Arunachal Pradesh government has issued no order to halt the census of the Chakma and Hajong refugees in the state, said Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday.
Khandu said his government is serious about resolving the protracted issue and will rehabilitate the Chakma and Hajong refugees in other states.
“There is no written order given by the government to halt the census. We will instruct the district administrations to resume the census soon,” Khandu told a news agency.
Khandu’s statement came after the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) served a 15-day ultimatum to the state government on Saturday to resume the census.
It had claimed that the census came to a halt after the state government received a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office on December 7.
Earlier this month, the Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI), in a petition to PM Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, alleged racial profiling of 65,000 Chakmas and Hajongs in Arunachal Pradesh.
Khandu said that the indigenous people of the state have been assured that his government will rehabilitate the Chakma and Hajong refugees in other states.
“For a settlement, we need to have the authentic data for which the enumeration process is being carried out to know the exact numbers of legal and illegal refugees so that we can initiate talks with the Centre for their immediate settlement in other states with full facilities,” he said.