In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Pema Wangjom Thongdok, an Indian woman from Arunachal Pradesh, who alleged that she was harassed by Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai airport, recounted the ordeal.
00:00China is back to doing what it does often which is provoke India and harass Indian citizens.
00:06That's exactly what happened because days after an Arunachal born woman alleged harassment for
00:11several hours at China's Shanghai airport due to her identity as Arunachali, Beijing and New Delhi
00:19are in a war of words. While Beijing has dismissed the allegations and instead launched a propaganda
00:24drive, India has made it clear that China overstepped its mark that Arunachal is a part of India and you
00:32cannot treat the citizens of Arunachal like this. I spoke to the woman at the center of this gathering
00:40storm. Listen in to what she had to say. And joining me now is the woman who was at the heart of this
00:49terrible ordeal that the Chinese authorities subjected to her. Prema Thongdok, appreciate
00:56you joining me here on the news today. I want to understand what exactly happened to you
01:02at the Shanghai airport. What did the immigration authorities tell you when you were there on a
01:11stopover on your way to Tokyo? Thank you, sir. Firstly, I would like to thank India today for being the
01:18first media channels to reach out and broadcast the story on a very important issue. So basically,
01:26I have in fact traveled and transited from Shanghai in the past. And this was my second time transiting
01:35and it seems like more of a pick and choose and harassment issue here. Because the first time that I
01:42was transiting via China, I did call up the Chinese embassy in London. And they confirmed that as
01:48long as your transit is less than say 12 to 24 hours, you are able to transit, there was no issue
01:54whatsoever on holding an Indian passport. So I basically was traveling on holiday between London,
02:03Gatwick to Japan with a transit in Shanghai. The first instance that when I did travel was on 16th of
02:12October 2024. And I did transit very easily with no questions asked whatsoever. However, this time,
02:20basically, the immigration officer came to single me out of the queue while I was queuing up for the
02:28security check in and basically took my passport from me from my possession and said, when I did
02:36continue to ask what is the issue I have connecting flight, why are you singling me out and taking me out
02:41of the queue? She went on to say Arunachal is not part of India, that is part of China and that my Indian
02:49passport was an invalid document for travel. He said very clearly that Arunachal is not part of India,
03:00it's part of China. Exactly. Because the Chinese authorities have interestingly claimed that
03:08they carried out checks, procedures in accordance with laws and regulations. You are telling me you've
03:15transited through the same journey, but you were never subject to this kind of harassment as you went.
03:20How did you respond when they told you this? And were they not even allowing you to move out?
03:25Definitely not able to move around except between where I was seated to the toilets really. And they
03:37wouldn't even let me have access to food or go to the terminals. I had to sit there just in front of
03:43the China Eastern airline transfer desk. And right next to them was a smaller immigration desk, both of
03:51which officials would just kind of, when I go to the airline, they say speak to the immigration, when
03:56they speak to the immigration, they say go to the airline. They kept basically, you know, transferring
04:02me from one desk to the other, and not giving a definitive answer. Of course, there is no law or written
04:09document that they produce to show and to tell me why they are holding me back, how they can claim an Indian
04:16passport to be invalid. But they simply said Aranachal pointing at my passport saying you're born in
04:24Aranachal. This is not part of India, it's part of China. One of the officials, while taking me from
04:30the initial immigration desk to the place next to the transfer desk during the shuttle where basically
04:39she was escorting me from one part of the airport to the other, even went on to say, why don't you
04:46apply for a Chinese passport? If you really want to leave the country, you should apply for a Chinese
04:51passport because you are Chinese. Aranachal is part of China, which obviously was a very confusing and
04:57a very outrageous report. How did you respond to them? How did you respond to this kind of outrageous
05:07statements that were being made by the Chinese? Exactly. I mean, I don't speak sea of Chinese.
05:13I don't have land, voting, property rights in China. I've never had access to public funds in China.
05:21I've always been a proud Indian citizen and will continue to be so. I've never heard of the concept
05:28of Aranachal Pradesh ever being a part of China. And funnily enough, when I saw the interview from the
05:36Chinese government this evening where they stated that Aranachal is in fact an illegal, they called
05:45Aranachal an illegal set up by India, which further confirms that the detention and the treatment of
05:53with malice is validated by the statement that they agreed that Aranachal is part of China and not India.
06:01You know, it's interesting because the Chinese have made it a practice to issue staple visas to Indian nationals from
06:10Aranachal, which has also, of course, caused considerable disquiet. India has, of course, objected to this.
06:17But you're saying you are only in transit. You are not planning to travel through China. And as you've said earlier,
06:23you've done this on numerous occasions. It almost seems as if for some reason you were being singled out.
06:29You're someone who's done a PhD or you've graduated with a BA in economics and a MSc degree in international business from the United Kingdom.
06:43So clearly, you have a very impressive CV. Did they not recognize any of that, that you've been traveling?
06:50You've done this journey in the past and you've never had to experience this. This was the first time you've been subject to this kind of harassment.
06:58Exactly. I mean, I have, you know, studied economics honors from Shriram College of Commerce in Delhi University,
07:06went on for my further studies and masters in the UK, then actually pursued as part of my continuous, you know,
07:14career development, a second master's in accounting as well while working for the financial services in London.
07:22And in fact, my job itself is regulation. So I work advising my billion dollar clients in the financial services
07:31about regulations and the potential regulations which keep them in the law.
07:37So obviously things like this is very disturbing that they just come up with claims over my birthplace and call it.
07:51Yeah, part of China. And I'm told that you eventually managed to get in touch with the Indian consulate in Shanghai through your friends.
07:59Six officials from there arrived at the airport within an hour, brought you food.
08:03Yes. So it required intervention, I'm presuming, therefore, by those consulate officers before you were finally allowed to get away.
08:12Am I correct? To be freed?
08:14Correct. I mean, they did say to me, either go back to your country or go back to UK.
08:20Now, after a 12-hour flight being held up with no written law or ground on claims, basically,
08:29and not actually laws of the land for 18 hours or so, it was impossible for me to have the physical capacity to be able.
08:38I was actually quite nauseous by the time the Indian government officials came because I did not have access to food.
08:45Right.
08:46They wouldn't let me go to the terminal.
08:47No food?
08:49No.
08:49No food?
08:50Absolutely nothing from the airline, nothing.
08:53They actually provided a little dry biscuit, which I gave to another elderly who was also in some situation, but he was held up for many hours.
09:04So I offered the food to another fellow passenger.
09:08I mean, it wasn't food, it was dry biscuit.
09:11Can I ask you, therefore, can I therefore ask you, ma'am, in conclusion, what is your message to the Chinese authorities today?
09:19As this has become a diplomatic battle, what would you like to tell those who harassed you in this manner in Shanghai?
09:27What is your message to the Chinese authorities?
09:29Sisa, all I want is peace and to have good relations, that India should have good relations with its neighbouring countries.
09:37And I see that India has been taking several steps towards a very friendly approach with China.
09:43In fact, opening up direct flights to China in the recent couple of months.
09:48And it seems quite two-faced that on the front, you are shaking hands with us and in the backlog,
09:56you are holding up and harassing Indian citizens, especially citizens who don't actually work for the government,
10:05don't have any influence or a platform to be able to influence or change the geopolitical boundaries.
10:11And simply put, this is such a big and diplomatic issue, which they should handle with the authorities of India
10:22and not harass a commoner, a citizen who absolutely does not have any hand in moving borders.
10:29And India has always been the country in which our natural Pradesh resides.
10:37And we have always been proud Indians.
10:39We don't have any land voting rights, nothing in China.
10:43We have always been part of India.
10:45And it's outrageous that even after such a big ordeal, the recent news, they have stated that
10:54India has set up our natural Pradesh illegally.
10:58I mean, that's news to us.
11:00We are residents there.
11:01We know that we have always been part of India.
11:08Okay, those are strong words.
11:10I hope that someone out there is listening.
11:12You are, Prema Thongdok, a proud Arunachali, a proud Indian.
11:16And we empathize with what you had to go through.
11:19And I hope that this is a wake up call to the authorities in Beijing.
11:23And this is completely unacceptable what happened to you.
11:26Thank you so much for joining me and sharing your ordeal with our audiences.
Be the first to comment