ITANAGAR, 16 May: Former MP Takam Sanjoy has strongly condemned China’s attempt to rename 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh.
Sanjoy, a senior Congress leader, expressed outrage over China’s action, stating that the renaming of indigenous and traditional names of Arunachali inhabitants is unethical, humiliating, and arbitrary.
He said that India has given economic and political status to the people of Arunachal and their status as Indian citizens cannot be questioned.
“We urge China to stop renaming local names and claiming Arunachal Pradesh as part of China. We have proved ourselves as true citizens of great India. Our status as Indian citizens is unquestionable,” he said in a press statement on Friday.
Sanjoy questioned China’s motives behind such actions, which he said “are aimed at tarnishing India’s diplomatic relations.”
He said that India has a long history of protecting and developing Arunachal, “from the British India-era Chin-Hill Act of 1896 to granting full-fledged statehood in 1987.”
Sanjoy also highlighted key milestones in Arunachal’s journey, including its transition from a union territory to a full-fledged state.
Stating that many of his brethren have been left in Chinese-occupied Tibet territory, Sanjoy claimed that the population and territorial areas they inhabit belong to India.