‘Barbarous or semi-civilized’. Yes, this was the gratuitous insult that the British colonial masters hurled at the simple and peace-loving tribes of Arunachal. That was in 1880. In the one hundred and thirty-four years since then, Arunachal has transited through many stages — from Excluded Areas to North-East Frontier Tracts in 1914 to North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) in 1951, to Arunachal as a Union Territory in 1972 and finally as a full-fledged State in 1987.

But what has been process of emotional integration of the tribal people of this region with the rest of the country in this long process of evolution ? Nearly four and a half decades ago, this scribe was talking to a middle-aged Arunachali couple. They were asked what they would do if China were to attack India again. After an embarrassed silence for a few moments, the couple answered: “You see, we are sandwiched between two big countries – India and China. What we would do (if such a contingency arises again) would depend on the circumstances prevailing then.”

What they meant was that in such a situation the people of the region would react according to their assessment of which side was stronger and likely to win. They were still not very sure that India would be capable of defending them against a future Chinese attack. Fortunately, that uncertainty is a thing of the past now. The interplay of a number of factors including development has brought about a sea-change in the situation.

The major problem of Arunachal is the remoteness and inaccessibility of the State. In 1987 when Arunachal became a State, it had just 3,500 kms of road. Today the figure has crossed 18,000 kms. Even so, there are still many villages that can be reached only by walking for days together. For a border State facing a hostile China this is a major lacuna. Fortunately the recent decision of the Centre to step up road building, particularly along the international border, is expected to bring about a rapid change in the situation. The inaccessibility of the remote areas is a big problem for our defence forces. There are many outlying border posts where food, fuel, medicines and other essential articles have to be air-dropped for the jawans by helicopter every day throughout the year.

Logistically, the Chinese are at an advantageous position occupying the Himalayan heights and we are below them. Recently a number of measures have been planned by the Centre like the building of an airport at Tawang, seat of the famous monastery. China is particularly obsessed with its claim on Tawang. The airport will not only be greatly helpful from the defence point of view but would provide better connectivity to the border district. Education is spreading steadily, if slowly.

There are doctors and engineers among the tribal people of Arunachal Pradesh. They have far greater interaction with the outside world than their previous generation had. Of the twenty-six major tribes and about a hundred sub-tribes, the spread of education has not been uniform. Some, like the Apatanis, are more advanced. But the feeling of ‘Indian-ness’ has taken firm roots.

These young and educated boys need to be absorbed into the administrative services at various levels. They should also be recruited into the army, as they know this inaccessible and difficult mountainous terrain like the palm of their hand. Troops transported or flown from the plains of India have to be acclimatized for the high altitudes and familiarize themselves with the terrain.

Arunachal Pradesh has immense hydro-power potential. According to some estimates it is as high 50,000 MW in a State that has a miserable low in peak power demand – just over 105 MW. But full exploitation of the hydro potential has its attendant disadvantages also. For one thing, it will lead to depletion of the forests that now constitute 62 per cent of its territory – the highest of all the States.

The energy-hungry Chinese desperately want Arunachal for exploiting its immense hydel potential regardless of the ecological consequences for the State. They are building several dams and hydro-power projects in Tibet on the Brahmaputra (Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan), much to the consternation of downstream Indian States like Arunachal and Assam. Like Tibet they want to swallow Arunachal also. India has to ensure that this never happens. (IPA Service)