Manipur Naga body starts non-coop with govt to protest Myanmar border fencing
The move followed the breakdown of UNC-led talks with the central government in New Delhi on August 26 over the FMR and the fencing
The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex body of Naga tribes in Manipur, imposed what it called “a trade embargo” in their areas from Tuesday as the first step of non-cooperation with the government in protest against the India-Myanmar border fencing and the scrapping of the free movement regime (FMR) with the neighbouring country.
The move followed the breakdown of UNC-led talks with the central government in New Delhi on August 26 over the FMR and the fencing. In a statement, the UNC said the “trade embargo” is the beginning of their non-cooperation movement that will be relentlessly followed by many such actions until their grievances are addressed.
On February 6, it referred to the 1,643 km boundary between India and Myanmar as imaginary. “If and when this project is materialised, more than 1,000 km of Naga homeland, aligning the so-called three northeastern states of India...Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh will be physically bifurcated, cutting all ties without their own people in the east, the Nagas of Myanmar.”
The FMR was introduced in 1950 and restructured in 1968. It allowed cross-border movement without visas within a limit of 40 km. This was reduced to 16 km in 2004 and then to 10 km of the unfenced international border. In February 2024, the FMR was scrapped.
The government has maintained the abrogation of FMR, and border fencing was necessary to control illegal immigration, smuggling of drugs, and arms.
The UNC has accused the government of disregarding the land rights of the Nagas even as the fencing work was underway, including in Manipur’s Tengnoupal.
The Naga body said there is no land boundary between India and Myanmar within the Naga homeland. “Nagas will not accept any land alienation policy whatsoever.” It described the government’s actions as “inhuman” and “a declaration of war on the Naga people,” arguing that fencing and movement restrictions undermine cultural, ancestral, and community ties”.
The Naga body called for free, prior, and informed consent of the Naga people for any project affecting the Nagas and their land. “No imposition of movement restrictions along the so-called international Indo-Myanmar border. Stop detention, harassment, and surveillance activities along the imaginary border areas within the Naga homeland.”
The Naga body has sought abrogation of the border fencing project across the Naga areas. It asked the government to earnestly pursue the peace process with the Nagas and focus on early settlement. The UNC called the “trade embargo” a democratic and non-violent form of agitation.
