A delegation of participants scheduled to attend a "Course on Green Socialism" in Pasighat, East Siang District, has been barred from entering Arunachal Pradesh by local district authorities. The event, organized jointly by the Socialist Party (India), India Greens Party, and Voters’ Party International, was set to take place from October 7 to 11, 2026. However, the plans were halted following written orders issued by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate of East Siang, Sonalika Jiwani.
District Magistrate Sonalika Jiwani invoked Section 22 of the Chin Hills Regulation, 1896 to restrict the participants from entering or remaining within the territorial jurisdiction of East Siang District with immediate effect.
According to the official notifications issued for individuals like activist Sandeep Pandey and 11-year-old Naina Bhaumik, the administration cited specific reasons from law enforcement.
The official orders explicitly stated, "WHEREAS, information has also been received from various law enforcing agencies that his presence in Arunachal Pradesh, and East Siang District in particular, may adversely affect the peace, public order and good administration of the area". Consequently, the District Magistrate ordered the restriction "in the interest of public safety and for the maintenance of law and order in the district, with immediate effect and until further orders".
The travel restrictions apply to Sandeep Pandey, Rajendra Minj, Bharat Lal, Amita Devi, Naina Bhaumik, Mahesh Pandey, and Mahesh Rawat.
The government's pre-emptive move comes against the backdrop of heightened social and political unrest across the Siang valley. In the past week, protests against the proposed 11,000 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) on the Siang river have intensified, stoked further by a recent visit to the area by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
Protesters, predominantly from the Adi indigenous community, are strongly opposing ongoing Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) activities, survey work, and the heavy presence of security forces in the region. Demonstrators have voiced slogans such as "No PFR, No Survey" and "Go Back CM".
The tensions have recently boiled over into civil unrest, resulting in the vandalization of local MLA Alo Libang's house in Yingkiong, a police vehicle being set ablaze, and multiple injuries following police lathi charges. Local residents have expressed deep frustration over leadership pushing forward with the project and heavy militarization without meaningful consultation with residents across the affected villages.
Local hosts Niya Tapo, Secretary of the Socialist Party (India), and Dubit Siram, Secretary of the Youth Wing of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum, had informed the Additional Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police earlier in the day regarding the scheduled course before the prohibitory orders were enforced.
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