We’d rather die than give up land: Siang villagers on proposed dam project

TL;DR

• Adi farmers in Geku village, Arunachal Pradesh, are protesting the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project dam, saying they'd rather die than surrender their ancestral land
• Security forces confiscated traditional daos (machetes) from villagers, further angering the community
• Ongoing protests are disrupting farming activities and threatening the upcoming paddy harvest
• Villagers led by John Panyang are prioritizing their land rights fight over agricultural work

Why It Matters

This is a local but significant land-rights standoff in Arunachal Pradesh, where an indigenous community's resistance to a major infrastructure project highlights the tension between development projects and the preservation of tribal land, livelihood, and heritage in India's northeastern frontier.