Two IAS officers of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre have sought action against protesters who prevented government servants from attending the Republic Day celebrations in Mizoram’s capital Aizawl on Saturday.
The officers, currently posted in Mizoram, are Krishna Mohan Uppu, Director of Transport and Additional Chief Electoral Officer, and Bhupesh Chaudhary, Registrar of Cooperative Societies.
In his letter to six officers in the Union Home Ministry and the Mizoram government, including the Chief Secretary, Mr. Uppu said he was pained at being prevented from participating in the celebrations.
The Joint NGO Coordination Committee, an umbrella organisation of five civil society and students’ groups, had boycotted the R-Day functions throughout Mizoram as a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, that seeks to grant citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims who have come from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan till December 31, 2014. The boycott saw Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan address a near-empty ground.
Mr. Uppu said he had reached the venue, Aizawl’s Assam Rifles ground, an hour before the start of the function with his fellow officers. “To our utter surprise, the representatives of the NGO had been standing guard along with the police personnel on duty at the entrance of the venue and prevented us from entering the venue,” said the 2009 batch IAS officer.
Sensing there could be a “law and order situation” if they kept arguing with the protesters and “since the police personnel on duty were not discharging their duty”, Mr. Uppu said they had to leave with a heavy heart and feeling insulted after waiting about an hour.
He sought a thorough investigation into the whole episode and “action against all concerned”.
Mr. Chaudhary, in his letter to the Chief Secretary and other officers, said what had happened in Mizoram was “unthinkable in a free country”. The protesters, he said, not only prevented them from entering the R-Day venue but also ordered them to return to their official quarters “before any untoward incident happens”.
A 2014 batch officer, Mr. Chaudhury wrote: “When we tried to reason with them, we were told that the government of Mizoram has reached an agreement with the NGOs where it was decided that only secretaries to the government of Mizoram and above will be allowed to attend the Republic Day function.”
Like Mr. Uppu, he alleged that none of the duty magistrates and police personnel were willing to take any action against the members of the NGO. He too sought strictest possible action against all involved for publicly boycotting the R-Day celebrations.
