Arunachal’s Itanagar strike show Govt is unaware of people’s anger

Talk about a busy day after Election Day. As we were wrapping up our day-long coverage of the Tripura elections, we started hearing that Arunachal was not peaceful. Fed up with the Arunachal’s government incompetent response to corruption in the state Public Service Commission, hundreds of people finally decided to hit the streets in strike.
What followed was a failure of state administration of epic proportions.
Now, before we get into what happened on Friday, we must understand what happened before Friday. Due to which people, mostly students, came out on the streets, calling out the state government and the Chief Minister.
On August 29, a candidate filed a police complaint that he suspected that the AE (Civil) exam paper had been leaked. More than 400 candidates appeared in the exam held on August 26 and 27.
The BJP, both at the state and central levels, leaves no stone unturned to assure its supporters that the party deals with corruption with an iron fist. No sooner had the scandal broken than the party whips went into full damage control mode and promised strict action against those involved. The leaders promised that no one would be spared, and that India’s main investigative agency, the CBI, was investigating the case.

And here is the first problem.
For too long, the CBI has been touted as the panacea for all mass movements. Corruption case? CBI. Rape and murder? CBI. Alleged love jihad? CBI. But it is also becoming clear that state governments are saying goodbye to their accountability and saying “oh, ask the CBI now”. But where should the aspirants go?
Unlike the local police, with whom aspirants can talk and/or argue, the common man will not even get a glimpse of who a CBI officer is. The Arunachal’s govt believed that people would appreciate the CBI’s involvement. Instead, it made people more angry. The candidates said the resulting charge sheet was so ‘weak’ that the accused managed to get bail till the end of January 2023. According to reports, the court said the CBI failed to file the charge sheet within the statutory period of 90 days.
Now compare that to the hundreds of people who are in jail on the most trivial of charges. I will not name these people, lest I be labeled an anti-national. But if the main accused is out on bail, what is the state government doing?

This suggests that the state government was planning an “overhaul” of the Public Service Commission by making new appointments.
Except that it also backfired.

The Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC), which is leading the protest, immediately nullified the appointments, questioning how 61-year-old Shantanu Dayal, a retired lieutenant general, was given only one term in his tenure. Why was the chairman appointed with a year to go? . The Commission mandates 62 as the retirement age.
The committee also questioned the credibility of the screening committee of the APPSC for appointing Rozi Taba as a member of the APPSC, who was illegally appointed by the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women. . Four days ago, the PAJSC made it clear that they would march on February 16, pressuring the state government for justice and a 13-point charter of demand.

Yet, the state government seemed less interested in addressing their concerns and more focused on other issues. Protesters were making it clear they were not happy with the appointments and made their sentiments clear by taking to the streets in their thousands on Friday.Still the protesters were unhurt, the roads were paved with stones, and the air smelled of tear gas as the entire Itanagar capital region came to a standstill as the Arunachal government woke up. The Chief Minister canceled the appointment ceremony of new officers of APPSC and said that he will meet the protestors the next day.
The protests, which are ongoing as I write this, once again highlight the total mistrust between residents, especially students, and the state machinery. Northeast India is plagued by unemployment and jobs, especially government jobs, are riddled with corruption. Yet another case of corruption is trying to emerge against a state government which, to be honest, causes irreparable harm.In a state like Arunachal Pradesh, a government job ensures a comfortable life not only for the candidate but also for his entire family and even extended families. Simply put, a government job can catapult a family into the modern age, equipping them with all the skills needed to tackle the world as we know it.
From Sikkim to Meghalaya and from Tripura to Arunachal, teachers, students and aspirants are never offended. What we saw in Itanagar is not just the anger of Arvanchle aspirants, but a reflection of the entire region suffering from corruption and apathetic administration.The central government, which thanks the North-Easterners every time they allocate some funds, needs to understand that the money is not being used for the welfare of the people. Instead, it is only empowering those who want to keep us in the dark for decades to come. Arunachal paper leak is not an anomaly, rather it has become the norm. Nothing the CBI will do will change anything.