Tear Gas, Not Chinese Intrusion: Arunachal Woman’s Video Taken Out of Context

A viral video of an Arunachal Pradesh woman questioning police action against anti-dam protesters has been misleadingly portrayed as an appeal against Chinese intrusion. OBC’s fact-check reveals what the video actually shows.

On 22 October 2026, while addressing personnel at the ITBP Central Training College in Alwar, Rajasthan, ITBP DG Shatrujeet Singh Kapur publicly confirmed the ongoing face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops at multiple locations along the Arunachal Pradesh border. This has brought the India–China border crisis into the public spotlight.

Against this backdrop, a recent video featuring a young woman from Arunachal Pradesh, who claims that people there are urging the Union government to take action against Chinese intrusion, has gained traction.

However, our analysis found that the footage had been clipped and that the accompanying caption was misleading.

 THE VIRAL CLAIM

On 24 October 2026, the Instagram account @thecitigenz.in posted a video with the caption “Protect Arunachal or Resign: Citizen to Modi”, presenting the woman’s remarks as an appeal against Chinese intrusion into Arunachal Pradesh.

The post was published on 24 October. As of 26 October, the video accumulated approximately 1.1 million views, 105,600 likes, 2,200 comments and 12,700 shares. Many of the top comments also urged the Union government to take action against the alleged Chinese intrusion.  The account, which had 1,393 followers and joined Instagram in July 2026, had therefore circulated the claim to an audience far beyond its follower count.

This video, accompanied by similar captions, also gained traction on other social media platforms.

HOW DID WE VERIFY?

We analysed the viral video using reverse image searches, frame-by-frame translation, and cross-checks against credible news reports. We tra ced the original video to the Instagram account of Aiko Maam Mibang, a journalist from Arunachal Pradesh, who posts under the handle @aikomaammibang. The 1-minute-and-59-second video on her account was the earliest footage we could identify in our search.

Times Now also published a shorter clip of the video on YouTube with the caption, ‘Can’t Breathe’: Arunachal Erupts | Tear Gas, Building Torched, Anti-Dam Fury Turns Violent’.

WHAT DOES  AIKO MAAM MIBANG ACTUALLY SAY?

According to ThePrint news report on 27 Oct, the proposal for the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) began in 2008 and gained momentum during a 2017 NITI Aayog meeting with the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister. Since its proposal, however, the project has faced strong local resistance, mainly from the Adi and Galo communities, owing to fears of displacement, the loss of ancestral lands and ecological risks.

Protests escalated in August 2026, culminating in severe clashes in the latter half of October. According to an NDTV report published on 24 October, Siang SP Kamdam Sikom said that police had used tear gas to control the situation after protesters pelted them with stones.

In this context, a direct translation of Aiko Maam Mibang’s remarks shows that she was speaking about the effects of tear gas on protesters and civilians. She describes breathing difficulties and eye irritation, and questions who would be held responsible if someone were injured.

According to a report published by  The Arunachal Times on 24 October, several people were injured after police used tear gas against anti-dam protesters.

Therefore, OBC’s analysis confirms that a video showing Aiko Ma’am questioning the use of tear gas by the police on young protesters during the demonstrations against SUMP was widely shared out of context and falsely linked to claims of Chinese incursion in Arunachal Pradesh.