Arunachal: Tapir Gao demands action against official who ordered 'whitewashing' in Kimin

ITANAGAR: Tapir Gao, who is a member of the ruling BJP party and represents Arunachal East Lok Sabha Constituency, today demanded action against the official who had ordered the white-washing of signboards to hide the name of 'Arunachal Pradesh' in Kimin during an event attended by Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, presumably in an effort not to strain relations with China.

While appreciating the government's initiative to inaugurate new roads, Gao lamented that the 'whitefacing' of the word Arunachal from some signboards is a great insult to the people of Arunachal Pradesh. "Did the BRO do that? Or the ITBP? We all need to know that," Gao said.

Gao demanded that an FIR be filed against the officer who had given the order for the splattering of 'white paste' over the word Arunachal and sought his ex-communication. He also demanded a press conference and a written apology.

The MP also said that the BRO's officer-in-charge of Arunachal should make an apology to the people of Arunachal Pradesh as the 'white washing' has been seen as a "slap to the face" by the Arunachalees.

"Kimin is an administrative headquarter of Arunachal -- it is known by both the people of Assam and Arunachal," he said, adding that the current situation could cause further rifts between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Stressing that this is not a "boundary dispute issue between Assam and Arunachal", Gao added that the entire ruckus has occurred because of an official without adequate knowledge about Arunachal Pradesh.

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Meanwhile, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union president Hawa Bagang has strongly condemned the Border Road Organization (BRO).

AAPSU, which is the apex student body of Arunachal condemned Ministry of Defence and particularly the BRO chief engineers who were scared to mention Arunachal in their inauguration and gave the name of Bilgarh -- a small village near Kimin.

The AAPSU president said that if all ministers and organizations are so scared of China, why are they coming to Arunachal to inaugurate projects taking credit?

The AAPSU also torched the BRO for whitewashing the name of Kimin in many banners and boards displaying the name of Arunachal Pradesh on the inauguration day.

The AAPSU has demanded an unconditional apology from BRO regarding the "blunder" and said that they will stop the entire machinery of the border roads organization in Arunachal and halt the ongoing road projects also.

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