Nagaland: RPP opposes plans to scrap FMR along India-Myanmar border

DIMAPUR: The Rising People’s Party (RPP) in Nagaland has opposed the plans of the Centre to end the free movement regime (FMR) that allows people residing on either side of the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km into each other’s territory without visa, terming it as alarming and a wake-up call for the Nagas.

Saying that the New Year has begun on an ominous note for the tribal states of Northeast and the Naga people, the RPP, in a statement, said apart from the proposed visa travel, the central government aims to construct high-security fencing along the border.

“The Nagas are already the most geographically divided people and this proposal will only heighten the divide amongst the Naga people,” the RPP noted.

The party stressed that any policy that aims to further divide the Nagas should be opposed tooth and nail.

It urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to uphold the age-old mechanism that allows people across borders to converge and live as honourable peoples, whether Nagas or Zo-Kuki.

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The party further said the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)-BJP coalition in the state should strongly oppose the proposed scrapping of the FMR.

“If necessary, all the 60 MLAs should meet either the Prime Minister or his home minister and convey the strong feelings of the Naga people that under no circumstances the construction of the fencing will be allowed,” it said.

The RPP pointed out that various forms of FMR have been in place since the creation of Nagaland state in 1963 respecting the needs and the sentiments of the Naga people living on both sides of the border. This needs to be respected and upheld, it stressed.

It said the “ineptitude” of Manipur chief minister Biren Singh and his “communal policies” cannot be the excuse for the central government to scrap the FMR.

Recalling that in 2017 the Burmese junta proposed to fence the international border near Pangsha under Noklak district in Nagaland, the RPP said the plan was subsequently dropped due to strong and spirited opposition by the people.