Prema Wangjom Thongdok, a UK-based Indian woman, has claimed she was detained for 18 hours in China during a transit at Pudong Airport after immigration officials claimed her Indian passport was "invalid" because her listed birthplace, Arunachal Pradesh, was "not part of India".
Thongdok said she had previously passed through the same airport a few days back without any issues. But on November 21, during her three-hour layover in Shanghai while flying from London to Japan, she claimed she was "singled out" and harassed.
"When I tried to question them and ask them what the issue was, they said, 'Arunachal is not part of India,' and started mocking and laughing and saying things like, 'You should apply for the Chinese passport; you're Chinese; you're not Indian,'" she told news agency ANI.
ALSO READ: "Ludicrous, Unacceptable": Government Sources On Woman's Shanghai Airport Ordeal
Thongdok, who has lived in the United Kingdom for 14 years, asserted she's an Indian citizen. Her family still lives in the Rupa area in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district.
Recounting the harassment she faced in China, she said, "One of the officials from the Chinese immigration came over and singled me out of the queue. I asked her what was happening, and she went on to say, 'Arunachal - not India, China - China, your visa is not acceptable. Your passport is invalid."
When Thongdok tried to question them and ask them what the issue was, immigration officials reportedly told her that "Arunachal is not part of India".
"They started mocking and laughing and saying things like, 'You should apply for the Chinese passport; you're Chinese, you're not Indian,'" she recalled.
ALSO READ: "Arunachal In China": Indian Woman's Post On Shanghai Airport Harassment
Thongdok said she was denied access to food, airport facilities, and any official updates on her status for hours, and she "couldn't get in touch with my family for a very long time."
"The airline staff of China Eastern and about two other immigration officers were speaking in their language and saying and pointing out and saying 'Arunachal' and laughing and calling it China, not India. That was very humiliating, questionable behaviour from the immigration staff, as well as the airline staff," she said.
Distressed and running out of options, she was eventually forced to contact the Indian Consulate in Shanghai and Beijing through a friend in the UK.
"Within an hour, the Indian officials came to the airport, got me some food, spoke through the issues with them and helped me get out of the country. A very long ordeal, 18 hours, but glad that I'm out of there," Thongdok said.
The woman has written an email to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Prime Minister's Office, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, and the Foreign Secretary, urging them to make sure such an incident doesn't happen to someone "who is just a normal citizen".
"Just to be harassed for so many hours, I think it might be quite a tactic used by the Chinese government to hassle citizens of India, especially from Arunachal Pradesh... I'm just grateful to the team from the Indian embassy who helped me get out of there finally around 10.30 PM," he added.
Thongdok asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. "We speak 'shuddh Hindi'; we don't understand C of Chinese; we are all Indian... I want to raise this awareness that residents of the northeast of India should not face such harassment in terms of being called and being told that you are not a part of the country that you're so proudly a citizen of," she said.
"I would like the government of India to raise this on a diplomatic level with the Chinese authorities. This is not something a regular citizen can resolve. I would just like to request the government of India to take strict action against the Chinese authorities and the government on such matters."
India's Protest
The incident has triggered a strong and immediate protest from New Delhi, with India calling the detention "ludicrous" and "unacceptable".
Government sources told ANI that a strong démarche was made with the Chinese side, in Beijing and in Delhi, on the same day the incident took place.
The Indian Consulate in Shanghai also took up the matter locally and extended the fullest assistance to the stranded passenger. It was stressed that the passenger had been detained on ludicrous grounds, as Arunachal Pradesh is indisputably Indian territory and its residents are perfectly entitled to hold and travel with Indian passports, sources said.
New Delhi also highlighted that the actions of the Chinese authorities were in contravention of the Chicago and Montreal Conventions relating to civil aviation. At a time when both sides are working on restoring normalcy, such actions by the Chinese side introduce unnecessary obstructions to the process.
