern education, one finds natives of border villages speaking more refined and fluent Hindi as compared to the urban settlers.

Politically speaking, at this juncture, the posturing of the state BJP as a lever to enhance prospect of the saffrons beyond a short fishing expedition would be preposterous, yet symbolically, the party could be setting the tone for Assam election and may be laying the foundation for 2019 in Arunachal. 

But to prophesise change of fortune in Arunachal to be a good luck charm in the ensuing Assam election could be an exaggerated extrapolation. But it would be fair to draw conjectures on the fortune in at least 21 Assembly constituencies in seven districts of Assam along the boundary of neighbouring states since age-old ties are still maintained, besides matrimonial alliances.

(The writer is the founding editor of Itanagar-based English daily, Eastern Sentinel)

After SC verdict, a mess in Arunachal

Though the BJP was accused of fishing in troubled waters during last winter, the fact remains that it was the PPA that benefited a lot as a political entity...

http://www.asianage.com/columnists/after-sc-verdict-mess-arunachal-522

After the Supreme Court delivered its verdict Wednesday on the SLP involving Nabam Rebia and Bamang Felix vs Deputy Speaker and others, it is clear it was an “open and shut” case. Many may term this a historic judgment, but to an equal number of political watchers the turn of events was a repeat of the Bihar Assembly case of 2005 when then governor Buta Singh recommended President’s Rule in May 2005, and almost a year later, in January 2006, the Supreme Court held that the governor’s recommendation was unconstitutional and it severely criticised Mr Singh’s role and the UPA Cabinet’s wisdom, but by then Nitish Kumar won a comfortable majority after a snap election in October 2005.

Therefore, one shouldn’t buy the argument that the ruling on Wednesday was unprecedented. It is not the first time a governor has been rapped for overstepping the Constitution, nor has the wisdom of the Union Cabinet and the President been questioned for the first time.

It is, however, a historic repeat of Bihar Assembly case that had exposed the farcical delayed justice system of our country which has been the cause of much heartburn. This judgment too has come very late in the day. Much water has surged down the river in the past five months.

Kalikho Pul had 19 Congress legislators then, but today he counts 30 Congress MLAs as his supporters, who had joined the lone regional political party, People’s Party of Arunachal, besides two Independent MLAs who joined his government. To bolster it, 11 BJP MLAs have extended outside support to his PPA government. All told, the tally of Mr Pul’s government has gone up to 43 MLAs as of today.

Going by the July 13 ruling, former chief minister Nabam Tuki can’t be a happy man. He must be crestfallen to find that justice was not only delayed, but that he was denied the chair since January 26. But one also wonders what took the three learned judges — Justices Jagdish Singh Kehar, Dipak Mishra and Madan B. Lokur — so long to turn the clock back to the pre-December 15 status; though the bench of three judges had almost hinted at this way back on February 23, 2016.

The constitutional position having being established, it is the political situation that is now precariously perched in Arunachal Pradesh once again, and a diabolical fallout is anticipated in law and order too. The knives have been unsheathed; the social media in the state bordering China is now awash with messages on how “turning back of the clock” is actually a “turning back on the people” that saw an abundance of development activities, restoration of law and order during and after President’s Rule.

Wednesday’s order means the effective strength of the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly is restored to 58 MLAs, with Nabam Rebia as Speaker and Nabam Tuki as chief minister once again. Prior to December 15, the BJP had 11 MLAs, two were Independent MLAs and the Congress had 45 MLAs as two Congressmen were unseated in the first week of December.

Logically, from New Delhi to Itanagar, everyone seems to be either wondering or strategising about the next political moves. Every politician worth his/her salt is quiet, except the Tuki camp that has erupted in jubilation, hailing it as a “victory of democracy”. Every attempt to contact PPA or BJP leaders is met with a measured response, but without much content, as they are all huddled in a serendipitous meeting of the North East Democratic Alliance being held in Guwahati, chaired by BJP president Amit Shah.

The Itanagar Raj Bhavan, meanwhile, has a new occupant in Tathaghata Roy, who is acting governor since July 11 in the absence of J.P. Rajkhowa, said to be on medical leave in South India. Mr Tuki called Mr Rajkhowa an honourable man in the national media on Wednesday, but earlier it was his camp that called the governor an RSS agent and Raj Bhavan a BJP office. By that yardstick, the new incumbent, Mr Roy, is a self-declared RSS man who wears it as a badge of honour.

Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s verdict, the political reading of the changed situation is none too good for Mr Tuki. Even if he returns to the chief minister’s chair, he is unlikely to survive beyond the date of a fresh floor test, either of his government or of the Speaker’s impeachment if it has to be taken up with the clock turned back.

Though the BJP was accused of fishing in troubled waters during last winter, the fact remains that it was the PPA that benefited a lot as a political entity, despite the party not having the requisite wherewithal to withstand the pressure of an old crumbling structure called Congress. Therefore, Mr Pul’s PPA government is likely to lean heavily on the BJP for advice and support, but the ruling party at the Centre is unlikely to yield much without a hard bargain. The saffron political posturing is no secret as the most popular face of the state BJP, Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, made it quite clear back in February that he did not want to be chief minister, and of late former two-time BJP national general secretary and current state chief Tapir Gao has minced no words in declaring the party’s intent to form the next government.
Given such a sequence of events, a majority of people in the state have become extremely cynical about politicians and their ways, and many feel that President’s Rule leads to better governance, as they experienced in the 25-day period between January 26 and February 20 this year.

The writer is the founding editor of Eastern Sentinel, a leading Itanagar daily 

Arunachal story, from ground zero

It is unfortunate that the discourse about Arunachal in mainland India has been reduced to a stand-off between the BJP and Congress, or is seen as a constitutional crisis, whereas the real issue is the conflict within the Congress and corruption.

http://www.asianage.com/columnists/arunachal-story-ground-zero-680

On ground zero, Article 356 of the Indian Constitution is not at all a part of debate. The most discussed issue in Itanagar and, in fact, across Arunachal Pradesh is whether the governor acted prudently in recommending President’s Rule or not. Most feel that the governor’s actions were justified, but that doesn’t take away the great sense of loss, pain and disappointment in the Congress for wasting an absolute mandate. It had 47 legislators in a 60-member Assembly.

Though the case against the imposition of President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh is being heard by a five-member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, the fact is that Gauhati high court has upheld the governor’s decision and the apex court has not stayed that judgment.

What pains me to no end is to witness the strange “media spinning” in Delhi, instead of newspapers and TV channels focusing on the core issue, i.e. the role of elected leaders, as well as proprietary and probity in public life. It is unfortunate that the discourse about Arunachal Pradesh in mainland India has been reduced to a stand-off between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, a replication of the Lok Sabha, or is seen as a constitutional crisis, whereas the real issue is the conflict within the Congress and corruption.

The first sparks flew in December 2014, when senior rebel Congress leader and “chief minister-in-waiting” Kalikho Pul was dropped from chief minister Nabam Tuki’s Cabinet after Mr Pul raised concerns about fiscal discipline in a Cabinet meeting sometime in November. An aggrieved Mr Pul then discreetly started mobilising Cabinet ministers and that’s when the state Pradesh Congress expelled him from the party on April 2, 2015, for a period of six years. Thereon, Mr Pul came out all guns blazing, with incriminating documents pertaining to financial mismanagement to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore, stating that though during the 2014-15 financial year, the state government received Central grant of Rs 5,815.71 crore besides additional fund of Rs 1,109 crore, the chief secretary had to order the closing of financial year a week earlier since the government had gone bankrupt.

These colossal figures didn’t cut much ice with the public till Mr Pul dropped a bombshell. He alleged that the retiral benefits, including General Provident Fund (GPF) and New Pension System (NPS) accounts had been reduced to “zero” — that `864 crore of the GPF and Rs 97 of the NPS had been utilised by the government.

The government couldn’t defend the charges and the muck of financial mismanagement stuck. Thereafter public mood and sentiment swung against the Tuki-led government. In the meantime, Mr Pul went to court and got a stay on the expulsion notice served on him on May 18, 2015.

Seizing the escalating “in-fighting” as a window of opportunity, the principal Opposition party in the Arunachal Legislative Assembly, the BJP with 11 legislators, started making the “right noises” in media and reached out to the Raj Bhavan, then occupied by the UPA-II appointee, Lt. Gen. Nirbhay Sharma (retd).

The BJP soon realised that Lt. Gen. Sharma was being too soft on the Tuki-led Congress government despite several complaints with incrementing documents. Expectedly, J.P. Rajkhowa, a former bureaucrat and well-known littérateur, replaced Lt. Gen. Sharma as Arunachal Pradesh’s 19th governor. He was accorded a warm welcome by chief minister Tuki a day before he took official charge on June 1, 2015.

Despite Mr Rajkhowa’s impeccable record as an upright bureaucrat and a celebrated and influential littérateur in Assam, he was looked at suspiciously for being a native of Assam — a state with whom Arunachal Pradesh has a long standing boundary dispute that has witnessed much blood bath since Union Territory days.

With a National Democratic Alliance-appointed governor in the saddle, the state BJP started mounting a fresh assault on Mr Tuki and the functioning of his government with allegations of corruption and compromising his position and power.

Mr Rajkhowa sought clarifications from Mr Tuki’s office on various allegations, including the controversial “Hollongi Greenfield Airport Project”. Mr Rajkhowa is on record to state that at least Rs 500 crore of the total project cost of Rs 1,150 crore was meant for land compensation and of that the lion’s share went to the family members of Mr Tuki, his cousin brother and ousted Speaker, Nabam Rebia. This led to a breakdown in communication between the Raj Bhavan and the chief minister’s office.

On the other hand, Mr Pul convinced a few more senior Congress legislators and ministers to knock on the door of the All-India Congress Committee to brief the high command. The rebels, comprising 21 MLAs, camped in New Delhi seeking an appointment with the high command, but till date they have not been granted an audience with Sonia Gandhi or even Rahul Gandhi. Not meeting the state Congress rebel leaders is being interpreted as the AICC’s arrogance and insensitivity towards the frontier state and also of using Arunachal Pradesh to settle political brownie points inside and outside of Parliament.

Usually a composed man, a rattled Mr Tuki now strayed into more battles. He dropped at least four senior Cabinet ministers and many parliamentary secretaries.

One of the sacked senior ministers, Kumar Waii, accused Mr Tuki of creating “CM’s Super-18 out of 47 Congress legislators”. The turning point in the rebellion came on October 27 last year, when tourism minister Pema Khandu resigned, terming Mr Tuki a failure and demanding his ouster as the leader of the House.

Mr Khandu blamed lawlessness as the reason for the fall of 52 per cent in foreign tourist inflow in Arunachal Pradesh compared to the previous year. These and other allegations triggered an avalanche of resignations of political appointees, including principal adviser to the chief minister and former deputy chief minister, Kameng Dolo and chairman of forest corporation and former MLA, Tani Loffa, in protest against Mr Tuki’s leadership and style of functioning. Another setback for Mr Tuki was the World Bank report that ranked Arunachal Pradesh as last in the entire country for “ease of doing business”. An exasperated Mr Tuki reached out to the anti-national force, Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) to quell the dissidence, a fact that has been quoted by Mr Rajkhowa in his report.

On December 9, Mr Rajkhowa without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, revised the order dated November 3, 2015, summoning the Assembly session from December 16-17 instead of January 14-15, 2016. He justified his move stating that a notice for impeachment of the Speaker was served on November 18 by the BJP legislators, but legislative secretariat failed to act upon it even after the lapse of mandatory 14 days. Buttressing his stand on failure of the constitutional machineries, Mr Rajkhowa said that the chief minister had replied to only two of his 18 letters from June to October 2015.

Rest of the events of December 16 and 17 are known to the world and much debated. But what is less known is that Mithun is a precious bovine that is considered a sacred animal in various traditional rituals. It was slaughtered right in front of the main gate of the Raj Bhavan as a mark of protest by Congress workers on December 17. What has not been reported is that the mob was led by some senior ministers who are well-versed with customary laws concerning rituals and the sacrifice was definitely an insult to the governor, a constitutional authority.

In a tribal society, to avenge such a despicable act, a similar sacrifice must be performed at the protesters’ residence. That sacrifice, metaphorically, of course, may be carried out in the hallowed hall of the Supreme Court. Hopefully.

The writer is the founding editor of Itanagar-based daily, Eastern Sentinel 

Northeast beef row: How BJP ministers gave Modi and Hindutva a bad name

The creation of such divides speaks poorly about a nationalist party that has strived for the unity and integration of the country.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/northeast-beefban-kiren-rijiju-modi-governement-bjp-hindutva-rss/story/1/4001.html

Whilst the entire nation was evaluating the performance of the Narendra Modi-led majority government, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had no business biting the bait of Asaduddin Owaisi, a known mischief monger, in the name of religion, diverting focus from governance to trivial communal narratives of Hindu versus Muslim. More absurd is Kiren Rijiju’s sharp retort to Naqvi’s statement and subsequent denial within 24 hours on the ground that he has been misquoted.

In all fairness, Rijiju has been misquoted in so far as “his eating habit is concerned”. However, “Why should Rijiju feel sorry about his food habits” – that’s a question few youngsters of Arunachal have raised on social media. Further, Rijiju’s habit of speaking for the entire Northeast region on trivial issues including “beef eating” or politicising the recent stand-off between Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung over the appointment of the acting chief secretary Shakuntala Gamlin - where he attempted to give the confrontation a “racial discrimination” spin instead of arguing on the merit and seniority of Gamlin as was the case - does not augur well for the BJP, which is yet to find a foothold in the region.

The creation of such divides by responsible people in the government speaks poorly about a nationalist party that has strived for the unity and integration of the country, especially at a time youngsters in the region are looking up to the leadership of the BJP to undo wrongdoings of successive (read Congress-led) governments in alienating the region — politically, socially and emotionally.

Therefore, frivolous comments and flip-flop posturing by the “young liberal faces” of the ruling establishment are doing more harm to the BJP's image and causing greater danger to the party’s prospects than the elected leaders who hold an extremist view on socio-political subjects. This has unnecessarily given rise to misgivings about the RSS as well as insinuated Sangh leaders as the brain behind their public posturing.

It is said that RSS' second Sarsangchalak, MS Golwalkar made his views very clear to the people of Northeast, long ago, during one of his visits. “Eating habits cannot be the basis of who is Hindu or non-Hindu”, he is quoted to have said. In that sense, Gowalkar was a liberal who understood the geographical spread of Hindustan and the cultural and social uniqueness associated with each region. Evidently, Hindutva cannot be limited to mere food habits, but at the same time sentiments of the majority within the geographical spread should be respected wherever one resides in this vast country - that has been the age-old cultural ethos.

This raises many questions about the politics surrounding the issue. One question is about the inability of these two junior ministers to resist temptation to speak out of turn and their overshadowing of the first anniversary of a fairly successful Modi government, which can count communal peace and harmony as one of its significant achievements in the past 12 months.

The question is also about the integrity of quicksilver-tongued politicians' distasteful habit of disrespecting unity in diversity and of certain sections within a political establishment being intolerant towards each other’s socio-cultural sentiments.

Above all, it raises the question about the priority of the mainstream media, which plays into the hands of trickster politicians, who are habitual headline-grabbers. It calls into question the media’s innate knack of pushing irrelevant subjects and issues to the centre of debate and discussion - day and night. Given such a context, need we blame politicians, religious leaders and their ilk?

Why JP Rajkhowa's appointment as Arunachal governor is significant

Arunachalees are already expressing scepticism over putting an Assamese in the Raj Bhavan.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/arunachal-pradesh-jp-rajkhowa-mcmahon-line-nabam-tuki-nirbhay-sharma-china-mizoram-jj-singh/story/1/4041.html

On Saturday, former bureaucrat, JP Rajkhowa arrived in Itanagar to be sworn-in on June 1 as the governor of Arunachal Pradesh. He would be the 19th governor of Arunachal Pradesh in 28 years of its statehood. Besides being a former bureaucrat, he is a celebrated and an influential litterateur in Assam but is an unknown entity to the Arunachalees who are already expressing scepticism over the appointment of an Assamese as the governor. Mind you, to the Arunachalees, settling of the boundary dispute with neighbouring Assam is far more important and significant than settling of the international border along the McMahon Line with China; thus an apprehension has crept into people’s minds.

Rajkhowa’s appointment was necessitated after Lt General (Retired) Nirbhay Sharma was transferred from the Raj Bhavan of Itanagar to that of Aizwal to become the 17th governor of Mizoram, apparently as a result of the state BJP’s complaints against Sharma who was seen as biased towards the Tuki-led Congress government. Significantly, Mizoram has seen eight governors in ten months since July 12 last year - a fact that evoked negative reactions from the Mizos for treating their Raj Bhavan as a dumping ground. Whether Sharma would complete the rest of his tenure or encounter the same fate as the rest of the earlier United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-2 appointed governors, only time would tell.

It is pertinent to applaud Sharma’s life and time in Arunachal's Raj Bhavan — not for any far-reaching action but for maintaining a dignified silence and for quietly going about his cut-out works, as mandated by the Constitution.

However, despite all good deeds and his golden silence, few critics definitely shall point fingers at Sharma's over-stretched silence on the Tuki-led Congress government's financial mismanagement, as alleged by Kalikho Pul, his former senior cabinet colleague, which snowballed into a political crisis. If he has been transferred out, he himself ought to be blamed, since he failed to heed the "hue and cry" of the non-ruling political parties and of the civil society organisations especially the state BJP that has mustered courage and a stronger voice since the last general election.

Nevertheless, Sharma must be credited for bringing back dignity and respect to the constitutional chair after he took over from his predecessor General (Retired) JJ Singh. During Singh's tenure, it was felt, that his public relations (PR) overdrive in the local print media negatively impacted the dignity of the chair of the governor and his insignificant public engagements dearly cost the prestige attached to the chair, but Sharma reversed all those negatives.

Contrasting gubernatorial image between Sharma and Singh are too extreme to be ignored: that's a unanimous view among political watchers. With due respect to the two decorated soldiers, the quiet demeanor of Sharma, in comparison to Singh's flamboyant nature, wasn't lost amongst the lawmakers. There were anecdotes of how Singh attempted to treat a full-fledged state like a union territory by summoning cabinet review meetings at the Raj Bhavan during his initial days, thereby causing heartburn among the lawmakers. Sharma, however, maintained a very low profile throughout and limited his public appearances on the basis of need. Sharma was seen as a guide, not a manager; he was more of a mentor than a coach. More or less, all seem to agree that he has been a balanced personality, cost-conscious with no extravagant habits of flying or playing golf or even treating personal guests to helicopter joyrides at the expense of the state exchequer.

The sum of his tenure in Arunachal is that he shall be remembered as a gentleman but as one who failed to guide a chief minister; a failed mentor who could not create a performing team. Sharma had to leave Arunachal Pradesh with that fact and live with it, for the rest of his life. That shouldn't deter Sharma's morale in his new assignment; after all, such is the reality of politics and baggage of being a political appointee.

Why dropping Namchik Namphuk mine from coal auction is good for Arunachal

On the environmental front, civil society bodies have been raising concerns, with no response.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/namchik-namphuk-arunachal-pradesh-coal-auction-coal-scam-cag-alok-perti-apmdtcl-ulfa/story/1/4141.html

Mainstream media captured the essence of euphoria of the Narendra Modi-led government over the income from coal auctions that has yielded potential revenues, royalties, upfront payments of Rs 2.07 lakh crore which far exceeded the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) estimates. The announcement may have sounded like music to the BJP-led Union government but what was music to our - the Arunachalees' - ears was coal and power minister Piyush Goyal’s decision to drop the Namchik Namphuk coal mine from the list of mines to be auctioned, owing to "technical reasons". Remember, Goyal rattled the civil society in Arunachal Pradesh on July 2, 2014 when media quoted him of announcing the reopening of the coal field.

The civil society bodies in the state had more reasons than one to believe that Goyal was not briefed of the depth and width of the issues relating to the controversial coalfield, including the reason for the suspension of operation since May 10, 2012.

To jog one's memory, the Namchik-Namphuk coalfield was allocated to the Arunachal Pradesh Mineral Development and Trading Corporation Ltd (APMDTCL) on October 28, 2003 by the coal ministry. The total area of the coal block is 133.65 hectares and the mining lease is held by the corporation for a period of 20 years. APMDTCL, through an agreement, handed over the mining work to National Mining Company Limited, a private company based in Tinsukia, Assam, on April 4, 2007 for a period of five years. Out of the total area allocated, the operation of open-cast mining was undertaken only on 39.02 hectares between April 2007 and February 2012. As per "official" records, the total extraction of coal during the period was at 10,00,000 metric tonnes till the mining operation was suspended.

Apparently, it was suspended on two counts: one, a blatant violation of the terms of reference and secondly, the security sources suspected a diversion of resources to the terror outfits active in the region.

"Arunachal government was allotted the coal block, that is to generate power, coal produced in its Namchik open cast mine was sold in open market through contractors attracting the attention of outlawed organisations" - wrote the then coal secretary, Government of India, Alok Perti in an official communique.

"The state PSU (public sector undertaking) has violated the provision of CMN (Coal Mines Nationalisation) Act by giving power to private contractors to sell the coal produced in the state," Perti wrote in the same letter mentioned above.

Above are technical points and glitches but from the security and environment point of view there are damning reports too. The coalfields of Arunachal Pradesh have been contributing to the coffers of at least three rebel groups NSCN (I-M), NSCN (K) and ULFA, wrote the then Tinsukia district magistrate SS Menakshi Sundram, who happens to be a critical cog in administrative and policy matters. A more damaging report was that of the Union ministry of home affairs on the collusion with Naga insurgent groups. Perti in a letter dated May 15, 2012 to the Arunachal Pradesh chief secretary wrote, "In reference to Namchik-Namphuk coal block, we have received a letter from ministry of home affairs informing that Naga insurgent groups are deeply involved in the coal mining and they have requested (the) ministry to consider taking over the entire mining operations in the state".

On the environmental front, civil society bodies have been raising concerns, with no response. Reportedly, there have been more illegal operations than legal ones in adjoining areas, including in Longthom I and Longthom II villages.

The mushrooming of coke units totalling about 35, to refine raw coal caused tremendous health hazards. Contaminated water, flooding of habitations, cracks in housing structure on account of blasting in the mine site, dying vegetation including tea plantations have been common phenomena. So much of damage, especially in the backdrop of the recent decision of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to ban Meghalaya's rat-hole coal mining owing to environmental concerns borne out of unscientific mining, should be a wake-up call for the state.

Given the aforementioned facts, the Union government must find answers to a few fundamental questions before reopening the open cast mine in the near future. One, what was the specific reason that the Arunachal Pradesh mineral corporation had sought the allocation of the Namchik-Namphuk coal block? Secondly, how much coal was produced - officially and unofficially - in the state since the allotment of the coal block to the corporation? Moreover, how much of coal was supplied, and to which sector? Fourthly, does the ministry have names of the power companies to which the corporation supplied the coal since the allotment of the coal block? Furthermore, was the devised pricing mechanism in sync with prevalent competitive market practice?

Be warned; look at the tenability of reopening the open-cast coal field not only from a legal angle, but due consideration must be accorded to environmental issues also.

Why an SC judgment has riled up Arunachal's frontier people

The September 17 order to confer citizenship to Chakma and Hajong refugees has exposed many a socio-cultural fault line.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/arunachal-pradesh-chakma-and-hajong-refugees-supreme-court-bengal-eastern-frontier-regulation-1873/story/1/6813.html

Tens of thousands of public, including students, across the state took out massive rallies on October 14 to protest against the recent Supreme Court judgment dated September 17, to confer citizenship to the Chakma and Hajong refugees within three months. This was greeted with silence from the mainstream media as expected and anticipated. Precisely for this reason, the apex students body - All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union, that has been spearheading the agitation - is staging another massive rally from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street on October 16 to express grievances and draw the attention of "all those who matter in power-corridor".

The huge resentment to this verdict is bound to cause massive political and law and order problems in days to come. This is not only a subject of the Constitution, judiciary but it has socio-cultural aspect that cannot be ignored.

To begin with, the judgment doesn't address the core contention of refugee numbers or cut-off date without which "eligibility" cannot be defined.

Fact is, between 1964 and 69, the refugees were recorded as 14,888 persons of 2,748 households in five sparsely populated towns - Chowkham, Miao, Bordumsa, Diyun and Balijan - of the then North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), now Arunachal Pradesh. These refugees were settled on humanitarian grounds after the communal tension borne out of India's partition and the construction of Kaptai hydro-electric dam. In 1979 as per the state government records, the number rose to 21,494.

However, according to a largely quoted White Paper released in 1996, population was pegged at a "contentious" 60,000 in 1995, but as per the Census report of 2001, the same ethnic groups were numbered 42,313 in Arunachal Pradesh. Further, according to Professor Nani Bath, a political scientist, there are four different categories of Chakma: first, the original refugees of 1964-69; second, Chakmas who shifted from one refugee camp to another within the state; third, those who have come/are coming from Assam, Tripura or Mizoram; and the fourth group consists of recent migrants from Bangladesh. Given such valid observations and past history of fluctuating head-counts, the time-frame is not only unrealistic but appears to be illogical.

The said SC judgment cited the joint statement issued by the prime ministers of India and Bangladesh in 1972, to confer citizenship on the Bangladeshi refugees under Section 5 (1) (a) of the Citizenship Act 1955, but this too is contested.  

According to Topi Basar, associate professor, National Law University, Assam, there are no specific provisions under the Constitution or in the other laws or Rules enacted by the central government dealing with granting of citizenship to refugees in India. "Hence, Article 5 of the Constitution is not applicable in this case as these refugees came much after 1950," she says.

Further, the SC judgment could be interpreted as "forceful" imposition on indigenous population. The Arunachalees contention is that the settlement of these refugees was not agreed upon by the people or legitimately elected government but by a third party. Further, these refugees entered India through Mizoram, Tripura and Assam. Hence, Arunachal cannot be made a dumping ground without its consent. If that wasn't enough, on October 3, 2007, Election Commission of India issued guideline for revision of electoral rolls for the inclusion of Chakmas and Hajongs with January 1, 2007 as the qualifying date. The apex students' body - All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union - filed a PIL in 2010 before the Guwahati high court which was dismissed. "Thus, the right to vote got conferred on them legally even when the complete procedure for conferment of citizenship has not been accomplished yet. Probably this is the first case in India where group of people were included in to the electoral rolls even while the formal conferment of citizenship had not been completed", laments Basar.

Legally speaking, the recent verdict of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, by its direction, has questioned the legal and constitutional validity of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 too. Dr Bath is categorical that post-independent India retained the Regulation of 1873 even when its certain provisions are in direct contravention to Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. "To my understanding, the state government has plenary power to regulate the entry of 'non-native' as per the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. The government is also empowered to sanction acquiring of land or the product of land within the state," Dr Bath says while pointing out that the Supreme Court could have dealt on the legal or constitutional questions before directing the state governments for direct action.

In continuation with spirit of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, we ought to take cognizance of the legal aspect and recognise the cultural impact on fragile tribal social structure.

Also, SC's recent quote of Puranic mythology to justify Hajongs Hindu lineage hasn't gone down too well with a section of society in a Christian dominated state. A fissure in religious line has been opened up by the highest temple of justice in a close-knit tribal structure that doesn't augur well for the SC at all because Chakmas are Buddhists, besides the Hindu Hajongs. Lest one doesn't know, the Arunachalees never contested the refugee problem through the prism of religion.

More than the contested number of refugees or onus to settle them in Arunachal Pradesh, it is Chakma refugees' criminal activities including thefts, rapes and their repeated attempt to terrorise locals over cultivable land, besides procurement of illegal arms which are well documented and on record that  is causing conflicts. According to the state government: They have not only caused large scale encroachment on forests thus affecting the customary rights of the indigenous people over forests adversely but were also found indulging in illegal activities such as commission of offences under various laws: collection of arms and ammunition, establishing contacts with extremist groups, encroachments of adjoining lands and straying in other areas for settlement etc. and even murdered Shri Nikkon Kimsing, Gaonburah of Sonking village (a much revered village chief) and also a circle officer of Diyun. (Government of Arunachal Pradesh 1996: 15)  A similar observation was made by D.C. Sankhla, Commissioner, Home and Political, Government of Arunachal Pradesh: ... it is a fact that in view of the criminal and anti-national activities of these refugees, the local legislators have shown their concern about the Central government accepting their [Chakmas demand for citizenship who have been endangering the sovereignty and integrity of the country by doing anti-national activities. (Rajalaksmi 1996: 39).

Therefore, let it be crystal clear that the people of Arunachal Pradesh are unanimous in their view that the displaced Chakmas and Hajongs may be granted Indian citizenship by the government of India but they will not be allowed to settle in the state of Arunachal Pradesh

Congress collapsing in Arunachal?

Now, the Raj Bhavan would have a more critical and crucial role to play.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/arunachal-pradesh-nabam-tuki-congress-world-bank-mukut-mithi/story/1/7113.html

Arunachal Pradesh seems to be bracing for difficult political times ahead. Political manoeuvrings are happening thick and fast. Sackings and resignations are in currency. Every day, political appointees are resigning in protest against chief minister Nabam Tuki’s leadership and style of functioning. The stage once again is set for a major upheaval but frankly such political wrestling is not new to the people in the frontier state.

In a way, the frontier state has probably hogged more mainstream attention for political uncertainties than anything else.

An unthinkable event took place on January 18, 1999, when Mukut Mithi pulled the rug off Gegong Apang’s feet, who was well on course to become the longest surviving chief minister surpassing the then West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu. Many termed that historic unseating of Apang after an unbroken run of 19 years as the second coming of Mithi who had earlier attempted to achieve the same in 1992. The defeated Apang had alleged that Mithi's political coup was achieved on the strength of a nexus between the Tirap-Changlang political leaders and the NSCN (Khaplang). But even before the completion of a full term, Apang drew blood despite being the lone legislator of a regional outfit. He paid back in the same coin to Congress chief minister Mithi through a well-orchestrated coup in July 2003. Like a replayed tape, Mithi alleged Apang to have paid Rs 5 crore to the NSCN ultras. But, as expected, Apang refuted the allegation. Once back in the saddle, an ageing Apang started resorting to old tactics before he was outwitted by his cabinet colleague - the late Dorjee Khandu. Khandu had an easy run till a helicopter crash killed him.

Thereafter, his close aide, confidant and cabinet colleague, Jarbom Gamlin, took over the reign as chief minister for six months when current the chief minister Nabam Tuki unseated him after an ugly spate of politics that witnessed brute use of money and muscle power besides the unleashing of communal tension and violence that led to loss of a life and property. Many in the state believe threats, intimidations and violence made those six months one of the darkest periods in Arunachal’s political history.

Keeping tradition alive, it is Tuki who is facing the heat now.

"The current phase of ineffective governance, resulting from the negative and unsatisfactory political leadership in the state is well-known to every citizen of Arunachal Pradesh," wrote former cabinet minister and a Congress heavyweight, Pema Khandu in his resignation letter on October 27 last year and added that the leadership of chief minister Nabam Tuki has failed miserably in its mandate to provide optimal governance and therefore has lost its legitimacy to continue to lead. To a large extent, Khandu’s words have echoed the prevailing sentiment of the people who are enduring an unheard of crisis. Therefore, for a change, many in the state would nod in agreement with such a statement coming from a politician.

The trading community has been complaining of lack of money in circulation and sluggish off-take of FMCG products from the shelves. Extortion, threats and forceful donations are in vogue. Politics and politicians aside, everyday experience and anecdotes shared by the local trading community is in consonance with the recent World Bank report that pegged Arunachal Pradesh at the bottom of the bottom-half as an investment destination in the entire country.

The report may be not to our liking but the report is not unfounded. For instance, Itanagar, the capital city which is also one of the three biggest commercial towns in the northern bank of Brahmaputra has recorded a compounded upswing in crime rate, as admitted by the state police department in a recently released data. Such an environment has had a negative bearing on the tourism industry, a core sector for the financial health of Arunachal. According to Union tourism ministry data, foreign tourist inflow fell by 52 per cent for Arunachal when the entire Northeast region witnessed a growth of 40 per cent. In 2014, Sikkim hosted the highest number of foreign tourists - as many as 49,175 as compared to 31,698 in 2013 but during the same years, the figure fell by more than a half in Arunachal Pradesh to 5,204 in 2014 from 10,846 in 2013.

In a sense, it must have been frustrating for Khandu - the son of former chief minister the late Dorjee Khandu - who has been the tourism minister since 2011. He definitely had reason to be unhappy with the functioning of chief minister Tuki. In the same resignation letter, he was harsh and terse in running down the failing law and order and climate of insecurity and indecisiveness.

Khandu is not an exception in expressing his grievance against his chief minister. There were at least six more cabinet ministers who voiced their concern on failing governance, rather misgovernance, but they all have been sacked from the ministry since then. Five of them were sacked as recently as in the second week of October. The rebellion against misgovernance was triggered by senior Congress leader, Kalikho Pul who was sacked from the cabinet almost a year ago. Pul had alleged financial mismanagement and irregularities that led to overdraft of the state exchequer.

The larger emerging picture is of a deeper cementing divide of “Chief Minister vs Rest”. One of the sacked ministers Kumar Waii accused Tuki of self-inflicting the deeper divide. "CM Tuki has created his own team of super-18 whereas we are 47 Congress legislators," said Waii. A day after Khandu’s resignation, three more chairpersons of various autonomous bodies tendered resignations citing poor leadership, financial mismanagement and deteriorating law and order. For the beleaguered chief minister Tuki, problem is compounding with each passing day. "We are awaiting response from AICC, if not heeded to, we will move a no-confidence motion against our CM," Waii added.

The power struggle for the CM’s chair has not changed much but what has changed is the alibi; the politicians are talking facts and figures. It is not just whimsical as it used to happen in the past. There definitely one can smell some freshness, like it or not. In this political hullabaloo, when governance has come to a standstill as a result of misgovernance witnessed in past couple of years, governor JP Rajkhowa is quietly monitoring development work. It is expected that the Raj Bhavan would have a more critical and crucial role to play in the next couple of weeks since there is a vertical split between the Speaker and deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Till the on-going political crisis is resolved, it will be the Raj Bhavan that the commoners would be looking upto.

How politicians like Nabam Tuki have put Arunachal in grave danger

Will Sonia or Rahul Gandhi let the state burn again?

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/arunachal-pradesh-nabam-tuki-sonia-gandhi-rahul-gandhi-congress-bjp-jp-rajkhowa-dorjee-khandu/story/1/8115.html

For the local Arunachalees who thought the worst was over, the unfolding of the current political drama generates an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. After a gap of four years, politics has again dented the social fabric of the society. Shrewd politicians are once again stoking communal sentiments to execute their diabolical designs. Dignity and pride of the largest Nyishi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh have been bruised. This has flared up communal tension. There is turmoil within the ruling Congress.

Four years ago, there was a similar atmosphere of tension for six months after an innocuous online news report by a little known journalist painted the Nyishi tribe as unfriendly towards the other tribes. This time around, governor JP Rajkhowa and Congress rebel leader and “chief minister-in-waiting” Kalikho Pul have hurt the tribe's image and reputation with their actions and comments.

In all probability, the political history of Arunachal Pradesh is set to witness a repeat of 2011.

After the plane crash on April 30, 2011 that killed the then popular chief minister Dorjee Khandu, his close confidante Jarbom Gamlin was anointed as the chief minister of the frontier state, apparently on the insistence of Khandu’s bereaved family members, though such attribution has never been accepted or denied.

That move of the Congress high command didn’t go down well with Nabam Tuki who felt that he deserved the chair more than anybody else by virtue of being a loyal Congress worker right from his NSUI and Youth Congress days.

The political annals of the frontier state is replete with anecdotes of how Tuki twisted the established norms by camping at New Delhi for six long months to topple Gamlin’s government. Tuki did succeed in unseating Gamlin after the twin cities of Itanagar and Naharlagun were divided on communal lines that led to clashes.

Several people had to flee the capital complex. A person was shot dead in October 2011 during a protest at IG Park. "I didn’t want to sit on that chair when our people were getting divided on communal lines, people were fleeing the capital city, peace was wasted.

As a leader, I should have provided positive direction which I wasn’t able to under those circumstances, since certain section of AICC members were encouraging Tuki to revolt. This happened despite several reports and requests - verbal and writing - to AICC leaders," Gamlin told weeks after his resignation in October 2011.

The discerning people need to look up the internet for reports on how incumbent chief minister Tuki - the leader of a certain section of the society - became the chief minister after a series of public protests in the name of tribal pride and dignity, accusing the then chief minister Gamlin and his family members of planting the “derogatory” report on the Nyishis.

As it emerged later, the sentimental issue that hurt the pride and dignity of the largest tribe of the frontier state was buried once Tuki ascended the chair of the chief minister. Demand for revelation of the source behind journalist’s adverse remark on the Nyishis was shelved. There were at least two investigations carried out but the reports were never made public.

With the current turmoil within the Congress over leadership slowly turning against Tuki as a result of allegations of mostly financial mismanagement leading to overdraft in the state’s exchequer, nepotism and collapsing administration, an unprecedented pressure has been mounted on Rajkhowa and Pul with allegations being levelled against them.

Both have, however, denied the allegations and have already made public their positions, but the apex body of Tuki’s community and several of its frontal organisations aren’t buying their clarifications. They are seeking for the removal of Rajhkowa and an apology from Pul.

Political analysts are unanimous that the environment being created is part of a last ditch effort by Tuki to salvage lost political ground. For Tuki, it’s a winning formula - tried and tested.

It won’t be wrong to state that the template is ready and stage set, but the question is, will Congress president Sonia Gandhi or vice president Rahul Gandhi let Arunachal burn again? If they don't act now, political fortunes of the Congress could be decimated by a rising BJP that has already eroded the foundation of the Congress at the village level.

Politics and power aside, Tuki might do well to remember that he is at the fag end of his chequered career and therefore, this is a golden chance to redeem his past mistakes, or else he shall go down in the political history as the leader who perpetuated divisive ideas and alienated the pluralistic mosaic of Arunachalee society.

Rajkhowa-Tuki strife the worst thing to happen to Arunachal?

The governor has been accused of acting at the behest of the BJP and of being an RSS henchman.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/arunachal-pradesh-nabam-tuki-jp-rajkhowa-nabam-rebia-congress-bjp-narendra-modi/story/1/8118.html

There is a constitutional crisis in Arunachal Pradesh, admitted governor JP Rajkhowa when I met him on December 17 at the Raj Bhavan with a disturbing demonstration raging outside. The state Congress Mahila Morcha workers, in their bras, were shouting slogans against Rajkhowa for “allowing” an unprecedented Assembly session in a makeshift venue that led to impeachment of speaker Nabam Rebia and ouster of chief minister Nabam Tuki as leader of the House.

This unheard of “naked” protest was led by a few senior cabinet ministers of the state government who alleged a constitutional breakdown in the state, engineered by the Raj Bhavan that preponed the Assembly session from January 14 to December 16.

This protest began at 2pm, few hours after the “composite Assembly session” voted out Tuki as the leader of the House and instead elected rebel Congress leader and “chief minister-in-waiting” Kalikho Pul by 33-to-0 votes in a makeshift Assembly hall under the supervision of the deputy speaker.

A day before that, on December 16, the Assembly complex was locked by the district magistrate and superintendent of police, who was appointed the previous night after an IPS officer sought clarifications from the speaker on his instructions to lock the legislature complex.

The entry and exit gates were put under siege by the 26 Congress MLAs led by Tuki in defiance of the governor’s order dated December 9, 2015 which specifically directed the deputy speaker, TN Thongdok, to preside over the first agenda of the first day — a resolution to impeach the speaker of the sixth Assembly, Nabam Rebia.

But speaker Rebia and chief minister Tuki termed the governor’s order unconstitutional and questioned his wisdom for setting the agenda of the House.

Also read: How politicians like Nabam Tuki have put Arunachal in grave danger

In his defence, Rajkhowa said, "When the file for the sixth session of the sixth legislative Assembly, to be convened from January 14, 2016 was sent to me on November 2, I had given my consent. However, on November 19, the leader of the Opposition sent me a copy of the notice, with a prayer to intervene for removal of the speaker, Nabam Rebia, which was submitted to the secretary, legislative assembly."

Governor Rajkhowa categorically stated that neither the speaker nor the secretary of the legislative Assembly bothered to inform his office of any such notice. "Instead, through media reports I came to know that another impeachment notice to the deputy speaker had been served by Congress MLAs on November 16," said Rajkhowa, who sought the details, through his office, of any such notice from the legislative assembly secretariat. But all attempts failed.

A seething Rajkhowa termed the “non-cooperative actions” of the speaker and the secretary of the legislative assembly an unprecedented constitutional breakdown. "Thereafter, I did what ought to be done to uphold the Constitution of India," said Rajkhowa who denied acting at the behest of the BJP, against the Tuki-led Congress government.

He went on to remind that it was the chief minister who has acted against the constitutional frameworks by refusing to respond to his queries and letters. "I wrote at least 19 official letters/ queries to his office since I took charge in June this year. However, the chief minister and his office never bothered to respond despite repeated reminders for a good four-five months. So far, I have received only two responses," alleged Rajkhowa while pointing at Tuki’s antics.

Simmering differences between Rajkhowa and Tuki came into the open in the end of October, after certain correspondences relating to the Hollongi airport was leaked to the media by government sources in which Rajkhowa urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the decision to set up a greenfield airport in the state in view of the "high cost".

Allegedly, the governor maintained that the greenfield airport at Hollongi would cost about Rs 1,150 crore of which land compensation would be about Rs 500 crore, which shall largely benefit the family members of the chief minister, speaker and their kith and kin.

The governor has been accused of acting at the behest of the BJP and of being an RSS henchman which he has vehemently denied. "I am not a member of the RSS but there is nothing wrong to be a member of the RSS. It’s a good organisation," he had said in the past.

Rajkhowa is a tough nut to crack. So was he, decades ago when, as chairman of Assam State Electricity Board, he disconnected the power supply to the Nehru stadium, Guwahati, two days ahead of a floodlit match owing to an outstanding bill of Rs 2.48 lakh. When ordered to proceed on leave, Rajkhowa pulled out All India Service Rules and refused to budge.

"I have done everything within the constitutional framework of India," he insisted as I was stepping out the meeting room at the Raj Bhavan.

But later in the evening, once I reached my office, I came to know that the protesters, in the presence of few of the cabinet ministers, magistrates and other officials, had slaughtered a gayal (a large bovine) just outside the entry gate of Raj Bhavan as one more form of protests.