ABSTRACT
The policy of the Government of India (GoI) to turn its northeastern region, especially Arunachal Pradesh (AP), into ‘India’s future powerhouse’ by generating massive hydel power from almost all its perennial rivers has led to widespread protests in the region. These protests are based on the apprehension that this new ‘development’ initiative of the government would spell disaster to the river ecosystem and the livelihood and cultural heritage of the people of the region. The protests are also informed by the fact that the region is seismically very active, geologically fragile and ecologically sensitive. The conflict between the government’s new logic of development in a region considered as a distant security frontier and the local people’s apprehensions and questions about the character of this development has unfolded a complex discourse entangled in the interplay of issues concerning development, environment, people’s rights and rule of law.
