KOHIMA, Feb 3 : People from three villages of Mon district in Nagaland on Monday staged a rally to protest the Centre’s decision to fence the border with Myanmar and scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR).
These villages belong to the Konyak Naga tribes and dressed in the traditional attires the protesters shouted slogans and held placards demanding revocation of the decision to scrap the FMR.
The central government in January last year announced that the FMR, which allows people residing close to the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km into each other’s territory without visa, will be ended soon.
The 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, currently has FMR. It was implemented in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy.
People of three villages – Longwa, Chenloisho and Tobu – located along the Nagaland-Myanmar border took part in the protest rally.
Demanding preservation of Konyak traditional rights, the protestors displayed placards that read “Recognise our ancestral land, not imaginary boundary”, “No to artificial boundary, yes to traditional boundary”, “Respect Konyak Territorial Integrity” and “Stop Indo-Myanmar Border Fencing and restore FMR”.
“Our separation by the erection of a border fence is something we never thought of, and under any circumstances, we will not accept the idea,” said Tonyei Phawang, the Chief Angh (King) of Longwa village.
Phawang also contended that if the central government proceeds with its plan, the occupants living near the border will be affected in various ways, since the people of Longwa village are scattered on both sides.
The Nagaland government recently sought review of the Centre’s decision to allow FMR. However, the state is yet to receive any official response from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) or the Centre on the plea.
During the public rally held Monday, people in Longwa marched from LSU Park to Chief Angh’s residence. (PTI )
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