NEW DELHI: People and planes are often lost in the mountainous forests of Arunachal Pradesh. Last year, it was an Air Force plane. Days ago, it was a group of boys from the town of Nacho. Seven of them had wandered into unexplored forests near the LACQUER. Only two returned. After a long week of anxious calls for help from families, denial from China and confirmation from India, the five young men finally returned home on Saturday.
“The borders are not well demarcated. We are hunters, we move a lot. We can’t tell which side is which. Kabhi kabhi nikal jaata hai log, aur PLA waala leke chala jaata hai (sometimes people get lost and the PLA takes them away), ”Prakash Ringling, whose Facebook post had drawn attention to the missing children, told TOI. His brother Prasad, who had just passed his Class X boards, cousins Tanu Bakar and Ngaru Diri, Dongtu Ebiya and Toch Singkam were among the seven who had gone hunting and foraging in the deep forests of northern Arunachal when they disappeared. .
Two others, Tabu and Tate, had returned. This is how we learned that they had been detained by the PLA, ”he said.
The five youths, who have now been handed over to India by the Chinese military, will be quarantined for 14 days under Covid-19 protocols before they can return to their families, a defense spokesman said in a statement.
“Arunachal Pradesh is known for its rich natural heritage and adventurous people who are fond of exploring nature for medicinal herbs and possessing a traditional style of hunting that involves surviving off land for weeks in jungles and remote remote areas. During these forays adventurous, at a time when youth inadvertently strayed to the other side of LAC, “the statement said.
The defense spokesman said that the Indian military has always been proactive in tracking down missing locals and helping them return home.
“Three such incidents occurred in the current year in Upper Subansiri and West Siang district, including the last one. All those people were returned home safely after constant efforts and coordination by the Indian army in the past.” the statement says.
Ebiya’s friend Tania Doyom had told TOI about a similar incident earlier this year when a young man was detained by China for almost a month.
“They were inside India, as far as we know. They often went that way, we don’t know what happened that day … We are from the Tagin community. Many forest hunters and gatherers roam freely in those areas, ”he said. “Some time ago, there was also that other boy, from our area, who had been detained by China,” he added, referring to the nearly month-long detention of another young man from the Upper Subansiri district in March this year. Togley Singkam, like the five children, had also been looking for food when she disappeared.
The Tagin, predominantly found in Upper Subansiri, West Siang and Papum Pare districts, are a community of hunter-gatherers. That comes with a fluid understanding of boundaries. Furthermore, with 80% forest cover, most of Arunachal is not well mapped, is off the network of connectivity and with few roads.
What is often a long process to get people back also has to do with procedural gaps. China and India do not share an extradition treaty, only a 2013 border defense cooperation agreement, which it says would help the other side locate personnel, livestock, means of transportation and air vehicles that may have crossed or are possibly in the process of crossing the line of royal control in the border areas between India and China. ”
(With input from Prabin Kalita and Chandrima Banerjee)
On video: PLA hands over 5 disappeared Indian citizens of Arunachal for 11 days
“The borders are not well demarcated. We are hunters, we move a lot. We can’t tell which side is which. Kabhi kabhi nikal jaata hai log, aur PLA waala leke chala jaata hai (sometimes people get lost and the PLA takes them away), ”Prakash Ringling, whose Facebook post had drawn attention to the missing children, told TOI. His brother Prasad, who had just passed his Class X boards, cousins Tanu Bakar and Ngaru Diri, Dongtu Ebiya and Toch Singkam were among the seven who had gone hunting and foraging in the deep forests of northern Arunachal when they disappeared. .
Two others, Tabu and Tate, had returned. This is how we learned that they had been detained by the PLA, ”he said.
The five youths, who have now been handed over to India by the Chinese military, will be quarantined for 14 days under Covid-19 protocols before they can return to their families, a defense spokesman said in a statement.
“Arunachal Pradesh is known for its rich natural heritage and adventurous people who are fond of exploring nature for medicinal herbs and possessing a traditional style of hunting that involves surviving off land for weeks in jungles and remote remote areas. During these forays adventurous, at a time when youth inadvertently strayed to the other side of LAC, “the statement said.
The defense spokesman said that the Indian military has always been proactive in tracking down missing locals and helping them return home.
“Three such incidents occurred in the current year in Upper Subansiri and West Siang district, including the last one. All those people were returned home safely after constant efforts and coordination by the Indian army in the past.” the statement says.
Ebiya’s friend Tania Doyom had told TOI about a similar incident earlier this year when a young man was detained by China for almost a month.
“They were inside India, as far as we know. They often went that way, we don’t know what happened that day … We are from the Tagin community. Many forest hunters and gatherers roam freely in those areas, ”he said. “Some time ago, there was also that other boy, from our area, who had been detained by China,” he added, referring to the nearly month-long detention of another young man from the Upper Subansiri district in March this year. Togley Singkam, like the five children, had also been looking for food when she disappeared.
The Tagin, predominantly found in Upper Subansiri, West Siang and Papum Pare districts, are a community of hunter-gatherers. That comes with a fluid understanding of boundaries. Furthermore, with 80% forest cover, most of Arunachal is not well mapped, is off the network of connectivity and with few roads.
What is often a long process to get people back also has to do with procedural gaps. China and India do not share an extradition treaty, only a 2013 border defense cooperation agreement, which it says would help the other side locate personnel, livestock, means of transportation and air vehicles that may have crossed or are possibly in the process of crossing the line of royal control in the border areas between India and China. ”
(With input from Prabin Kalita and Chandrima Banerjee)
On video: PLA hands over 5 disappeared Indian citizens of Arunachal for 11 days
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