IMPHAL, FEB 1: The All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) has requested Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday for the reversal of the decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and reinstate the same in Naga areas along the Indo-Myanmar border.
In a memorandum addressed to the Union home minister, which was submitted through the Manipur Governor, the Naga student body said that,acting as the voice of Naga students and youth in Manipur, “we respectfully request your kind consideration in reversing the decision made by the Indian government to revoke the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Indo-Myanmar border”.
It said that, historically, the Indo- Myanmar border is an imposed imaginary line drawn between the families, and community without the consent and knowledge of the affected tribal populace residing in the contested borderline. The ANSAM also said the Naga people living across the artificial borderline have been enduring injustice and facing untold hardship in terms of social, economic, political, etc. The reintroduction of FMR allowing the tribal living along the border to travel up to 16 km on either side of the country without a visa during 2018 under the Modi-led BJP regime was a welcoming step that has alleviated the hardship and enhanced the livelihood of the people residing along the borders, it added.
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The people at large were expecting the expansion of the FMR with the rise of India as the global leader. However, the Centre has taken a regressive step by scrapping the FMR under the pretext of illegal immigrants and insurgencies. The Indo-Myanmar border holds greater significance for the regional inhabitants than being merely a permeable or unfenced boundary. It symbolizes the interconnectedness of physical, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and fraternal ties. Those residing on both sides of the IMB share a profound emotional connection fostered by their common cultural affinity, ANSAM said.
Then central government can also deal with the issue of illegal immigrants by invoking various mechanisms like up dation of the National Registration of Citizen (NRC), constitution of Population Commission, strict implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP), etc, the students’ body pointed out.
“While we appreciate the initiative for restoration of peace over the persistent conflict in parts of Manipur between two the Meiteis and Chin-Kuki-Mizos-, the decision to end FMR and installation of fencing along 1,643 km by dragging along the other Northeastern states is not justifiable for containing the Manipur crisis,” ANSAM also said.
India is also one of the countries signatories and has ratified to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007 (UNDRP), wherein the Article 36 recognizes the rights of Indigenous peoples divide by international borders to maintain and develop contacts with their peoples across the border, particularly for spiritual, cultural and economic purposes, said the ANSAM.
“Moreover, the installation of fencing along the borders will also severely impact the pristine biodiversity and ecosystem. It will not only activate human crisis, but ecological crisis is also bound to erupt out of such exercise,” the Naga student body said. (NNN)
