On November 21, a UK-based Indian national from Arunachal Pradesh faced an 18-hour ordeal at Shanghai Pudong International Airport when Chinese immigration authorities reportedly deemed her Indian passport “invalid” for listing Arunachal Pradesh as her place of birth. The incident has drawn a strong diplomatic protest from India, which termed the grounds for detention “ludicrous.”
Prema Wangjom Thongdok, a financial adviser who originally hailed from Rupa in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district, was transiting through Shanghai from London to Japan when immigration officials singled her out.
Allegations Of Mockery And Denial Of Basic Rights
Thongdok recalled the nightmare and said immigration police and China Eastern Airlines officers repeatedly mocked her and asked if she was really a Chinese citizen.
‘Passport Invalid‘: The officials maintained that Arunachal Pradesh was “Chinese territory” and as such, her Indian passport is not a valid travel document.
Harassment: “When I tried to question them. 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,'” Thongdok told ANI news agency.
Denial of Facilities: The former transit passenger claimed that officers confiscated her passport, refused her access to food for hours, and prevented her from accessing information because “there is no Google in China.” She was also refused boarding onto her onward flight despite holding a valid Japanese visa.
Thongdok pointed out how ironic it was, considering he had already transited through the very same airport without incident a year earlier.
India Intervenes: Strong Demarche Issued
After hours of confinement, Thongdok managed to contact friends in the UK who relayed her distress to the Indian diplomatic missions.
Consular assistance: “I called up the Shanghai and Beijing Indian embassies, and within an hour, the Indian officials came to the airport, got me some food, and spoke through issues with them and helped me get out of the country,” she said.
India lodged a strong demarche with Beijing, calling the detention grounds “ludicrous.” The Indian consulate in Shanghai said, “Arunachal Pradesh is indisputably Indian territory, and its residents are perfectly entitled to hold and travel with Indian passports.”
Officials also noted that China’s actions were in contravention of the Chicago and Montreal Conventions on civil aviation. Thongdok was finally compelled to rebook her travel on China Eastern Airlines, flying out via Thailand.
She has since written to the Ministry of External Affairs, demanding that the matter be taken up strongly as a “direct challenge to India’s sovereignty,” and sought compensation for her “harassment, distress, and financial losses.”
