The people, politicians and leading students' union of Arunachal Pradesh have denounced China for the violent clash at Ladakh's Galwan Valley between the Indian Army and Chinese troops, and urged the Centre to take urgent precautionary steps to "thwart the evil designs of Beijing".
Arunachal Pradesh shares a 3,488-km-long border with China, which claims the state in its territory as the part of Tibet it occupied in 1951, though the northeastern state is within India according to the Mcmohan Line drawn in 1938.
The new official digital map of China claims parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
The appeal to the Centre for precautionary steps was made after the violent faceoff at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh between the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China on Monday night. Twenty Indian Army personnel were killed in the clash, the second-most violent between the militaries of the two countries after the one in 1975, when Assam Rifles troopers were killed.
"We are indigenous Arunachalees and greet each other with Jai Hind. We are not only true Indians but also serve as sentinels of the frontiers," said a number of people from the capital town here and distant Upper Siang.
They urged the Centre for precautionary steps against any attempt by China to intrude into the state.
Tapir Gao, the BJP MP who represents the Arunachal East parliamentary constituency which includes areas bordering China, said, "Patriotic Arunachalees have been reacting very strongly against the inhuman acts of China."
He exhorted the Centre for precautionary steps also in Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, besides in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh.
"Communist China is well-known in the committee of nations for its treacherous acts.... China cannot be trusted and can resort to its deceitful tactic anytime. Urgent steps must be taken to thwart the evil designs of Beijing," Gao said.
The BJP leader had alleged in August, 2019 that Chinese troops had constructed a temporary wooden bridge over a stream in Anjaw district. The Army had then denied any Chinese incursion into Arunachal Pradesh.
Alo Libang, the Health and Family Welfare Minister in the BJP government in the state led by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, said he has been advocating the reintroduction of the system of home guards, introduced after the 1962 war with China. Under the system, trained local youngsters were employed to ensure internal security.
Libang said Arunachal Pradesh shares its border with Bhutan, China and Myanmar and the PLA makes repeated incursions into the state. Home guards would be very successful in collecting intelligence in the border villages, he claimed.
Defence establishments along the Sino-India border in Arunachal Pradesh are located beyond the areas inhabited by people. The residents of the border villages face any intruders first. Outsiders cannot manage internal security because of the tough hilly terrain of the state, the minister said.
Libang represents the Tuting-Yingkiong Assembly constituency in Upper Siang, located along the Sino-india border. In December 2017, Chinese soldiers with road-building machines reportedly crossed up to 200 metres into Upper Siang district and almost reached a border village, before Indian troops intercepted them along the eastern bank of the Siang river.
Condemning the Galwan clash, the apex student body in the state — All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU) — called for a socio-economic boycott of China.
It blamed Beijing for resorting to repeated incursions into Indian territory and urged the Centre to be extra vigilant along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The Chinese have a history of breaking trusts for their selfish gains, AAPSU president Hawa Bagang said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a strong message to China on Wednesday, stating that India will protect its territorial integrity and not shy away from responding, if provoked.
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