Overview
- Prema Wangjom Thongdok says Shanghai Pudong immigration declared her passport invalid on Nov. 21 because it listed Arunachal Pradesh as her birthplace and told her "Arunachal Pradesh is part of China."
- A planned three-hour transit allegedly became an 18-hour hold in the airport with her passport withheld and boarding denied despite a valid Japanese visa.
- She reports being mocked by immigration and China Eastern staff, urged to seek a Chinese passport, and pressed to buy a new ticket only on China Eastern to get her document back.
- Thongdok contacted the Indian Consulate in Shanghai through a friend in the UK, and consular officials later escorted her to a late-night departure after she incurred losses from missed flights and hotel bookings.
- In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she calls the treatment an insult to India’s sovereignty and requests that New Delhi raise the matter with Beijing, pursue accountability and compensation, and ensure Arunachal-born Indians are not obstructed in transit.