'We stand by India...' Anti-China protests in Arunachal Pradesh (WATCH)
By Anish Kumar | First Published Apr 12, 2023, 4:16 PM ISTThe local villagers stated, "We are aware about the condition of people living in Tibet. They are being oppressed by the Chinese regime and we would not like the condition of Arunachal Pradesh at any cost."
Days after China sought to rename 11 places in the state in Mandarin, the locals of Arunachal Pradesh carried out a peaceful three kilometer protest march from Miao village to Miao township in Changlang district on Wednesday.
Hundreds of locals participated in the march, holding placards captioned: "We stand by India".
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During their march, the protestors also raised slogans against Chinese President Xi Jinping stating: "What do you think …? The conspiracy being hatched by China to take away Arunachal Pradesh will ever succeed…? No … Never.."
They condemned China's repeated attempts to claim Arunachal Pradesh as 'Zangnan'.
The local villagers stated, "We are aware about the condition of people living in Tibet. They are being oppressed by the Chinese regime and we would not like the condition of Arunachal Pradesh at any cost."
'Arunachal Pradesh is not part of China,' a placard read.
Throughout the march, the protestors carried their religious flags and tricolour as a mark to show solidarity with New Delhi.
Beijing's latest renaming bid was in addition to a similar move at 15 places in the same state in 2021 and six in 2017. The names, which have been changed, are written in standard Chinese characters and Tibetan languages. In a statement, China’s Ministry of Civil Aviation stated they are standardising some geographical names in Southern Tibet.
However, India's foreign ministry outrightly rejected China's claim. Among the 11 places, two are residential areas, five mountain peaks, two rivers and two other areas. As per the release, the ministry also listed the category of places' names and their subordinate administrative districts.
China claims a 90,000sqkm area in Arunachal Pradesh.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, "We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,"
Even last time, the foreign ministry had issued a similar statement, saying: "We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017."
Two days ago, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a vibrant village programme in Kibithu, aiming to stop migration from the border area. China had objected to Shah's visit, but New Delhi had hit back stating that objecting to such visits does not stand to reason and will not change the reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.
From a border village in Arunachal Pradesh, Shah sent a clear message to Beijing that no one can 'dare cast an evil eye on India's territorial integrity and encroach even an inch of our land'. He further said that the era when anyone could encroach the borderlands of India was over.
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