The Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum (SIFF) has strongly criticised the Arunachal Pradesh government for deploying security forces to facilitate activities related to the preparation of the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) for the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).
Addressing mediapersons at the Arunachal Press Club on Monday, SIFF spokesperson Tagori Mize spoke about the ongoing PFR process and the opposition expressed by families likely to be affected by the proposed project.
Mize claimed that the project-affected families had opposed the SUMP and submitted representations, along with relevant documents, to Adi Bane Kebang (ABK) president Tanom Tatak. According to Mize, the affected families approached the ABK, described as the parent body of the Adi community, seeking its intervention with the state government on two issues.
The demands, he said, included the withdrawal of security forces from the villages and the revocation of suspension orders issued against gaon buras of the Adi community in connection with the SUMP issue.
Mize alleged that the ABK had failed to communicate the grievances to the state government and had not adequately supported the affected community members.
He further claimed that the proposed project had led to disagreements and internal tensions among project-affected families in several villages. He also referred to alleged law-and-order concerns in the affected areas and criticised both the ABK and the state government for what he described as a lack of response.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the ABK leadership, Mize questioned the ABK president’s alleged failure to intervene on behalf of members of his own community and called for his resignation on moral grounds.
“We, the SIFF, strongly condemn the state government for its forceful activities on SUMP,” Mize said.
He alleged that deploying security personnel to facilitate the PFR process was provocative and amounted to the use of force to advance the project.
According to Mize, the government’s decision was “undemocratic and condemnable” and demonstrated, in SIFF’s view, that the state had failed to convince families affected by the proposed SUMP.
The SIFF has therefore called for greater attention to the concerns of affected communities and opposed what it described as coercive measures in connection with the proposed project.
