Monday Musing
[Bengia Ajum]
As soon as reports of the appointment of 1995-batch IPS officer Darshan Singh Jamwal as the new director general of police (DGP) of Arunachal Pradesh became public, a section of civil rights activists, especially anti-dam activists, expressed apprehension.
This concern stems from Jamwal’s tenure as the DGP of Ladakh, during which he arrested renowned climate activist Sonam Wangchuk under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) after violence rocked the region. Jamwal is replacing the outgoing DGP of Arunachal, Anand Mohan, who has been transferred to Delhi. The Home Affairs Ministry issued the transfer orders for these officers last Friday.
In September 2025, violence shook the union territory of Ladakh. For months, the people of Ladakh, under the leadership of their apex bodies, the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, had been protesting for full statehood, extension of constitutional protections under the Sixth Schedule, separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil, and job reservations for local communities. The soul of this protest was Sonam Wangchuk, who led from the front. He sat on a hunger strike and was the voice of the protest.
When the protest turned violent, four people were killed in police firing and scores of others were injured. The police failed to anticipate the simmering anger among the people and instead pinned the blame on Wangchuk, who has remained behind bars since then.
With sections of the population, especially in the Siang valley, deeply opposed to the construction of the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), the posting of an officer who did not hesitate to arrest a patriotic citizen like Sonam Wangchuk has alarmed climate activists in Arunachal.
Human rights activist Ebo Mili, reacting to Jamwal’s appointment as DGP, termed it unfortunate. “In Ladakh, under his command as DGP, police firing during the September 2025 protests killed four innocent civilians, including a Kargil War veteran, which he later justified as ‘self-defence’ amid allegations of excessive force. This history of human rights violations, combined with his transfer amid fierce opposition in Siang and Upper Siang districts to the proposed 12,000 mw Siang Upper Multipurpose Project dam, appears to be a deliberate central government strategy to suppress dissent in our tribal areas. I fear a repetition of Ladakh’s tragedy in Arunachal as well,” said Mili.
Meanwhile, as soon as the transfer and posting of the new DGP became public, people took to social media, questioning why Robin Hibu, the first IPS officer from the state, was not appointed as the DGP of Arunachal. A decorated officer, Hibu joined the service in 1994 and was promoted to the rank of DGP in 2023. Currently, he serves as a special commissioner of the Delhi Police and is scheduled to retire in July 2028.
Many in Arunachal have expressed the view that, as a son of the soil who knows the state inside out, he deserves a chance to head the police force. With just a few years left before retirement, they believe he deserves to bid adieu to service from his motherland. There is no doubt that Hibu, being the first IPS officer from Arunachal, has been a source of inspiration for many civil service aspirants in the state. The continued neglect of Hibu for the post of DGP has baffled many across Arunachal.
