The great Talom Rukbo had visualised the significance of unity, integrity and amity in the society. He mooted the idea and started organizing the people under the aegis of Elam Kebam. After a long march, it is now in the form of Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh which is nothing but the socio-cultural and religious reformation movement in this bordering state which adjoins China. It aims to undertake the activities which will promote the religion and culture and bring in spirituality to the life of the people.  On this occasion, let me draw your attention on some of the glaring and grave dangers lurking on the state.  

The Threat from China

A vibrant and progressive society is always alert against danger. The neighboring country China is a communist and expansionist country. It has swallowed Tibet and Taiwan.  China has caused genocide of Tibetan people to suppress the Tibetan revolt. “Tibet is now dying under Chinese iron-fist rule,” thus said His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Under the cover of the slogan-Hindu Chini bhai–bhai and joint declaration of Panchsheel (five point peace doctrine) including peaceful co-existence and no aggression on the territories of each other by Nehru and Chao-en-Lai, China attacked India too and Arunachal Pradesh was the worst victim of that Chinese aggression in 1962. The Chinese army captured Tawang and reached up to Bomdilla near Tezpur in Assam. 

Since then, China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq. km. of Jammu and Kashmir including 3,180 sq. km. illegally ceded to Beijing by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement 1963. On the other hand, China accuses India of possessing some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory mostly in Arunachal Pradesh. Thus, China is a constant threat to Arunachal Pradesh. What is a more worrying factor to the Arunachali people is the knee-jerk response of Delhi to this China threat. It is not the Delhi politicians but the people of this state who will be the immediate targets of Chinese aggression.  During a public rally at Itanagar on January 31, 2008 at the time of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, he declared “Arunchal Pradesh is our land of the rising sun.” This has been followed by another declaration by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee who says that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and it has a special place in our heart. Mr. Mukherjee was speaking as the Chief Guest at the 8th Buddha Mahotsava at Tawang - the border town adjacent to China on 9.11.2008. He also told the people that no settled population would be exchanged. However, China angrily rejected Delhi’s assertion that Arunachal is an integral part of India insisting that Beijing never recognised the McMahon line and that the status of the border state was “never officially demarcated.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing that New Delhi had not taken into account the “historical facts”. We do not know what historical fact Qin Gang was referring to, the McMahon line is the demarcation line, drawn up on the map referred to the Simla Convention 1914. Although China disputes its legal status, this McMahon line is currently the effective boundary between India and China. The special representatives of Prime Minister of India and China have completed 12 rounds of talks but in all invain. 

The people of Arunachal Pradesh were highly relieved after Manmohan Singh’s declaration followed by Pranab Mukherjee’s statement that no power can snatch the border state or any part of it including Tawang. The people of Arunachal Pradesh in general and those of Tawang in particular had been living in constant fear as China repeatedly claimed the state as its territory. There is a vast difference between the situations in 1962 when China attacked our country and that of today. Both the countries – India and China have become nuclear powers and both have fast growing economies. We need peace to sustain our high rate of growth. But the people of Arunachal Pradesh should not rest assured that nothing will happen to Arunachal Pradesh because of political statements made by the Prime Minister and the External Affairs  Minister.  Due to India’s nuclear power and military might acting as a deterrent, China may not declare open war against the country but it is engaged in a sustained shadow war against us. There may not be Chinese footprints in Assam’s blast on October 30, 2008 but intelligence sources say that the Chinese have been active in the region for some time. Over the past four decades immediately after the 1962 war, China has been keeping up the pressure on Delhi in indirect ways. With regard to the arms supply channel which provides fire-arms and explosives to the northeastern insurgent groups, the trade routes in the region are fluid particularly where the Myanmar and China borders meet. 

In recent months, intelligence sources say that the Chinese have managed to increase the flow of funds into these groups. The weapons recovered from insurgents are reported to be of Chinese make. What is more worrying to the Government of India is that these arms supplies may not be directly sourced. The NSCN has direct link to Chinese intelligence agencies whereas ULFA and other northeast insurgent groups could be working in tandem with groups like NSCN. Chinese intelligence collaborates with the Myanmar army to smuggle arms into India through the tri-border. As reported in the media, arms also come in from China’s Yunnan province into Ruili in Myanmar and are then transported by truck up towards the Indian border. These weapons carry no country markings though the intelligence groups are almost certain that they come from the Chinese. The Government of India should establish army posts at all the strategic places closest to the international border to have round the clock vigil over Chinese movement. The state Government and the people of the bordering areas have a greater responsibility to guard the international border. 

Arunachal Pradesh is the most peaceful and insurgency free state in the whole of the Northeast zone barring a few terrorist activities perpetrated by both factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland  (Isak-Muivah) and NSCN (Khaplang) supported by Nagaland Churches in Changlang and Tirap Districts. Thus, the demand of Peace Bonus by the state Government is fully justified. Similarly, Green Bonus is also a genuine demand of the state because the state has been losing Rs. 70 crore in revenue per year since 1996 after the Supreme Court banned timber activity.  The state  should be compensated for maintaining the biodiversity with 83 percent forest cover. 

The Cabinet decision to open two degree colleges – one in Kurung Kumey district and the other in East Kameng district is highly appreciated because both these districts are remote, inaccessible and relatively backward.  Today corruption is the bane of society. This corruption comes from the topand goes all the way down  to the bottom. It is, therefore, the duty of the people of the state particularly the youths to remain vigilant to ensure that the budgetary funds are judiciously spent for the projects/works they are approved for.