The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee on Monday urged the state government to suspend all forward movement on the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, while voices from communities within the affected zones also called for the withdrawal of security personnel stationed there — a combination of demands premised on the position that community consent must precede any further action.
At a news conference held at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, Takam Sanjoy — who previously served both as a Lok Sabha MP and as APCC president — described the project as one touching on questions of indigenous rights, community trust, and democratic consent. He raised objections to the stationing of police and paramilitary personnel in the area, the holding of local activists in detention, and administrative measures taken against traditional village leaders known as gaon buras. Sanjoy stated that development could not take root where communities faced intimidation and the undermining of indigenous rights.
Sanjoy argued that the communities of Siang should hold decision-making authority over their territory, waterways, and collective path forward. He further argued that broader measures of progress — including effects on people's lives and the cohesion of communities — should sit alongside electricity output and investment tallies, rather than being excluded from the accounting.
Drawing on Jawaharlal Nehru's Panchsheel framework for tribal welfare, Sanjoy argued that indigenous peoples should chart their own path forward, guided by their own ambitions and traditional governance structures. He noted that pushback against hydropower development in that part of the country had a longer history, pointing to opposition voiced by the Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum during the period spanning 2013 to 2015.
Sanjoy also argued that defence-related concerns tied to China's planned dam upstream on the Yarlung Tsangpo could not be used to sidestep the need for environmental review and community input.
The APCC placed a 13-point list of demands before both the Centre and the state government. Among those demands are the pullback of security personnel, the dropping of FIR cases filed against peaceful protesters, and the prompt release of four Adi community members held in detention — identified as Adum Tayom, Omak Paron, Okut Paloh, and Oson Paron.
Additional demands include the restoration of suspended gaon buras and government workers to their posts, along with binding written assurances from both the state administration and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation that construction on the project would proceed only with the express approval of affected communities. A full suspension of the ₹350-crore Special Development and Livelihood Package was also sought, along with an independent audit, pending confirmation that transparent allocation guidelines and beneficiary lists had been reviewed and validated by local Gram Sabhas.
Among the resolutions put forward by the APCC was a call to revive the Kebang — a traditional structure of community governance — as a means of protecting customary authority. Sanjoy argued that welfare resources should not be deployed to drive divisions between communities or to place pressure on families in vulnerable circumstances to sign consent agreements.
Sanjoy noted that ongoing unrest in Upper Siang could allow resistance to dam construction to coalesce into a region-wide mobilisation across Arunachal Pradesh.
The APCC announced a delegation headed by state president Bosiram Siram, with the group set to place a memorandum before the Governor, Chief Minister, and Chief Secretary calling for prompt action on the matter. APCC general secretary Kon Jirjo Jotham indicated that the party intended to continue backing affected communities through democratic processes and legal avenues.
