KHRC Urges NHRC, UN Action to Protect Arunachal Minorities

NEW DELHI — The Kuki Human Rights Council (KHRC), through President Hoiboi Youthang, Vice President Samuel Haokip, and General Secretary Tomgminthang Kuki, filed an urgent joint appeal dated September 5, 2026, addressed to the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in New Delhi and the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues in Geneva, with copies sent to the Chief Election Commissioner of India, the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, and the UN Resident Coordinator in India.

The appeal highlights severe threats to life and political rights faced by the Buddhist Chakma and Hindu Hajong communities in Arunachal Pradesh. Displaced by the Kaptai Dam in 1960 and settled in the state by the Indian government between 1964 and 1969, the population now numbers around 65,000. On September 3 and 4, 2026, statutory Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearings at Bordumsa in Changlang district were violently disrupted by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU). The group engaged in stone-pelting, firing, and damaging the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) office, allowing only 222 out of 252 Form 6 applications and 150 out of 303 other applications to be processed before preventing remaining voters from attending and forcing the postponement of hearings. Following the disruption, the AAPSU President publicly demanded the suspension of the SIR in Chakma-Hajong areas and insisted that no FIRs be registered against AAPSU members.

The KHRC asserts that these acts violate fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 21, 325, 326, 29, and 30 of the Indian Constitution, international frameworks including ICCPR Articles 2, 25, 26, and 27, ICERD Article 5, and UDHR Articles 7 and 21, as well as the 1996 Supreme Court ruling in NHRC vs State of Arunachal Pradesh, which mandated state protection for the community against AAPSU using para-military forces. KHRC humbly prays that the NHRC direct state authorities to deploy Central Armed Police Forces during remaining hearings, order the Chief Electoral Officer to conduct fresh de-novo videographed hearings with ECI observers for impacted voters, register an FIR for the September 4 violence, and request the UN Special Rapporteur to issue an urgent communication to the Indian government regarding international compliance.

The intervention has sparked local political backlash in Arunachal Pradesh. Activist Rohit Bayang Neri publicly challenged the council's involvement, stating that if the Kuki Human Rights Council is so concerned about the SIR and the Chakma and Hajong refugee issue, they should donate their own land and welcome the refugees rather than interfering and worsening the situation in Arunachal Pradesh.