Jaipur: With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Arunachal Pradesh facing massive protests against the proposed mega-dam project over the Siang river, chief minister Pema Khandu’s efforts to defuse the situation have not met with success. The Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF), the outfit spearheading these protests, on Friday (November 6), rejected his appeal to hold talks with the government.The anti-dam activists activists have pointed out that the arrests and detentions of anti-dam protesters by the state government do not make an environment conducive for talks.“We have rejected the government’s offer to hold talks. Day by day, more people protesting against the proposed dam are being arrested. We want to talk but how can we talk in such a situation. For that, there has to be a conducive situation,” SIFF spokesperson Tagori Mize told The Wire on Friday.Mize added that several anti-dam protesters continue to be lodged in jail.“There can be no talks until the arrests continue. We demand that all of those who have been arrested be released unconditionally and that the FIRs are withdrawn. The deployment of central security forces against protesters must also end before any talks can happen,” said Mize.As reported earlier by The Wire, the BJP government in Arunachal Pradesh has arrested and detained several anti-dam activists, leading to criticism from the opposition Congress, rights group and the public, who recently held a massive protest in state capital Itanagar.CM Khandu’s appeal to the Adi communityOn November 2, in a two-page letter addressed to “beloved Adi brothers and sisters” chief minister Khandu had appealed to the Adi community which is at the forefront of the opposition against the construction of the dam under the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).“I again appeal to all residents of Siang and Upper Siang Districts and all members of the Adi community to engage in free and frank discussions regarding the Siang UMP. All public representatives, government officers and I are willing to discuss all issues regarding the project with each and every one of you. Let us find the truth together and decide together, for Aane Siang, for our land and for our future generations,” CM Khandu had said in his letter.The chief minister said in his letter that the preparation of a pre-feasibility report (PFR) for the project is essential now because China has already begun construction of a dam in Medog County, around 40 km from the border, on the Yarlung Tsangpo river on July 19, 2025, without consulting India or sharing any information. Khandu said:“Our valley faces real water risks, from sudden and exceptionally high flows arriving with little warning to water scarcity in the dry winter months, especially since around 65 per cent of the Aane Siang comes from China. We cannot control what happens upstream, but we can control what we do on our side. We must prepare and build resilience. The Siang UMP therefore could be one of the options which should be scientifically and technically explored to develop feasible options to maintain ecological flow in the Siang River and the Brahmaputra.”‘There is no security issue’Reacting to CM Khandu’s letter, anti-dam activist Katon Moyong on Thursday (November 5), held a press conference at the Arunachal Press Club and dismissed the BJP government’s claim that the construction of the dam is necessary for “national security”, reported The Arunachal Times.“It’s a false narrative. There is no security issue in Arunachal Pradesh or the Abor valley. We have been protecting this frontier for thousands of years, before there was India, before there was China,” said Moyong.Moyong, who is an engineer-turned-activist from the Adi community, was recently detained by Delhi Police during protests against the proposed project.“Siang dam is not a new issue. It is a forty-seven-year-old fight of the Abor and Adi people against these corporates, capitalists and political parties who have the agenda of taking over the lands of indigenous people,” said Moyong on Thursday (November 5).During the press conference, Moyong spoke about previous instances wherein the local indigenous communities successfully resisted the efforts to build a land over the river, which they refer to as Ane Siang (mother Siang) and rejected the government’s invitation to join talks.In recent times, the BJP government in Arunachal Pradesh has been vocal in its defence of the proposed dam by citing national security but its approach towards the issue has been questioned by its own leaders and former allies.Recently, when Arunachal Pradesh home minister Mama Natung, while speaking at the Rajiv Gandhi University near Itanagar described the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) as an outfit that is diverting the mind of the youth and is part of a foreign conspiracy to “destroy the country”, students expressed strong disapproval and started chanting slogans in support of the CJP.