Termination of 256 govt employees, China's denial of visa to Wushu players rock Arunachal in 2023

Itanagar: The termination of service of 256 government employees for producing forged documents, China's decision to deny visa to wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh for the Asian Games and protests against the state public service commission exam paper leak took centre stage in the frontier state in the year 2023.

The abduction of village officials and construction workers by militants, killing of a former MLA and anomalies over the recruitment of junior engineers found a place in the headlines in the northeastern state during the year.

India strongly protested China's decision to deny visa to three women athletes from Arunachal Pradesh for the Asian Games with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur cancelling his visit to Hangzhou where the event took place.

Women players Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu were denied accreditation, which also worked as visa for the games held in September-October this year.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu dubbed the denial of visa to the athletes from the state as "unfortunate".

"Beijing has acted against the established diplomatic norms and has shown utter disregard for the spirit of sports. People of Arunachal Pradesh, an integral part of Bharat, firmly stand by our players and vehemently oppose China's abominable decision," Khandu had said.

The Pema Khandu government in the state terminated the services of 256 employees for producing "forged and fabricated" documents to authorities concerned without maintaining formalities of the Education department.

State Education Commissioner Amjad Tak had issued separate orders terminating these employees from services in various districts after an inquiry committee, constituted to analyse the alleged irregularities, found that their appointment letters had "never been issued from the directorate of elementary education".

Irregularities in the appointments of 66 junior engineers also surfaced in the state during the year.

The northeastern state was also in the news earlier this month after former MLA Yumsem Matey was shot dead by unknown gunmen near the Indo-Myanmar border in the Lazu circle of Tirap district.

Amid protests by the opposition Congress over the law and order situation in the state, the BJP government decided to transfer the murder case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee intensified its protests against the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission's question paper leak.

Normal life in the state capital was affected in February as the committee called for a 48-hour 'public' bandh to press for the fulfilment of the 13-point charter of demands. The government had suspended internet services in the Itanagar capital region for three days after the protestors broke barricades, while police personnel baton-charged them and fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob.

The assistant engineer (civil) exam was conducted by the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) in 2022.

The controversy over the question paper leak took an ugly turn when APPSC under-secretary and assistant controller of examinations Tumi Gangkak allegedly died by suicide, and Gyamar Padang, the whistleblower of the scam, breathed his last in May.

The border state also remained in headlines when the Changlang district administration unearthed the presence of "ghost staffers" in the education department as they were drawing salaries without any presence.

During the year, the kidnapping of persons by various factions of the outlawed NSCN for ransom emerged as a major challenge to the state administration.

Militants of Ang Mai faction of the NSCN-K abducted a village chief and a gaon bura (village headman) from Longding district in November and demanded a "house tax" of over Rs 50,000 from them.

In another case, a junior engineer and a supervisor of a construction company were kidnapped last month by three armed militants of the outfit from a camp near the Tisa river in the district. However, both were released on November 28.

It was suspected that the motive behind the kidnapping was extortion, but it could not be confirmed whether any ransom was paid for their release.

During the year, the state also witnessed an extension of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for another six months in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts. Additionally, areas falling within the jurisdiction of Namsai, Mahadevpur, and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district were designated as 'disturbed areas' under Section 3 of AFSPA, 1958.

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti in November inaugurated 'The Hump WWII Museum', the second museum in Asia, dedicated to the fallen airmen of the Allied forces during World War II.

The 'Hump World War II' museum at Pasighat in East Siang district of the state will pay tribute to 'Hump Operation', one of the most remarkable feats of aviation history.