Journalist Tongam Rina has said that “intimidation” would not “stop me from writing or my activism”.

Rina, deputy editor of The Arunachal Times, is among four people against whom Arunachal Pradesh Police have sought search warrants over the October 23 violence in Pasighat town. The violence erupted during protests against the Upper Siang dam, a proposed 12,500-megawatt hydropower project that local residents have opposed for years. Media bodies have called the search warrant a threat to press freedom.

According to Scroll, in an application on Tuesday, police asked the chief judicial magistrate to issue search warrants against Rina, youth leader Otul Jerang, activist Tajong Talom and lawyer Sunny Tayeng. Jerang, Talom, and lawyer and activist Ebo Mili were also arrested in connection with the violence and are in judicial custody.

The journalist said the violence would not have happened had the police and government handled the protests better. “At this point, I have nothing to say about the police action against me and Sunny Tayeng, and their illegal surveillance,” she posted on X. “More power to the people of Siang valley and Arunachal. We owe it to Siang and her people.”

Several organisations have been protesting the project on the Siang river, which the state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation is to build. On October 23, protesters vandalised and set fire to an NHPC office and a police station in Pasighat after security personnel used tear gas during the agitation. Police have arrested 69 people and detained four.

The Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists and the Arunachal Press Club said in a joint statement on Thursday that naming Rina in the warrant application was “a serious threat to press freedom”, Scroll reported. They said the move raised “grave concerns over the possible misuse of investigative powers to intimidate journalists reporting on contentious public issues”.

The statement also condemned the Pasighat violence. The bodies demanded that the police and state government “clarify the specific grounds for Rina’s inclusion in the proceedings, ensure an urgent review and take corrective action if her inclusion is found unjustified”.

On Friday, Tayeng said there were reasons to believe that “being subjected to continuous surveillance” was linked to her legal work on the dam case, in which Tayeng represents Jerang, Talom and Mili. "These developments are concerning, particularly in the context of my professional responsibilities as counsel," Tayeng said of the police move to seek a search warrant, according to Scroll.

The Siang enters Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet and is the Brahmaputra’s main tributary. In Tibet, where it originates, it is called the Yarlung Tsangpo. NITI Aayog first proposed the Siang Upper Multipurpose project in 2017, to counter Chinese hydropower projects being built upstream on the Yarlung Tsangpo. The Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum estimates that the dam will affect 27 villages along the river in Siang and Upper Siang districts.

If you’re reading this story, you’re not seeing a single advertisement. That’s because Newslaundry powers ad-free journalism that’s truly in public interest. Support our work and subscribe today.