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Territory, Tribes, Turbines: Local Community Perceptions and Responses to Infrastructure Development Along the Sino-Indian Border in Arunachal Pradesh

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Territory, Tribes, Turbines: Local Community perceptions and responses to Infrastructure Development along the Sino-Indian Border in Arunachal Pradesh Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman No.7 JUNE 2014 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman is a PhD candidate at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), Guwahati, Assam. He completed his M.Phil from the Diplomacy and Disarmament Division, Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, MA in International Relations from the same school and his BA (Hons.) in Political Science from Hindu College, University of Delhi. His main area of interest is Northeast India with a focus on insurgency, peace-building, development, migration, social anthropology and cross-border exchanges. His current research work is on border studies in Northeast India and transboundary water sharing and management issues between China, India and Bangladesh. He is committed to grassroots based alternative community work, sustainable and responsible tourism initiatives and models First published in 2014 By The Institute of Chinese Studies 8/17 Sri Ram Road Civil Lines Delhi 110 054, India Ph.: +91-11-23938202; Fax: +91-11-23992166 Email: [email protected] Website: www.icsin.org © Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi ICS Occasional Paper # 7 Territory, Tribes, Turbines: Local Community perceptions and responses to Infrastructure Development along the Sino-Indian Border in Arunachal Pradesh Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman PhD Candidate, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India. [email protected] Institute of Chinese Studies Delhi Territory, Tribes, Turbines: Local Community perceptions and responses to Infrastructure Development along the Sino-Indian Border in Arunachal Pradesh1 This paper offers a primary research-based analysis of local tribal community perceptions and responses towards Indian infrastructure building in the border state of Arunachal Pradesh along the three broad themes, territory, tribes and turbines. Several infrastructure projects undertaken by New Delhi in Arunachal Pradesh have picked up pace in the past decade; these have been seen as a concerted effort to strengthen the war preparedness of the armed forces given that China contests India‘s claim over the territory of Arunachal Pradesh. These projects are often politically portrayed within Arunachal Pradesh as priorities, addressing on a fast-track basis the huge developmental gap that the various tribes in Arunachal Pradesh live with. Simultaneously, the road building infrastructure is directed at creating enabling conditions for government and private dam-building companies to carry heavy machinery, including turbines, to dam project sites; the construction of these dams will, apart from providing economic benefits, also allow India to stake its riparian rights over trans-boundary river waters with China. This paper takes the help of specific examples in Arunachal Pradesh of community perceptions on critical infrastructure projects along the Sino-Indian border; interviews were conducted during field trips over a period of two years from 2012 to 2014 in various districts of Arunachal Pradesh including Changlang, Anjaw, Lohit, Upper and Lower Dibang Valley, Upper, West and East Siang, Upper and Lower Subansiri, Papum Pare, West Kameng and Tawang.2 Introduction The state of Arunachal Pradesh in India‘s Northeast has often been described as the land of the rising sun. Echoing the theme, former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had, during a rally in Itanagar on a 2-day visit to the state in January 2008, referred to it as ‗our land of the rising sun‘, going on to saying, ‗the sun kisses India first in Arunachal Pradesh‘ (Kashyap 2008). The Chinese government, for its part, has always been quick to contest any Indian government statement on the status of Arunachal Pradesh (Guha 2008). This visit by Prime Minister Singh was the first by any Indian Prime Minister in over nine years, in contrast to two visits to China by Indian Prime Ministers in the same period. This reflects the overall lack of attention and importance accorded at the very highest level of the Indian government towards the Northeastern states in general, and to Arunachal Pradesh in particular, ever since India‘s independence from British rule in 1947. However, there has been a marked improvement in the attitude of the central government towards Arunachal Pradesh over the past 5 years; significantly, this has happened when New Delhi is improving its overall relations with Beijing. The Indian Prime Minister did not visit Tawang, the high point of the territorial contestation between Beijing and New Delhi, thereby giving a diplomatic soft signal, especially since he had just returned from a state visit to Beijing. Arunachal Pradesh has in recent times been selectively given importance, depending on changing strategic calculations in the Sino-Indian bilateral relationship. There have been visible signs of diplomatic caution that India seems to exercise in the matter of Arunachal Pradesh. China continues to make regular protests to India, especially when some important 1 This paper is the outcome of a research project funded by the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. 2 The author was accompanied on several of these field trips by Jabin T. Jacob of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. 1 official visit by either side is due, while India asserts its sovereign rights over Arunachal Pradesh (The Hindu 2008). This paper offers a primary research-based analysis of local tribal community perceptions and responses towards Indian infrastructure building in the border state of Arunachal Pradesh along the three broad themes, territory, tribes and turbines. Several infrastructure projects undertaken by New Delhi in Arunachal Pradesh have picked up pace in the past decade and have been seen as part of a concerted effort to strengthen the war preparedness of the armed forces, given the disputed nature of the Sino-Indian boundary and Arunachal Pradesh. These projects are often politically portrayed within the state as priorities, addressing on a fast-track basis the huge developmental deficit that the various tribes in Arunachal Pradesh live with. The road building appears directed at creating enabling conditions for government and private infrastructure companies, including dam building companies, to carry heavy machinery and turbines to dam project sites which, apart from economic benefits, will allow New Delhi to stake its riparian rights over trans-boundary river waters with Beijing. China has faced similar questions over its infrastructure projects in the Tibet Autonomous Region that, apart from their economic uses, also ensure war preparedness and strategic advantage along the Sino-Indian border. Against this backdrop of competitive infrastructure development on both sides of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, this paper will focus on understanding what the combined security, social development and economic agenda of infrastructure building that New Delhi is pursuing in Arunachal Pradesh means for local tribal stakeholders. This paper analyses local community views, interests, initiatives and responses; the communities are important stakeholders and are likely to be affected/displaced by the building of dams, roads and military bases along the Sino-Indian border. In the first section, the paper will discuss developments relating to Northeast India‘s borders in general, which will help contextualise the themes discussed in the following sections. The second section will assess the importance of the strategically located border state of Arunachal Pradesh in the overall context of Northeast India‘s borders. The third section will highlight local perceptions on the territory question in Arunachal Pradesh, and examine the dynamics of the Sino-Indian contestations over territory in the recent past. The fourth section will bring out local tribal perceptions on the ‗development‘ debate and how this aspect has played out in the politics of development in Arunachal Pradesh. The fifth section will look at local perceptions on the issue of infrastructure development, relating to big and small dams in Arunachal Pradesh and the issue of sharing trans-boundary water resources of the Siang and Brahmaputra rivers, and how these issues have played out at the community level, at the intra-state level, at the inter-state level between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and at the international level between Beijing and New Delhi. As part of the research, field visits were conducted and interviews carried out between 2012 and 2014 in Miao, Mahadevpur, Roing, Anini, Tezu, Walong, Kibithoo, Kahao, Hawai, Jairampur, Nampong, Bhalukpung, Rupa, Bomdila, Dirang, Jang, Tawang, Ziro and Itanagar. The field visits covered the Singpho community of Miao; Tai-Khamti community of Mahadevpur and Namsai; Deori community of Mahadevpur and Namsai; Adi community of Mahadevpur and Namsai; Idu-Mishmi, Miju-Mishmi and Digaru-Mishmi community of Tezu, Roing, Anini, Walong and Hawai; Meyor community of Kibithoo and Kahao; and Apatani community of Ziro. Informal discussions were held with community and youth leaders, religious heads of monasteries and civil society. The districts covered in Arunachal Pradesh were Changlang, Anjaw, Lohit, Upper and Lower Dibang Valley, 2 Upper, West and East Siang, Upper and Lower Subansiri,
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