Jolt to Centre as Manipur tribal forum calls for boycott of border fence work

In a setback to Centre’s border fencing plans in Manipur, one of the largest tribal fora, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), has urged all STs, especially government employees and village chiefs, not to participate in any border fencing activity along the India-Myanmar border, which it said, would “divide their people on both sides”.

The tribal group had in January urged Home Minister Amit Shah to reverse the decision of scrapping the free-movement regime (FMR) across the India-Myanmar border. The Centre had taken the decision to maintain the country’s internal security and demographic structure of the northeastern states. The announcement was an attempt to avoid the spill-over effect of the ongoing Myanmar crisis on India.

“On the issue of border fencing along the India-Myanmar border, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) wrote to Home Minister Shri Amit Shah on January 24, 2024, requesting him to reverse the decision to scrap the FMR and to stop border fencing. The people of Mizoram and Nagaland have also voiced their opposition to border fencing, citing the importance of FMR in maintaining social, cultural, and economic ties between tribal communities who live on both sides of the border,” the tribal body said on Sunday.

It added: “The ITLF requests all tribals, especially village chiefs and government employees, not to participate in any border fencing activities that will split our people on either side of the border.”

The FMR had come into existence in 2018 as a part of India’s Act East policy. It allowed cross-border movement up to 16 km without a visa. The agreement was brought to facilitate local border trade, improve access to education and healthcare for border residents and strengthen diplomatic ties.

Under the agreement, individuals were also allowed to up to two weeks in the neighbouring country by getting a one-year border pass. India and Myanmar share a 1,643-km porous border which is shared by multiple northeastern states like Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

Manipur shares approximately 390 km of the porous border with Myanmar, with only about 10 km fenced as of now. Mizoram has a porous border spanning 510 km with Myanmar, Arunachal 520 km, whereas Nagaland’s border with the country spans 215 km.