Days after an Arunachal Pradesh woman was harassed at a Chinese airport, an Indian travel vlogger has alleged that he was detained by Chinese authorities for around 15 hours over online comments about the northeastern state.
Anant Mittal, popularly known as On Road India, has narrated his ordeal in an Instagram post.
“I can’t stop crying. All I did was take a stand on Arunachal Pradesh..,” he said while sharing his disturbing experience.
Mittal said that when he landed in China and reached the immigration officer, something popped up on the computer screen and the immigration officer called someone and took me to the detention area.
He said that he was given water after repeated requests for six hours. He also shared a video he secretly captured while in detention. When he asked for food and offered to pay, an officer refused.
Mittal said that he was targeted for making a video after an Arunachal Pradesh resident was detained in China.
Despite the ordeal, the travel vlogger clarified that he has no hate for anyone and even expressed regret for making the video on Arunachal Pradesh. “I am very small in front of this big power,” he added.
The incident came days after an Indian woman from the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh was allegedly harassed by Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong Airport for 18 hours.
Prema Wangjom Thongdok, who resides in the UK, alleged that immigration officials claimed she was “not Indian” because “Arunachal is part of China” and asked her to apply for a Chinese passport instead.
Following the incident, India issued a strong demarche to the Chinese side, both in Beijing and in New Delhi, over the alleged harassment of the Indian national from Arunachal Pradesh.
New Delhi also demanded assurance from Beijing that its citizens travelling to the country or transiting through its airports will not be harassed.
Later, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal advised Indian nationals to exercise due caution while traveling to China.