Arunachal: Adi body seeks judicial probe into police action during SUMP protest, gives govt 14-day deadline

An organisation representing the Adi community in Arunachal Pradesh has sought an inquiry by a sitting judge into the police action against protesters in Pasighat on October 23 over the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), warning of a democratic movement if its demands are not addressed within 14 days.

In a representation submitted to Governor K T Parnaik, the Pasighat-based Adi Baane Kebang United (ABKU) also demanded stringent action against the police personnel and the magistrate on duty during the incident at Raneghat Tinali, on the outskirts of Pasighat.

The organisation, formed on August 1 following a public referendum opposing the proposed hydropower project, alleged that security forces used tear gas shells and stun grenades against a group of youths who were sitting peacefully after completing a 24-hour sit-in at around 2 pm on October 23.

"Many young boys and girls sustained injuries in the stun grenade and tear gas attacks and had to be rushed to the Bakin Pertin General Hospital in Pasighat," the representation signed by ABKU president Dijhi Tamuk, general secretary Jirbo Jamoh and others stated.

The organisation claimed that the youths were not associated with other groups that had called for a shutdown across East Siang, Siang and Upper Siang districts against the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) of the SUMP being undertaken by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).

According to the representation, the shutdown in East Siang was withdrawn a day earlier following apprehensions of violence after a threatening voice message circulated on social media, warning shopkeepers against opening their establishments. The shutdown in Siang and Upper Siang districts, however, concluded peacefully at 5 pm on October 23.

ABKU claimed that the group of youths at Raneghat Tinali was dispersing when security personnel intervened, describing the police action as unprovoked and unwarranted in a democratic society.

The organisation also condemned the subsequent incidents of vandalism in Pasighat, during which agitated youths allegedly damaged the NHPC office, a police station and the residences of two MLAs.

However, it claimed that the violence was a fallout of the panic and anger triggered by the police action. "Had the security forces not resorted to this unprovoked crackdown, the Pasighat violence of October 23 would not have taken place," the representation stated.

The ABKU said it had submitted video clips of the incident and the threatening audio message to Lok Bhavan as supporting evidence.

SUMP Opposition and Project Background

The proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project is envisaged as a major hydropower and water-storage project on the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh.

The state government has cited water security, flood moderation and hydropower generation among the project's objectives. The proposal has also gained strategic significance in the context of China's proposed large hydropower development upstream on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet.

The Arunachal Pradesh government has maintained that the preparation of the project's pre-feasibility report is intended to establish its technical viability and assess whether and how it could be developed. It has stressed that completing the report does not amount to an immediate commitment to construct the project.

However, the proposal has faced sustained opposition from sections of the indigenous Adi community, which has raised concerns over possible displacement, submergence of ancestral villages and environmental consequences.

The October 23 incident and the subsequent violence in Pasighat have further intensified tensions surrounding the project.