Editor,

I wish to draw the attention of all 60 MLAs, MPs and the indigenous public of Arunachal Pradesh to a pressing demographic and political crisis.

With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently underway in the state, we have a critical and timely window to address the inclusion of non-APST voters in our state Assembly and Lok Sabha electoral rolls.

Arunachal is protected by special constitutional provisions under which non-APST individuals are barred from permanently owning land and immovable property. The non-APST population – comprising government employees, long-term businessmen, and a rapidly increasing migrant workforce – forms a part of our state’s daily economic functioning. However, by the very nature of these laws, they are temporary settlers who will eventually return to their home states.

Today, the unchecked rise in this migrant population has begun to heavily outnumber the indigenous populace in major urban centres like Itanagar, Naharlagun and some parts of eastern districts’ headquarters. This demographic shift brings severe electoral risks. Because temporary settlers lack permanent, multi-generational stakes in the state’s future, they are highly vulnerable to vote-bank politics.

The sheer volume of these votes can be easily manipulated through money culture, short-term benefits, or mobilisation along religious lines. This dynamic allows selfish elements to dictate the outcome of our elections, fundamentally threatening to alter the political demography of Arunachal.

While temporary residents naturally care about immediate benefits, they do not carry the burden of our state’s long-term future. The power to elect our state’s lawmakers and members of Parliament must remain exclusively with those who have a permanent, vested interest in the survival and prosperity of Arunachal.

Therefore, it is strongly proposed that non-APST residents should only exercise their Assembly and Lok Sabha voting rights in their native states. Within Arunachal, their voting privileges should be strictly limited to local civic bodies, such as the municipal corporation or market welfare committee elections, where their day-to-day residential and commercial interests lie.

To truly safeguard the indigenous identity of Arunachal, we must evaluate our electoral framework: if the law rightfully restricts non-APST individuals from contesting in Assembly elections to protect tribal leadership, we must critically examine the demographic and political impact of allowing them to vote in those very same constituencies.

I earnestly appeal to our 60 elected representatives, 2 Lok Sabha members, 1 Rajya Sabha member and the general public to wake up to this reality. The ongoing SIR process is the exact right time to raise our voices, initiate policy dialogues, and push for the deletion of non-APST names from our general electoral rolls.

Let us act decisively to secure the political future of our indigenous people before it is too late.

Musa Bhai