Arunachal Anti-Dam Activist Bhanu Tatak Barred from Dublin Flight at Delhi Airport

Bhanu Tatak, an anti-dam activist and lawyer from Arunachal Pradesh, was detained at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday, preventing her from boarding a flight to Dublin, Ireland.

Tatak, the legal advisor for the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF), was set to begin a three-month fellowship as a visiting specialist at Dublin City University, starting September 8, to engage with faculty and students on topics such as history, literature, philosophy, and sociology.

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Immigration authorities seized Tatak’s travel documents and barred her from travelling, citing pending police cases in Arunachal Pradesh. “I was stopped from boarding my flight to Dublin,” Tatak stated on Sunday.

“The immigration officer provided no written explanation, but I know these are baseless charges filed against me.” Sources indicate that the Itanagar police registered cases against her, prompted by the state government, for her involvement in SIFF’s protests against a proposed mega-dam on the Siang River. Tatak was later released but missed her flight.

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The SIFF has been actively opposing the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, a large-scale dam proposed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). The group halted a pre-feasibility study planned by NHPC in a village in Upper Siang district, citing severe ecological damage and displacement of tribal communities.

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The central government supports the dam to counter a 60,000 MW dam being constructed by China on the Siang River’s upper reaches in Tibet. While SIFF advocates for smaller dams to meet Arunachal’s electricity needs, it argues that the mega-dam threatens the region’s environment and indigenous livelihoods.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government has faced criticism for allegedly pressuring local activists and SIFF to back the project.