The Adi Ba Kebang United (ABKU), a prominent apex organisation representing the Adi community in Arunachal Pradesh, has laid down four strict preconditions for entering into formal negotiations with the state government regarding the controversial proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). In a formal memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister on Friday by ABKU president DG Tamuk and general secretary Jirbo Jamoh, the community body asserted that meaningful dialogue on the mega-hydropower initiative can only proceed if the administration addresses pressing grievances stemming from recent anti-dam protests across the region. Foremost among the four demands is the immediate and unconditional release of all activists and local residents detained during the anti-dam agitation, coupled with the complete withdrawal of all police and legal cases registered against them. Furthermore, the ABKU has called for the prompt withdrawal of central armed paramilitary forces deployed across the Siang Valley, arguing that heavy militarisation undermines trust and intimidates indigenous villagers protecting their ancestral lands and riverine ecosystems. The fourth crucial precondition requires the immediate reinstatement of traditional village heads, known locally as gaon buras, who were dismissed from their administrative duties amid the ongoing resistance against pre-feasibility surveys and project activities. Beyond outlining these substantive confidence-building measures, the ABKU leadership explicitly proposed Pasighat—the historic administrative and cultural heartland of the Adi community in East Siang district—as the preferred venue for the prospective talks, rather than the state capital. Underscoring the urgency of the situation and growing restlessness on the ground, the organisation has given the state government a strict 48-hour deadline to fulfill these four conditions before any round-table discussion can take place. The proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, envisioned as a massive hydropower and flood-moderation reservoir on the Siang River, has faced sustained grassroots opposition from indigenous communities fearing widespread submergence of fertile agricultural land, displacement of villages, and irreversible ecological damage. By placing clear human rights, demilitarisation, and administrative restoration demands ahead of policy discussions, the ABKU has signaled that the state government must first de-escalate tensions and respect traditional community institutions if it hopes to foster a constructive, peaceful resolution to the deepening deadlock in the Siang Valley.
