More than 350 Tibetan locals in Arunachal Pradesh took part in a protest rally on Wednesday in Miao town of Changlang district against China’s recent attempts to name places within the Indian territory.

On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced Chinese names for 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. However, New Delhi promptly rejected China’s attempt, saying the state has been and will always be “an integral and inalienable part of India”.

The members of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RYTC) and Tibetan Women Association (TWA) took out a protest rally carrying the Indian tricolour and the Tibetan flag. Protesters displayed banners and wore placards around their necks.

The rally started from the Miao Tibetan camp and passed through the main thoroughfare, before culminating in Miao Town.

Among the 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing announced in its move to standardise names in Zangnan, three are reportedly close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). While Pangchen is a village in Zimithang Circle, Chakmutse Gangri is near Taksing in Upper Subansiri and Goyul Thang is a tiny flat ground near Kaho on Lohit river.

A week after China’s brazen attempt, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Kibithoo in the easternmost sector of Arunachal Pradesh, and referred to it as India’s “first village, from where India begins.”

Launching the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ at Kibithoo, Shah reiterated the government’s commitment to border security and enhancing border infrastructure. 

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