ITANAGAR, 31 May: Assam-based Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) has strongly opposed the demand to bring the Mising community in Arunachal Pradesh under the inner line permit (ILP) regime.

Citing the Mising community’s historical and deep-rooted ties with Arunachal, TMPK external affairs secretary Reedeep Jack Doley said that placing Misings and other ethnic groups under the same category and making ILP mandatory for Misings is unjustified.

“We have no objection to the implementation of ILP in Arunachal Pradesh for the protection of indigenous tribal identity. TMPK has always strongly supported the safeguarding of indigenous communities. However, we do not agree with placing the Mising community and other ethnic groups under the same category and making ILP mandatory for the Mising people, given the community’s historical and longstanding socio-cultural ties with Arunachal Pradesh,” Doley said in a press statement.

He said that the Mising people and the Nyishi, Adi, Galo, Apatani, and Tagin tribes of Arunachal belong broadly to the Tibeto-Burman ethnolinguistic family. “Prior to migration to the plains, the Mising people had close historical connections with Arunachal Pradesh, along with longstanding settlement and cultural linkages with the region. Even today, members of the Mising community continue to reside in districts such as East Siang, Lower Siang, Lower Dibang Valley and Papum Pare,” Doley said.

He further said that the Mising people maintained deep-rooted connections with Arunachal even before the introduction of the ILP system by the British administration.

“More concerning is the opposition to granting permanent residence certificates to Mising people residing in Arunachal Pradesh. In the same way, attempts to impose ILP on the Mising community are also deeply regrettable,” he said.

At the same time, Doley clarified that the Mising people are not seeking to assert dominance or demand special privileges in Arunachal. “However, based on historical and longstanding ties, we cannot accept the application of ILP to the Mising community,” he added.