The Arunachal Pradesh wing of All India Adivasi Congress, the tribal wing of the opposition Congress, has accused Union Minister Kiren Rijiju of downplaying concerns over alleged Chinese incursions in the north-eastern state. It has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre to set up a parliamentary panel to assess the ground situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China.
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In a press statement issued by Tami Pangu, state chairman of the Adivasi Congress, the organisation has said local residents living along the border, from Anjaw in eastern Arunachal to Tawang in the west, have repeatedly reported Chinese construction activities and incursions near the LAC. Yet, the government has not lent an ear, it alleged.
Congress condemns Khandu, Rijiju
Asserting that the local people’s claims are not political, Pangu said the Congress condemned the stands taken by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prema Khandu, who is from the BJP, and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is an MP from the north-eastern state, on the matter. While Khandu rejected China’s repeated claims over Arunachal, Rijiju dismissed allegations of the Chinese forces entering Indian territory in the state and said the border incidents occurred because of disagreement over the perceptions of the boundary on both India and Chinese sides.
The two Asian giants have a long history of border conflicts that even saw them fighting a war in 1962 and inching closer to ugly spats time and again, including those over eastern Ladakh in 2020. The two neighbours have also found disagreement over Arunachal Pradesh, with both claiming it to be their own.
“The Congress Party strongly condemns the recent statements by the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh and the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs on reports of Chinese incursion in Upper Subansiri District. The Congress Party stands firmly with the local people because they are India’s first line of defence. We expect the BJP governments at the Centre and State to accept these facts and take strong action, not ignore them,” the press statement said.
‘Govt words must match ground reality’
“This is about India’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security. When a Union minister from Arunachal downplays real concerns, it breaks the confidence of our first line of defence, lowers the morale of our jawans and encourages the enemy. Arunachal Pradesh has stood firmly with India for decades despite outside pressure. Sovereignty is protected only when the government’s words match the ground reality.”
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The presser also mentioned that BJP MP from East Arunachal, Tapir Gao, raised in Parliament more than once the issue of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army taking control of Indian territory within Arunachal Pradesh, around 50 to 60 kilometres. He even warned that Arunachal could become the next Doklam (recalling the crisis in Bhutan in 2017). Pangu’s statement also mentioned China’s cartographic and diplomatic activities targeting Arunachal Pradesh between 2017 and 2024.
“History is important, but 1959, 1060, or 1962 cannot be an excuse for 2019, 2020, and today. These denials go against what their own MP has said, ignore the border people, disrespect our soldiers, and weaken India,” the statement said, demanding an apology from Rijiju to the people of Arunachal Pradesh and India and also to Upper Subansiri District in particular (it comes under Rijiju’s constituency and borders China to the north), and step down from his position on moral grounds.
It also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up a parliamentary panel to review the ground situation along the LAC on the MacMahon Line. It sought that the panel should look into the state of infrastructure, civilian settlements and security arrangements in the border areas of the state, and dubmit to Parliament its finds for necessary action.
Community welfare body raised alarm in June
On June 26, Nah Welfare Society, a community-based welfare body from the strategically located Taksing in Upper Subansiri district, submitted a memorandum to the district’s deputy commissioner alleging that the PLA has set up camps inside Indian territory in the border areas.
The letter, signed by the president of the society, Keru Chader, said, “The Chinese government is very fast expanding their territory by occupying new and important places of our land situated at border area. They have constructed roads, bridges and set up their military camps in many places at border. Our ancestral lands which were our hunting areas where we freely roamed and collected forest products few years back and our cattle grazing areas are now under the occupation of the Chinese PLA.”
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It also listed the names of areas that it claimed were Indian lands before 2020, but have been occupied by the PLA, and the Chinese have set up military camps and made well-connected roads in the last five years.
It mentioned five locations, some of which are holy pilgrimage areas, including Oying, Paniar, Marpan, Potrang and Tindingtang.
‘Army efforts not enough, India losing land inch by inch’
The society also urged the district official to take up the matter with both the state and central governments. While saying that there is no question of doubting the Indian Army, it added that “their efforts are not enough”.
“The intention and speed of the present activities of the Chinese PLA at the Tasking area is very alarming and a matter of grave concern for us. We are losing our land inch by inch day by day to them,” it said.
Army says claims incorrect
On June 29, the Army rejected the reports of Chinese incursion in Arunachal Pradesh and said the claims were “incorrect and without any basis”,
Soon after the Army made clear its stand, Rijiju’s rejections came.
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