IMPHAL: The Naga People’s Front (NPF) 43-Phungyar AC Unit staged a democratic protest on Sunday against the planned fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border and the termination of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) in Naga ancestral territory by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
The protest, held at Kamjong public ground, opposed the decisions of the BJP-led government to fence the border and end the decades-old FMR without consulting the Nagas.
A statement was issued by the unit calling the move “divisive” and compared the proposed barbed-wire fence to a “Berlin Wall” that would sever cultural, economic, and social ties between Naga communities on both sides of the border.
The NPF, a coalition partner in the Manipur government led by N. Biren Singh and part of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, expressed strong opposition to the Centre’s decision. The protesters argued that fencing the border would cause damage to the blood ties shared by Nagas across India and Myanmar, a division that dates back to the colonial era.
The unit also accused the Centre of intensifying long-held grievances among the Naga people by ignoring their concerns in the name of national security.
Requesting for unity to protect the cultural and historical identity of the Naga people, the protest called on citizens across the region to support the movement against the decisions.
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