The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) has termed the incident of five civilians being allegedly taken captive by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as ‘unfortunate’ and called upon the central and state government to ensure their early and safe release.
The apex students’ body of the state which convened an emergency meeting here on Sunday to discuss the incident said “the recent abduction incident is not an isolated case as time and again the PLA have been indulging in similar antics”.
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“Civilians living at the inhospitable border areas are taken captive at regular intervals,” the union said in its statement.
The AAPSU said the recurrence of such incidents simply reflects the failure of the Centre as well as the state government in protecting the life and security of people inhabiting the border areas.
The union also feels it imperative to bring forth at such juncture the utter negligence by the respective governments meted to this frontier state in terms of accelerating development in the border areas, it said.
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The students’ union further said the absence of all-weather roads and other infrastructure in the border areas has its own sordid stories to tell.
“This absence is not only making life difficult for the locals living in the border areas but also for the defense personnel’s deployed along the LAC,” the AAPSU said.
“The Centre must stop looking Arunachal only through the prism of security and rather take a more inclusive approach of development which are at par with other Indian states,” it added.
The union further stated the misadventures of 1962 should also not be forgotten where our frontier state was a major theatre of war.
“We feel that with abysmal road infrastructure and other development, history may repeat lest those at Delhi and Itanagar are mindful of the emerging situation,” the AAPSU said.