‘No Siang Dam’: Adi Activist Rejects Centre’s National Security Pitch

Adi activist and engineer Katon Moyong has challenged the Centre and Arunachal Pradesh government's national-security argument for the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, saying Adi communities have opposed dam plans on the river for decades.

He said the project was being pushed as a response to China's upstream hydropower activity on the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, but argued that the government's claim does not hold. He also accused political leaders of deciding the fate of indigenous land and rivers without consulting local people.

“We have been saying no to the Siang dam for 47 years,” Moyong said. He added that Chief Minister Pema Khandu should stop the outreach: “Pema Khandu, the time for discussion is over. No dam means no dam. If you build dams in smaller tributaries, our community will help you. But you have to exterminate Adi people if you want to build a dam on Siang,” the activist said.

Forty Seven Years

Moyong described the anti-dam campaign as a 47-year struggle, saying Adi people have been fighting what he sees as attempts by corporations, wealthy interests and political parties to take over ancestral land under both Congress and BJP rule at the Centre and in the state.

“They sold all rivers from Myanmar to Bhutan,” he alleged. He also said politics is driven by project money. “Political parties need funds. Funds come from projects, and big funds from mega projects,” he said.

He said the justification for the scheme has shifted repeatedly. The community's traditional council turned down an earlier version in 1979, when it was pitched as flood control. “Not an inch of land or a drop of water” would be handed over, he recalled as the community's stance.

The current multipurpose plan grew out of a 2017 idea to combine the planned Siang Upper Stage-I and Stage-II projects into one storage project. “Our people were educated and accustomed to the same tricks of the government. So we denied it. The history of Siang dam isn’t new; it’s 47 years old,” Katon said.

He also said the Adi community does not oppose hydropower in general. “You can build dams on tributaries, but not on the main stem,” he said. He accused the government of cycling through different justifications to force the project ahead.

Security Argument Rejected

Moyong dismissed the security line entirely. “It’s a false narrative,” he said, saying the government's security fears do not justify damming the Siang.

He said local communities have protected the frontier for generations. “India was born in 1947 and China in 1949. We have been living here much before that.” He argued that communities with ties across the border remain central to the region's defence.

Moyong also brushed aside fears that China could weaponise upstream storage as a “water bomb”. “If the government is truly worried, its officials should take the matter to Beijing rather than pressure indigenous communities.” He then turned his criticism on elected leaders. “You are not just here to collect commission. You have a duty to your people who have voted you in,” Katon said.

The government, however, has defended the project on strategic grounds. Khandu has also said local communities must be consulted. “Ultimately, it is a national project, but the public is the owner. It is the land’s owner. It is very important to take them on board,” Khandu said.

Moyong expanded the dispute to border trade. He questioned curbs on commerce with China and Myanmar and said the region's dependence on routes through Assam makes it vulnerable to disruption. “If you truly want development, allow us to trade. Why do we have to buy goods from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh?” he asked.

Border Tensions And Trade

Moyong placed the dispute within a longer frontier history. He said Arunachal Pradesh has repeatedly resisted outside powers — from Tibet in the north, the Ahom kings in the south and the British. Armies came with bows, arrows and guns, he said, and were met “with the same energy and force.”

He contrasted that with India's arrival in the 1950s. “India, you were different. You came with books and medicines to us in the 1950s. We respected that with folded hands, and today we are Indian citizens.” But he warned that such goodwill would not survive pressure over the dam. “If you come with guns and armies, that’s how we will retaliate… Let’s keep the boundary clear.”

He said the community would not be frightened by the deployment of security personnel in the Siang valley. Moyong, also known as Abor Man, who was detained recently by the Delhi Police during a protest against the project, also rejected the government's invitation for talks on the SUMP. “Time is up for discussion on the SUMP.”

He sharpened that message with another direct appeal to Khandu. “Pema Khandu, it's been 47 years that the Adi people have been opposing and rejecting the Siang dam. Aren't these three words - 'No Siang Dam' - getting into your ears?” Moyong asked. He then added: “We have no issue if you build dams on small rivers, but not on the Siang. Either you exterminate the entire Adi community to build the Siang dam, or else there will be no Siang dam,” he added.

Moyong also referred to the project's changing labels over time. “The narratives on the Siang dam have changed over 47 years. In 1979, it was called ‘flood mitigation’; in 2008, under the Manmohan Singh government, it was called 'national interest'; in 2017, the NITI Aayog put a new narrative tag of 'national project'; and the Pema Khandu government has come up with the trick of a new narrative called 'national security',” Moyong stated. He followed that with another criticism of the China argument: “Since all the options are gone and the government has failed to convince the Adi people to build a dam on the Siang, the Pema Khandu government has come up with a false narrative called national security and water bomb,” Moyong claimed.

He also blamed the late chief minister Dorjee Khandu and his administration for leaving the state saddled with debt after signing 145 memoranda of understanding with power developers and private enterprises. He said the government now wants money for the 2029 election and is pushing the project for that reason. Moyong urged indigenous tribes not to fall for divide-and-rule tactics and to stay united against the Siang dam.

Moyong also questioned the appointment of Arunachal Pradesh DGP Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal, who headed the Ladakh police when four people were killed in police firing during protests in Leh on September 24, 2025. He referred to Jamwal’s transfer to Arunachal Pradesh, which was announced in January 2026. The Centre has since ordered a judicial inquiry into the Leh incident.