Fear of losing kin, cultural ties fuel local opposition to fencing Myanmar border
India and Myanmar share a 1643-km long border in four states of northeast-Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
A year after the Centre's announcement to fence the international border with Myanmar and end the free movement regime (FMR), opposition from the local population, particularly those in the border areas, continues to grow. The proposed security fence along the Indo-Myanmar border looms as a threat to divide age-old ties between communities, which share cultural, ethnic and historical ties across the two neighbouring countries.
India and Myanmar share a 1643-km long border in four states of northeast-Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The FMR, which was put in place in June 1968 allowed people living in the border areas to travel up to 40 km inside the other country without obtaining any visa. In July 2010, the distance was reduced to 16 km.
In January last year, Union home minister Amit Shah said during a visit to Meghalaya and Assam that the country’s border with Myanmar would be fenced and the existing FMR between the two countries scrapped.
Nagaland
On February 3, a public rally was held in Longwa, a village straddling the Indo-Myanmar border in Nagaland's Mon district, against the Centre’s decision to scrap the FMR and fence the border.
Terming the decision as a move that would “divide our people whereby disturbing peace and order and hampering our traditional integrity and rights,” the Longwa Students' Union called for the participation of all adult members of the village at the rally to register their resentment of the Centre's resolve.
The people in the border areas own land on both sides of the border, transcending the demarcated line on the map, living and cultivating on either side, long before the modern states of India and Myanmar were established.
Remarkably, a physical border fence would cleave the house of the Angh (chief) of Longwa in two, with one side in India and the other in Myanmar as the boundary line goes right through the Angh's house. Many other houses in the village lie on the other side of the border as well. “In such a scenario (fencing the border), where will Longwa be -- in India or Myanmar? Why should one require a pass/permit to go to one's ancestral jhum field,” questioned Honang Konyak, a leader of the local community.
Local communities were not consulted when the imaginary boundary between India and Myanmar was drawn in 1972. The Indo-Myanmar border runs through Nagaland's Mon, Noklak, Kiphire and Meluri districts.
The Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) which represents seven Naga tribes including those that are from Mon, Noklak and Kiphire, is of the view that both India and Myanmar governments must uphold the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as both are signatories of the same.
Honang Konyak, ENPO general secretary, said New Delhi must start thinking diplomatically, ensuring the historical and political legitimacy of the people. Criticising the decision to physically fence the imaginary line, he maintained that, unlike other border areas, the question of illegal immigration is out of context especially in the Konyak region since every Konyak has their own well-defined ancestral land, be it in Myanmar or India. He said that the Nagaland state government must declare its "utmost resistance" like what its counterpart in Mizoram had done. "The state government must not play a safe game as it had been in the past," Konyak stated.
"As ENPO, we pray and appeal to all concerned to avoid any form or force violence and bloodshed in the region in the course of such pursuits. This appeal should be cautiously understood and perceived by all meticulously," he said while adding that there can be a better option than enforcing "forced border fencing" and curbing the FMR if the Centre is sincere and mature enough.
For P Shingnya, president of the Pangsha Public Organisation in Noklak district, his community has a resolution not to construct gates, let alone fences.
“You see, as it is, my tribe- Khiamniungan people are spread across both India and Myanmar. My community has more than a hundred villages in Myanmar and about 50 here on the Indian side. We have been divided without our knowledge and consent. How can we allow fencing that would divide us further?” Shingnya asked. “Nagas are one people and we want to live together. We have been separated by force once; we don't want to be separated further. We, the Pangsha public absolutely support the Longwa rally,” he said.
As per government officials, physical work on constructing the border fence is yet to begin in Nagaland. Although orders from the Centre are expected, no timeline has been drawn up yet, people aware of the matter said.
The Nagaland Assembly in March 2024 adopted a resolution urging the Centre to reconsider its decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and scrap the FMR with the neighbouring country, stating that suspension of FMR and fencing the Indo-Myanmar boundary would disrupt the age-old historical, social, tribal, and economic ties of the Naga people living on both sides of the international border. Various Naga organisations including the Global Naga Forum, Naga Students' Federation, Naga Hoho and the NSCN-IM have opposed the move to fence the border. In neighbouring Manipur too, Naga bodies and their subordinate organisations are opposing the development due to fears of losing contact with their kin.
Manipur
According to the home ministry’s annual report for 2023-2024, “the construction of fencing for a border length of 9.214 km at Moreh, awarded to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), has been completed, and work on the road along the fence is in progress.”
Manipur shares an international border with Myanmar that spans 388 km. The porous nature of this border, coupled with the incomplete fencing work, has made it a hotspot for smuggling, illegal activities, and the influx of illegal immigrants. During a public interaction programme held in Kumbi, Bishnupur district, Manipur on Saturday, chief minister N. Biren Singh reiterated the state government’s commitment to fencing the borders and identifying illegal immigrants. “The government will continue its activities until these problems are resolved,” he said.
Amid these developments, the United Naga Council (UNC), a Naga apex body, has cautioned against the continuation of the border fencing work, especially in Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur. In its statement issued on January 27, the Naga body declared that “no activities related to the purported construction of border fencing along the imaginary artificial Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB) will be allowed in the Naga ancestral homeland.”
Kohring Victor, a leader of the Naga body, said there could be several reasons for constructing the border fence, but for the Nagas, inhabiting the border areas since their forefathers’ time, it would mean losing their kin. “The border fencing is going to demarcate families, as the fencing will fall between the villages of mother and son, grandparents and grandchildren, affecting emotional bonds for those inhabiting the area.”
“Both the central and state governments might be undertaking this development under a good policy, which could be acceptable, but demarcating among families will not be accepted,” said Kohring.
The UNC has already issued directives to all its units and subordinates in the impacted areas to take stringent steps to prevent the said activities in their respective jurisdictions. “Intensified forms of various agitations will be launched if the construction work is carried out forcibly,” Kohring said.
Meanwhile, officials confirmed that construction work is ongoing along the stretch between international border pillars 81 and 84 in the Tengnoupal district, under the security of the Assam Rifles.
Mizoram
In February last year, the Mizoram assembly unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the Centre’s decision on scrapping FMR and fencing the border with Myanmar. Several community groups in the state have opposed the Centre’s move to fence the Myanmar border; the state shares a 510-km boundary with the neighbouring nation. Six districts of the state-Champhai, Siaha, Lanwgtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual and Sherchhip share the border with the Chin state of Myanmar.
The Mizos too have long-standing ethnic, social and cultural ties with most residents of Chin, whom they consider as their brethren. Since the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, several thousand refugees, most residents of Chin, have taken shelter in the Indian state. At present, there are over 33,000 Myanmar refugees in Mizoram spread across all districts.
On January 29, the Zo Reunification Organisation (ZoRO), an Aizawl-based group that seeks the reunification of Chin, Kuki, Zo and Mizo tribes residing in India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, held a rally in Mizoram’s capital and several other places in the state against twin moves.
“Mizos residing on both sides of the border are deeply affected by the decision to scrap FMR and fence the border with Myanmar. All civil society organisations and political parties in Mizoram have expressed opposition to the move and don’t want it to be implemented,” ZoRO general secretary L Ramdinliana Renthlei told reporters in Aizawl, adding that the move will lead to instability in the region.
Two days before the ZoRO rally, Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the biggest and most influential student organisation in Mizoram, submitted a memorandum to Shah through Governor VK Singh expressing their strong opposition to the move to scrap FMR and fence the border. The MZP said that the border between India and present Myanmar was demarcated arbitrarily by the British and it led to divisions among the Mizo people on both sides and affected their unity. The FMR recognised the interconnectedness between the people on both sides and allowed cross-border relations to continue.
The student group mentioned how scrapping the FMR and fencing the border will violate Article 36 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), 2007, which affirms the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and develop cross-border relationships for cultural, economic, social, spiritual and political purposes.