PERHAPS every passionate traveller in India has Tawang on her wish list of travel destinations. Located at an elevation of about 10,000 feet and known for its breathtaking natural beauty with clear blue water, green mountains, glacial lakes and a number of beautiful monasteries that are spread across the region, Tawang is a place of immense historical and spiritual significance. Originally a part of Tibet, Tawang is now a district in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is home to several holy Buddhist pilgrimage sites, including the famous Tawang monastery, which is the second biggest monastery in the world.

Birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama, Tawang is also the place where the 13th Dalai Lama went into hiding to escape the Chinese invasion of Lhasa in 1911, and offered a safe passage to the present 14th Dalai Lama to India in April 1959. A majority (around 97%) of Tawang’s population consist of the Monpa tribe, who are primarily agriculturalists. Less than 60,000 in number, the Monpas are a small community who are strong adherents of the monasteries and monk gurus. The geographical distance between Tawang and the rest of the country has enabled the people of Tawang to continue with their traditional way of life and community living without being greatly transformed by the fast modernizing world outside.

This otherwise calm and serene land caught the attention of the national media for the killing of two persons, including a monk, in police firing on 2 May 2016, during a massive protest against the unlawful imprisonment of Lama Lobsang Gyatso. The lama had been leading a peoples’ protest against the construction of mega hydropower projects in Tawang, which they believed would result in massive ecological devastation, apart from its disastrous socio-economic and cultural impact that could wipe out the entire Monpa community. This article discusses the trajectory of this movement and how the monk-led peoples’ protest succeeded in its struggle against the government’s decision to turn Tawang into a centre of electricity generation despite the huge threats that the hydro-power projects posed to the region’s human, environmental and wildlife sustainability.

 

As part of the National Hydro Power Policy of India, the state government had planned to construct 13 hydro-power projects, aimed at generating around 2900 mw of power in Tawang district alone. Most of these hydro-power projects were proposed to be constructed in the two major river basins in Tawang – the Tawang Chhu in the east and the Nyamjang Chhu in the west. The 780 mw Nyamjangchhu hydroelectric power project was to be constructed by Bhilwara Energy Limited at an estimated cost of approximately Rs 6852.28 crore, whereas the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) was supposed to construct two mega hydropower projects called Tawang District Stage 1 and Stage 2 of 600 mw and 800 mw respectively. In addition, 10 other hydropower projects were slated for construction by other private companies.

The Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF) was formed in 2011 by the people of Tawang, and led by the monks, to resist these mega hydroelectric power projects. The SMRF flagged that these projects were a serious threat to the geographically volatile and highly seismic region that Tawang is. Apart from endangering several holy Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the region, the hydropower projects also threatened the extinction of the endangered black-necked cranes, considered a sacred embodiment of the 6th Dalai Lama, who have made Tawang their winter home.

 

The dams are also a threat to farmlands located on the riverbanks of the Nyamjan Chhu and Tawang Chhu, which could leave the agricultural community bereft of any livelihood options. These marginal farmlands are the only cultivable land left with the Monpa community, having already lost all of their cultivable land to previous land acquisition drives meant for the establishment of defence settlements and district administration offices. The Monpa people also feared that their small tribe, whose numerical strength is as low as 60,000, would be wiped out by the inflow of migrant workers and other processes of modernization that would accompany these projects.

The anti-dam movement led by the SMRF was further outraged by the lack of public consultation by project officials as it endangered their lives. The movement gained momentum as soon as the government issued orders for the rebuilding of the 6 mw Mukto Shakangchu hydropower project, after its collapse within three months of construction, at a cost exceeding 90 crore. The collapse of the Mukto Shakangchu project had already heightened people’s concerns about the unsafe construction and volatility that such projects exposed the region to. Thus, the government’s order to rebuild the Mukto Shakangchu project further accelerated the peoples’ resistance against hydropower projects.

However, a number of mini and medium power projects with a potential capacity of 24 mw had already been constructed in Tawang by the government to meet the electricity needs of the local population. Almost all had become non-functional and failed to deliver even 2 mw electricity, as opposed to the maximum need of only 6 mw in the whole of Tawang during peak season in winter. The SMRF had demanded that these medium hydropower projects be made functional to meet the needs of the local people. Apart from meeting local demand, the mega hydroelectric power projects were also expected to augment national power needs. For this, the SMRF had proposed a mega hydropower plant of 100 mw on an experimental basis, far away from the human habitation in Tawang, but the government was unwilling to consider this proposal.

 

The anti-dam protest movement began in Tawang at the end of 2011 under the leadership of two monks – Gese Lobsang Choeder and Geshe Lobsang Sherab, both doctorates in Himalayan Tibetan Buddhism. They had returned from their universities in the Sera monastery in Mysore to initiate the movement. Gese Lobsang Choeder and Geshe Lobsang Sherab had conducted several awareness programmes in several villages of Tawang on the harmful consequences of the dam. These awareness programmes were expected to mobilize people’s support for the movement. However, both the leaders were forced to leave Tawang and sent back to Mysore by the state government on grounds that that they had instigated the people to indulge in unlawful activities. They were also made to sign a bond that prohibited their entry to Tawang for five years thereafter.

A year after this incident, in January 2012, Lama Lobsang Gyatso was approached by monks from Tawang at the Kala Chakra initiative in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, seeking his participation in the anti-dam movement at Tawang. Consequently, Lobsang Gyatso joined the resistance led by the SMRF in March 2012. As soon as the monks returned to Tawang after the Kala Chakra initiative, Lobsang Gyatso became the face of the movement.

 

The resistance that was initiated by the SMRF anti-dam movement consisted of a variety of systematic approaches that helped the monks secure their demands. A close look at the well coordinated resistance strategy of the anti-dam movement offers significant insights for peace process initiatives. From 2011 to 2016, the anti-hydropower dam movement by the SMRF had seen a successful trajectory. On 4 April 2012, Tawang witnessed the first peaceful protest where thousands of people participated to resist the construction of the mega hydropower projects. This protest subsequently led to the holding of an annual event in the valley every winter.

Immediately after the success of the first peaceful protest, around 60 monks from the SMRF travelled to Itanagar, the capital city of Arunachal Pradesh, to form alliances and solidarities with fellow activists, and then further to North Lakhimpur in Assam where they established contact with activist and people’s leader Akhil Gogoi. Well known for leading the people’s anti-dam movement in Assam and the movement for indigenous rights, Gogoi actively guided the monks on the future course of the protest. Through Akhil Gogoi, Lobsang Gyatso and other leaders of the SMRF established contact with environmental lawyers in New Delhi. Well known conservation activist Neeraj Vagholikar helped the SMRF coordinate with several organizations and legal forums in New Delhi.

 

With advocate Ritwick Dutta as their lawyer, the SMRF filed a petition with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the environment clearance given to Bhilwara Energy Limited for the execution of the Nyamjangchhu hydropower project. After a legal battle conducted over four years, the NGT finally nullified the environment clearance in April 2016. The NGT also directed the Expert Appraisal Committee to conduct a public appraisal on the basis of a fresh Environment Impact Assessment, as it was established that the public consultation conducted in 2009 was done by using excessive police force and denying any say to the people. The NGT also directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to conduct a separate study for protection of the habitat and conservation of the black-necked crane through the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

After the petition was filed, Punjab National Bank, the financer of Bhilwara Energy Limited, had already withdrawn its financial support from the project, forcing the company to halt work. Apart from the success with the NGT judgement, a Forest Conservation Act violation suit was also filed at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change against two other mini hydel power projects called the 7.5 mw Kangteng Nalla hydroelectric project and the 3 mw Shyaro Nalla hydroelectric project. These two mini power projects, which were constructed as part and parcel of the Nyamjangchhu hydroelectric power project, were also stopped by an order of the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

 

The commendable success of the anti-dam movement in Tawang must also be attributed to its remarkable unity at the grassroots level. Conducting grassroots awareness programmes on the disastrous socio-economic, political and cultural impact of the dam had formed the most important strategy carried out by the SMRF, along with taking a systematic recourse to law to secure the demands of the movement. These awareness initiatives were carried out with the active participation of young monks, and the movement leadership was made accessible to the people for any clarification and help that the villagers might require.

This systematic reaching out to the grassroots enabled the SMRF to conduct a successful Gram Sabha resolution in around twenty-four villages in Tawang, who univocally resisted the construction of the mega hydropower projects. Lama Lobsang Gyatso had to sell his personal properties to meet the expenses for the movement, which not only helped sustain the protest for several years, but also helped earn the people’s trust in his leadership. As such, with a strong grassroots base, Tawang saw a series of successful peoples’ protests from 2012 to 2016.

In 2017, an agreement was signed between the SMRF and the government in Tawang which declared that all construction related to the NHPC mega hydropower projects, including the 600 mw Tawang Stage 1 and 800 mw Tawang Stage 2 hydro-power projects, would be permanently withdrawn. This agreement was signed at a public meeting in the presence of the monks, village heads, panchayat members, the Deputy Commissioner of Tawang, members of Legislative Assembly, and the general public. However, the NHPC office was not dismantled with the signing of the agreement and it continues to exist in Tawang, although no construction has taken place until now. The effort of the SMRF was recognized by environment groups in New Delhi, and Lama Lobsang Gyatso was conferred the Bhagirath Samman award. SMRF was also given the Sanctuary Wildlife Award in Mumbai.

 

However, the aftermath of the NGT judgement in favour of the SMRF in 2016 saw violent state reaction. Soon after the NGT order nullified the environmental clearance issued for the Nyamjangchhu hydroelectric power project, Lama Lobsang Gyatso was detained on 26 April for allegedly disturbing the peace in Tawang through the protests against the 6 mw Mukto Shakangchhu project and then again, on 28 April, for allegedly making comments about Guru Rinpoche, the Abbot of Tawang monastery, which hurt the sentiments of the people. This was the second time that Lobsang Gyatso was arrested after his arrests in 2013.

While Gyatso was arrested on 26 April and released the same day, his bail application following the arrest on 28 April was rejected. Fearing that the lama’s life would be in danger, around 1500 people protested, demanding his immediate release. Eyewitnesses say that the police indiscriminately fired around 1000 bullets on the peacefully protesting crowd, which killed two persons, including a 21-year-old monk and 31-year-old youth and injured several protestors. Two of the injured continue to be paralyzed.

It is believed that the state violence and killings also played a role in accelerating the signing of the peace agreement that barred the construction of the NHPC mega hydropower project in 2017,which followed soon after the NGT judgment halting the 780 mw Nyamjangchhu hydropower project. It was feared that the 2016 tragedy would have detrimental electoral consequences in the assembly elections of 2019, if immediate steps prohibiting the hydropower projects were not taken.

 

The issue of political power and the SMRF anti-dam movement has been an interesting one, revealing the many layers of the movement. After the agreement to stop any further construction of the NHPC mega power projects in Tawang was signed, Lama Lobsang Gyatso resigned from the SMRF. Lobsang Gyatso had insisted on contesting elections and securing political power to seek a permanent solution to the issue of hydropower projects in Tawang through a free and fair Gram Sabha resolution under the Forest Rights Act (FRA). Subsequently, he would demand NHPC to permanently leave Tawang, and if needed take legal action.

Without establishing a proper legal decision through a Gram Sabha resolution under the FRA, Gyatso feared that the community would not be able to fight for their rights in case the government later decide to step back from their promise of not constructing the mega hydropower projects in Tawang. The monk community, however, was reluctant to secure political power and politicize the movement at that time (although they went on to file nominations against Prema Khandu in the assembly elections of 2019). This difference of opinion between the monks of SMRF and Lama Lobsang Gyatso led him to resign from the SMRF to involve himself in active party politics under the Janata Dal (Secular).

After over two decades of uncontested elections, Tawang saw a triangular contest in the 2019 assembly election, against Prema Khandu, the present chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh who holds the Mukto Assembly seat in Tawang district. While Lama Lobsang Gyatso was nominated by Jananta Dal (Secular), the Congress party nominated another monk, Thupten Kunphen, to contest elections. However, the monk community did not begin their election campaign early enough, and coupled with financial constraints, they lost the election to Prema Khandu. The hydropower projects have remained the main election issue for many years now, and it is expected to remain so for years to come. Having said that, it is also interesting to note that elections in Tawang are fought without any written election manifesto but only with verbal promises.

 

Recently, the Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee has considered giving clearance to the 3097 mw Etalin Hydropower project in the Dibang valley of Arunachal Pradesh, which is home to rare biodiversity in the country. The Etalin hydropower project has again brought back the issue of the impact of dams on indigenous peoples and their habitat in the North East of India, while it is yet to be seen if the initial promise made on the permanent closure of the mega hydropower project in Tawang is kept inviolate.

This must be understood in the context that Arunachal Pradesh has been chosen to develop at least one third of the power capacity under the National Hydropower Policy of India. However, what stands out in the anti-dam protest movement by the SMRF in Tawang is their persistence, their use of an effective combination of people’s mobilization, legal recourses to secure the demands of the movement, as well as their thoughtful networking and solidarity with a wide range of national level activists and professionals which significantly contributed to the success of the anti-dam movement in Tawang.

 

* Bitopi Dutta is co-author of The Teesta on the Run: Development-induced Displacement in Sikkim, 1975-2010, and The Development Dilemma: Displacement in Meghalaya 1947-2010. North Eastern Social Research Centre, Guwahati, 2016.