Muslims make up about 1.95 percent of the state’s total 13.84 lakh population.
Syed Ali Mujtaba | Clarion India
CHENNAI — The “All Arunachal Pradesh Tribal Muslim Youth Forum,” (AAPTMYF) was voluntarily dissolved on August 8 at Itanagar, the state’s capital city.
The forum was established with the expressed aim to check the growing RSS push to woo tribals in Arunachal Pradesh towards Hinduism.
Announcing the dissolution of the forum, Giah Limpeah Sultan, Chairman of the AAPTMYF, said: “We respect the people’s sentiment and therefore dissolved the organisation as Arunachalis seem to be apprehensive about it. It was formed to work for the welfare of tribals who follow the Islamic faith. People misunderstood, thinking that we would support non-Arunachali tribal Muslims and that we might support illegal Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants, which is wrong.”
Sultan said; “People should understand that we live in a democratic country. I have the right to follow whatever religion I like. My grandfather and my father were Donyi Polo priests. During my early days, I even attended church. But I found peace in Islam and therefore converted. But I am first a Nyishi and a tribal. I will never work against the indigenous tribal people,” he added.
Sultan adopted the Islamic religion in 2012. He alleged that “certain sections of people have spread hatred against followers of Islam in Arunachal. “By embracing Islam, we did not commit any crime. I have the freedom to choose the religion of my choice.”
He urged the people to stop making threatening calls to the forum’s executive members and added that “religion is a personal choice and no one has the right to question those who choose Islam as their religion.
The AAPTMYF was conceived due to RSS incursions to make Arunachal tribals lean towards Hinduism, said Taba Ajum of Arunachal Times.
“This forum was set up in reaction to the decision of the Arunachal Pradesh government to create the Department of Indigenous Faith and Cultural Affairs (DIFCA) that has the RSS footprints,” he added.
“The RSS for years has been trying to develop a connection between Hinduism and indigenous faith. The RSS has been propagating indigenous faith and has often accused Christian missionaries of converting tribals. It considers Arunachal as a crucial state to make inroads into tribal society in the entire North Eastern region of India,” the journalist concluded.
Arunachal Pradesh is a protected state under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, of 1873. Muslims in Arunachal Pradesh make up about 27,000 (1.95 percent) of the state’s total 13.84 lakh population. Christian population stands at 4.19 lakh (30.26 percent). Hindus constitute 29.04% of the state’s total population.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
