Anti-dam lawyer prevented from boarding Dublin flight citing pending police cases in Arunachal Pradesh

Tatak was stopped by the immigration staff, her travel documents were seized and she was not allowed to take the flight citing pending police cases in Arunachal Pradesh.

Guwahati: An anti-dam activist and lawyer from Arunachal Pradesh was on Sunday detained at Delhi airport and was stopped from taking her flight for Dublin in Ireland.

The activist, Bhanu Tatak, a legal advisor for Siang Indigenous Farmers' Forum (SIFF), was about the take her flight for Dublin to take part in a three-month-long fellowship offered by Dublin City University as a "visiting specialist." But, she was stopped by the immigration staff, her travel documents were seized and she was not allowed to take the flight citing pending police cases in Arunachal Pradesh.

"I was denied to take my flight for Dublin," Tatak said on Sunday morning. "The immigration officer did not give any written information about why I was denied to take the flight but there are false cases registered against me on false charges," she said.

According to sources in Arunachal Pradesh, the police in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar registered cases against Tatak based on complaints by the state government for allegedly being part of the SIFF's agitation against construction of a big dam in the Siang river. Tatak was later released but she missed her flight.

The SIFF stopped a pre-feasibility study, which the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) was planning to conduct in a village in Upper Siang district for the Siang multi-purpose project.

The Dublin City Univeristy invited Tatak to study on topics including history, literature philosophy and sociology as a visiting specialist by engaging with the faculties and students. The programme was scheduled to begin on Monday (September 8).

The Centre engaged the NHPC for construction of a multi-purpose dam on the Siang river in order to "counter" the possible adverse impact of the 60,000 MW dam China is building on the upper reaches of the Siang river in Tibet. The SIFF, however, is agitating against the project saying the big dam would cause serious adverse impact on the ecology of Arunachal Pradesh and lead to displacement of the tribal villagers. The SIFF, however, is in favour of small dams in the river to meet the electricity needs of Arunachal Pradesh.

The BJP government in the state, however, has been putting pressure on local activists and the SIFF to support the Siang project.