An Insult to Citizenship: Arunachal Resident Details Shocking Airport Harassment During China Transit
An Insult to Citizenship: Arunachal Resident Details Shocking Airport Harassment — this is how Prema Wangjom Thongdok, a UK-based Indian woman, described her traumatic experience at Shanghai’s Pudong Airport after being detained for 18 hours. She said Chinese immigration officials called her Indian passport “invalid” because her birthplace, Arunachal Pradesh, was “not part of India”.
Thongdok was on a short layover on November 21 while travelling from London to Japan. She said she had passed through the same airport days earlier without any problem. But this time, she was allegedly singled out and mocked by immigration officials.
According to her, the officers repeatedly told her, “Arunachal is not India. You should apply for a Chinese passport.” She said they laughed at her, denied her food, blocked access to airport facilities, and refused to explain her status.
She also said airline staff joined in the harassment, pointing at her passport and calling Arunachal Pradesh “China”. During most of the ordeal, she could not contact her family.
Feeling helpless, Thongdok reached out to a friend in the UK, who contacted the Indian Consulate in Shanghai and Beijing. Indian officials arrived within an hour, provided her food, and helped secure her release late at night.
Thongdok later wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister. She urged the Indian government to ensure that no other Indian citizen faces such humiliation.
She firmly stated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. “We speak pure Hindi. We don’t understand Chinese. We are Indians,” she said.
India Strongly Protests
The incident triggered a strong reaction from New Delhi. Indian government sources called the detention “ludicrous” and “unacceptable”. A formal démarche was issued to China in both Beijing and Delhi on the same day.
Indian officials stressed that Arunachal Pradesh is indisputably part of India and that its residents have every right to hold and travel with Indian passports. New Delhi also highlighted that China’s actions violated international civil aviation rules under the Chicago and Montreal Conventions.
The Indian side warned that such behaviour creates unnecessary obstacles at a time when both countries are trying to restore normalcy in relations.
