Indian national Prema Wangjom Thongdok, who was detained at Shanghai International Airport for 18 hours and faced harassment because of her Arunachal identity, took to social media platform X to thank “everyone who is speaking out in support of this diplomatic matter”.
She went on to call out those who trolled her on social media. She said: “…I’m new here and not active on X, it’s because I have a very prominent full-time position in financial services and don’t have time to waste answering trolls! The right people will understand.”
“And those who don’t get it are clearly not people I want to be involved with anyway! I don’t even live in India so any action taken by the Indian government will be for the benefit and pride of my fellow Indians and the Arunachalis who live here, not mine. We are one nation standing for each other,” she wrote on X on Wednesday.
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Prema Wangjom Thongdok said she was detained at Shanghai airport for 18 hours and her Indian passport was declared invalid.
The UK-based Indian national, who traveled from London to Japan on November 21, claimed her three-hour scheduled layover turned into a traumatic ordeal after immigration staff in China declared her passport “invalid” only because it listed Arunachal Pradesh as her place of birth.
Read also | China denies harassment of Arunachal woman at Shanghai airport: Here’s what we know
Narrating her “long ordeal,” Wangjom Thongdok said she faced harassment from Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong Airport who “taunted and raised questions” about her Indian citizenship, noting that her 18-hour ordeal ended with the help of officials from the Indian missions in Shanghai and Beijing.
China denies the allegations
Earlier on Tuesday, China rejected allegations of harassment made by Thongdok, saying “the person’s legal rights and interests have been fully protected and no compulsory measures have been taken against him”.
The PTI news agency quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning as saying: “For the individual case you mentioned, according to what we have learned all along, China’s border control authorities have carried out inspection procedures in accordance with laws and regulations.”
“The airline provided her with facilities for rest and food,” she said, rejecting Thongdok’s allegations.
She also defended the actions taken against Thongdok, saying: “Let me point out that border checks of people entering and leaving the country and carrying out law enforcement according to the specific situation of entry or exit is a common practice of border enforcement agencies of countries around the world.”
India says that Arunachal is an integral part of India
Meanwhile, India reiterates its consistent stance. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) emphasized that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India.
It said: “Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India and that is a self-evident fact. No amount of denial by the Chinese side will change this indisputable reality.”
Read also | India criticizes China over detention of Arunachal woman at Shanghai airport
The MEA statement said: “The issue of detention has been strongly discussed with the Chinese side. The Chinese authorities have still not been able to explain their actions, which are in violation of several conventions governing international air transport. The actions of the Chinese authorities also violate their own regulations, which allow visa-free transit for nationals of all countries for up to 24 hours.”
(With input from agencies)
