[Karyir Riba]
ROING, 12 Apr: The All Idu Mishmi Students’ Union (AIMSU) has condemned the state’s tourism department for using the controversial name of the Dibang river on its official Facebook page called ‘Arunachal Tourism’.
The AIMSU alleged that the department “acted with an intention to flare up communal disharmony between the two coexisting communities of Lower Dibang Valley.”
The Dibang river is called Talon by the Mishmi (Idu) and Sikang by the Adi tribe of the district, and the naming of the Dibang bridge has been a reason for dispute since the opening of the bridge.
AIMSU convenor Litu Dele said, “A written representation objecting the naming of the Dibang bridge as Sikang bridge was on an earlier occasion submitted before the DC LDV and copy of the same were dispatched to the office of the CM, minister of home and chief secretary, GoAP, SP LDV, IMCLS, ABK and to the AITF. Despite this fact, the tourism department has acted very irresponsibly and the act is condemnable in every possible manner. We need clarification over the matter from the department.”
The Facebook post in question was posted by the tourism department on its official page regarding the ongoing ‘Trans-Arunachal drive’ on Sunday. The caption carries the name of the Dibang river as the Sikang river.
