Arunachal Pradesh: Students Union protest against China's claim over renaming places in state

All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) on 24 April 2017 took out a protest rally against China’s claim over the renaming 6 places in the state. During the protest rally held in Itanagar, the Students’ organisation also burnt the effigy of the Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The student union, AAPSU, said that Arunachal Pradesh was a part of India and will remain a part of India. Hundreds of students and general public participated in the protest rally.

The simmering issue of the China’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh gained momentum with the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to the state in April 2017. Beijing had opposed the visit of the Tibetan Spiritual leader to the state and warned the Indian government of serious consequences if it permitted him to do so.

Just after the weeklong tour of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal ended, China had officially renamed 6 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including Tawang, which according to them are part of Southern Tibet.

Besides, this renaming event of six areas of Arunachal Pradesh by China also saw protests from different other section of the society including Arunachal Chamber of Commerce and Industries. The President of the Arunachal Chamber of Commerce and Industries Tchi Lala asked will naming Beijing as Mumbai will turn China’s capital as an Indian territory.  He also termed the move as a whimsical move.

Tapir Gao, BJP President of Arunachal, termed China’s claim over Arunachal as baseless. He criticised the country’s move and said, “India has no boundary with China but with Tibet since 1914 when MacMohan, the British India representative, had signed an agreement with the Chinese representative at Shimla over the boundary”.