Mizoram: YMA opposes Indo-Myanmar Border fencing

Aizawl: The central committee of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) or Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), the largest civil society organisation in Mizoram said that it opposed any move to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and scrap the existing Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the international border by the Centre.

The organisation also urged the Centre to reconsider its decision to scrap the FMR and erect fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border.

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A statement issued by the CYMA said that the meeting of the executive committee of the organisation held on Monday thoroughly discussed the plan to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and end the FMR.

The meeting observed that the FMR, which was introduced in 1968, that allows people living on both sides of the international border to travel within 16 km into each other’s territory without a visa, plays a crucial role in maintaining the ethnic and cultural ties of ethnic Mizo tribes living on either side of the border, the statement said. 

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"Since the Free Movement Regime has been instrumental in recognising and strengthening the brotherhood and integrity of the Mizo people, the proposed abolition of the FMR and the implementation of border fencing would have a detrimental effect on these vital ethnic and cultural connections," the statement said.

"So, we firmly believe that the scrapping of the FMR and the erection of border fencing would disrupt the harmonious coexistence and cultural exchange that has been integral to the lives of the Mizo people," the CYMA also said in the statement. 

The organisation urged the Centre to revise its decision to ensure that the FMR is not scrapped and border fencing is not erected along the Indo-Myanmar border. 

It also said that it stood in solidarity with the Mizoram government in opposing the move to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and scrap the FMR.

India shares a 1,643 km-long border with Myanmar, which passes through the states of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km), and Mizoram (510 km).

People on either side of the border have familial and ethnic ties, which prompted the FMR arrangement in the 1970s. It was last revised in 2016.

Mizoram chief minister Lalduhoma had told reporters last week that he informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during his recent meetings with the two leaders in Delhi that the present Mizoram-Myanmar border was created by the colonial British government without consulting the Mizo people on both sides. 

The Mizo people believe the Indo-Myanmar border as imposed by the British on the two sides and any move to fence the Indo-Myanmar border was "unacceptable" for the Mizos, he had said.

He had also said that the British divided the Mizo lands into two parts and fencing of the present Indo-Myanmar will amount to acceptance of the demarcation made by the British.

The chief minister had also expressed hope that the Centre may not go ahead with its plan to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and end the FMR. 

On January 2, an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the Centre was planning to fence a 300 km border with Myanmar and scrap the FMR. 

The official had also said that a tender will be issued in the next few days and a survey of the border areas with the help of drones has been completed.

The Centre's move came following complaints submitted by the Manipur government and other organisations. 

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said in September last year that he had urged the MHA to cancel the FMR along the India-Myanmar border and complete its fencing.

He attributed the ongoing ethnic violence in the state to the FMR and said that fencing of the border is required as miscreants based in Myanmar were involved in the violence as well as cross-border crime.