Panjim: “I am disgusted with their behaviour, but I’m not entirely surprised,” journalist Tongam Rina told The Wire, reacting to the police move to seek a search warrant against her in connection with the October 23 violence in Pasighat during protests against the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).Fourteen years ago, Rina survived a shooting outside the office of The Arunachal Times when unidentified gunmen shot her in the stomach on July 15, 2012. Now, Rina finds herself facing a different kind of threat to her professional independence, raising fresh concerns about the pressures faced by journalists reporting on contentious public issues.Rina also told The Wire that she received a call from Pasighat police station this morning (October 30), informing her that a “rectification” will be made. However, she said she had not yet received any written communication explaining what the rectification was about.The police action has drawn strong condemnation from the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) and the Arunachal Press Club (APC), which published a joint statement on October 29 questioning Rina’s inclusion in the proceedings and warned against the “possible misuse of investigative powers to intimidate journalists.”The organisations have demanded an immediate explanation from the Arunachal Pradesh Police and the state government, including the specific grounds for including Rina’s name in the application.Police disclose no specific evidence against RinaDocuments accessed by The Wire show that Kodak Daguim, the investigating officer at Pasighat Police Station, submitted an application seeking search warrants to the chief judicial magistrate of East Siang district on October 27. Filed under Section 96 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, the application names four individuals: Rina, advocate Sunny Tayeng, Tajong Talom and Otul Tatul Jerang. As per this report by The Arunachal Times, Talom and Jerang are local youth leaders and are currently in police custody. On October 23, clashes broke out between security forces and protestors agitating against the proposed mega-dam project.“The arrests follow a sudden, chaotic eruption of mob violence, stone-pelting, arson, and widespread vandalism that shook the township from Friday night to Saturday [October 23-24]. During the unrest, angry crowd elements set fire to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) office, torched multiple police vehicles, and damaged the Pasighat police station premises. The violence also spread to political quarters, resulting in the ransacking of the private residences of state BJP president Kaling Moyong, Pasighat West MLA Ninong Ering, and Mariyang-Geku MLA Oni Panyang,” The Arunachal Times reported (October 25). As per this report, the detained leaders have long advocated for indigenous rights and environmental protection and had already dissociated themselves from the destructive acts. They maintained that their democratic movement was intended to remain entirely non-violent, expressing distress over how a peaceful public shutdown spiralled out of control.According to the report, anti-dam activist Ebo Mili said in a public statement shared on social media that the demonstration had been peaceful until police used stun grenades and tear gas against the crowd, triggering panic and chaos.Also read: Special | ‘Let Ane Siang Flow’: Why the BJP Govt Faces Anger in Arunachal PradeshIn the application, the police refer to Rina and the other three individuals as “accused persons”. They stated that several people were detained and that the investigation is ongoing. The police mentioned that searches were necessary to establish the individual roles of the accused, ascertain their alleged involvement in the offences and collect relevant material evidence.However, the application does not specify any evidence linking Rina or the other three individuals to the alleged offences. Instead, the police state that they “reasonably suspected” that material connected to the incident may be found at the premises identified for searches.“It is reasonably suspected on the basis of the facts and material collected during the investigation that certain articles and material connected with the commission of the alleged offences including clothing worn during the incident, mobile phones and digital devices containing relevant photographs or video recordings and other case-related articles may be found at the residences or premises…” the application states.The court has not yet issued an order granting the search warrants.‘I have seen enough intimidation in my life’Speaking about the search-warrant application, Rina told The Wire that the police action would not deter her from her journalism or activism and that she saw enough intimidation in her life.Her message was defiant rather than conciliatory.“I’m so used to these kinds of threats. But they will not get away with it because it is not only me. If reporting is a crime, if activism is a crime, then those people who inflict violence using state machinery, who are they?” she questioned.According to Rina, the events in Pasighat could have been avoided had senior police officials and the government handled the situation differently. She questioned why the police had sought a search warrant against her and Tayeng without first speaking to them. She also alleged illegal surveillance.“There has been so much militarisation and violence inflicted on the people that we cannot remain silent or stop reporting on it,” Rina told The Wire. Tayeng, who is also named in the search warrant, represents Mili, Jerang and Talom, along with others. She expressed concern that the proceedings would burden the lawyer and divert her attention from her legal practice.Jerang, Talom, and Mili were arrested in connection with the violence and are in police custody.Rina said the police action against her and Tayeng should not shift focus from the people opposing the project and the activists who have been jailed. She urged the state government to pay attention to the concerns being raised by residents of the Siang Valley rather than respond to their protests with coercive action.“These people who are in jail are activists who are in jail. The Adi mothers and Adi fathers who are out in the streets protesting against the oppression of the state, they’re all doing their work. The state should now listen and just go back,” she said.Reacting to the police action, Nandini Velho, a wildlife biologist who has worked in Arunachal Pradesh for over a decade and has known Rina through her reporting on environmental issues and visits to the field, expressed concern about the treatment of journalists and other citizens who question those in power.“For decades, Tongam Rina has quietly epitomised the courageous journalist, writing untiringly about governance through exceptionally difficult times. She has done so within a system that offers very little protection to frontline warriors and journalists like her,” Velho told The Wire. “Anyone who cares about human-centric governance must speak out about the way she and other citizens are being targeted: governments must do better in responding to their own citizens,” she added.A journalist who survived a near-fatal shootingFor Rina, the police action comes years after an attack that nearly cost her life.On July 15, 2012, unidentified gunmen shot Rina from behind outside The Arunachal Times office in Itanagar. The bullet struck her stomach, damaging her intestines and injuring her spine. She underwent surgery and a long recovery.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a statement issued the following day, called for an immediate investigation and urged the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.According to this report, at the time, Rina was an investigative political reporter whose work covered corruption, governance and environmental issues. CPJ noted that she had written critically about a project to build 150 dams in local rivers that environmentalists believe threatened the state’s forests, although the motive for the shooting was not immediately established.The investigation into that attack also raised troubling questions. In a September 2012 report, CPJ said the police inquiry had failed to make headway. Rina herself told the organisation that she found it difficult to identify a single issue that might have triggered the attack because of the range of subjects she covered.Fourteen years on, the unidentified gunmen who shot Rina have still not been arrested.‘Journalism is not a crime, reporting on protests is not an offence’In their joint statement published on Thursday (October 29), APUWJ and APC unequivocally condemned the violence, arson and destruction of property in Pasighat but the organisations drew a firm line between investigating violence and intimidating journalists.“… journalism is not a crime, reporting on protests is not an offence, and questioning those in power is not an act of criminality,” the statement said.The organisations demanded that the police and state government disclose the grounds for Rina’s inclusion in the warrant application, urgently review the matter and take corrective action if her inclusion is found unjustified.Their concern is not that journalists should be above the law, but that police actions must not be used to target legitimate reporting or discourage scrutiny of contentious public issues.“A journalist carrying a camera, notebook or microphone is not a criminal. Reporting from a protest site cannot be equated with participating in violence,” the statement added. They warned that press freedom must not be sacrificed for administrative ease or political reasons and treating journalism as a criminal act could set a dangerous precedent and discourage independent reporting. The statement also asserted that they would oppose any intimidation, harassment or unwarranted legal action against journalists carrying out their professional duties.India’s press freedom on trialThe police action against Rina comes weeks after at least 43 journalists were detained while covering Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune on October 10 and 11, according to CPJ. Some journalists were dragged by their clothes and shoved into police buses despite displaying their press cards, while at least five were reportedly assaulted. Police also seized journalists’ phones and allegedly pressured at least one reporter to delete footage.In a previous report by The Wire, India ranked 157th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders on April 30, down six places from its 151st position in 2025.In its assessment, the press freedom watchdog attributed the crisis in India to rising violence against journalists. It also pointed to the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power since 2014.“With a rise in violence against journalists, highly concentrated media ownership, and outlets with increasingly overt political alignment, press freedom is in crisis in ‘the world’s largest democracy,’ ruled since 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and embodiment of the Hindu nationalist right,” RSF said.