Pasighat homes of BJP chief and two MLAs ransacked after Siang dam bandh, Khandu offers talks

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Saturday condemned a night of vandalism in Pasighat in which a police station, a power company office and the homes of the state BJP president and two MLAs were attacked, and invited opponents of the proposed Siang dam to talks.

The violence followed a 12-hour bandh on Friday in Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts called by groups opposed to the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), a project of more than 11,000 MW. Khandu said the shutdown was largely peaceful in Siang and Upper Siang, and in Pasighat during the day.

Trouble began after it ended. The Chief Minister said incidents were reported “continuing into the early hours of October 24, until around 3.30 am.”

Homes ransacked

“Properties affected included a police station, the Adi Baane Kebang (ABK) complex and the NHPC office,” Khandu said. “The residences of local MLA Oni Panyang and senior MLA Ninong Ering were also vandalised,” he added, “with reports of looting and theft.”

“The residence of state BJP president Kaling Moyong was similarly ransacked and vandalised,” he said. No arrests over the violence had been reported by early Sunday.

‘Doors are always open’

Khandu said the right to peaceful protest was an essential part of democracy and that public consensus would stay central to any decision on the dam. “The government’s doors are always open,” he said. “Any organisation or association that wants to discuss the SUMP project is welcome.”

He offered to meet representatives from Siang in Itanagar, Pasighat or anywhere else convenient, and to visit any site they proposed with officials from the departments concerned. “People should question the government, discuss the possible benefits and negative aspects of the project,” he said, “and seek clarification on their concerns.”

He invited the youth wing of the Adi Bane Kebang and a youth association to sit down for talks, and said he would spend the month in the Siang region, visiting until the pre-feasibility report process is complete.

Congress points to Rijiju

In Delhi, Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that tear gas had been fired at peaceful protesters in Arunachal Pradesh. “From Delhi to Arunachal, the response has been the same: repression,” he wrote on X.

Calling the Adi a religious and cultural minority, Khera asked Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju what he was doing to protect their rights. There was no reply from Rijiju or the Union government by early Sunday.