Arunachal Town Sees Massive Protest After China's 'Renaming' Attempt

Local residents of Hawai, district headquarters of Anjaw in Arunachal Pradesh, on Thursday staged a massive protest against China's attempts to rename 27 places in the northeastern state, which Beijing refers to as "Zangnan" or the southern part of Tibet. 

The protesters staged the agitation with the Tricolour and raised slogans against China. They also burnt a poster of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"It's not 1962, it's 2025 and we strongly reject China's attempts to rename 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh," one of the protesters said, referring to the Indo-China war in 1962. "We are a part of India and always remain with India. Arunachal Pradesh was never a part of China." 

Echoing similar sentiments, another protester said: "Their (China's) claims are baseless. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and we are proud Indians." 

A third protester said the geographical terrain is very tough and it is not easy to acclimatise in the region. "We are ready for any kind of eventuality and give logistic support to our armed forces if necessary," the protester said.

India on Wednesday outrightly rejected as "vain and preposterous" China's attempts to rename some places in Arunachal Pradesh and said doing so will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India.

New Delhi's remarks were in response to Beijing's announcement on Chinese names for 27 places in the northeastern state, mainly 15 mountains, four passes, two rivers, a lake and five inhabited areas.

"We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. 

"Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India," he added.