Bhanu Tatak, foreign funds and Arunachal’s Siang dam row: What we know

Tensions in the border state of Arunachal Pradesh escalated into widespread violence late Friday night after anti-dam protests turned destructive in Pasighat, located in the East Siang district.

 

The unrest centers on the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, a strategically critical infrastructure effort designed directly to counter and neutralize China’s aggressive hydrological ambitions upstream. Given the strategic implications of the Siang project, concerns about possible Chinese exploitation of local discontent are understandable. Opposition to a dam that could strengthen India’s water security would plainly have strategic consequences for Beijing.

 

 

Key proxies and activists are rerouting the public narrative to instigate local communities against the dam's construction, hindering India's counter-response along the border. At the top of the list of key instigators, the name of self-proclaimed activist Bhanu Tatak has surfaced as a primary figure orchestrating opposition to the strategic project.

 

Before going further it should be noted that Bhanu is a member of the congress party. She has been at the forefront of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum (SIFF) and the anti-dam agitations targeting both the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project and the Dibang Hydroelectric Project.

 

In September 2026, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched inquiries targeting her over alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

 

 

As per the reports, Tatak received over ₹17.6 lakh to ₹20.94 lakh in foreign funds directly into her personal savings bank account between 2017–18 and 2025–26. According to official agency records, the funds originated from specific international organizations, including:

• AIPNEE (Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy) (Philippines)
• Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) (Philippines)
• Front Line Defenders (Ireland)
• Human Rights Resource Centre (UK)

It should be noted George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF) provides operational grants to Front Line Defenders to support human rights defenders globally. Even Human Rights Resource Centre regularly receives funding from Western philanthropic institutions, including the Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, and European governmental agencies, to monitor corporate impact on local and indigenous rights.

 

 

Central agencies contend that these unauthorized foreign contributions were funneled to organize, build narrative machinery, and sustain prolonged local opposition targeting two critical strategic infrastructure initiatives:

 

1. 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP): Designed to act as a hydrological shield to counter China's mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo / Siang River.
2. 2,880 MW Dibang Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project.

Connecting covert international funds to violent border agitations unveils a calculated grey-zone strategy. Are these local protests genuinely organic, or pre-engineered leverage for foreign powers?