Another case of bad inheritance due to the manner in which the present state of Nagaland was formed and the years that followed post-statehood will be the present issue of border fencing between India and Myanmar in the Noklak area of Nagaland. Whether it was the security concerns of India post-Chinese aggression, but India never looked beyond the Saramati ranges neglecting the fact that it is a contiguous area of Naga tribes and the feeling of kinship was prevalent and quite strong. It is also not certain, whether the lawmakers in the state were not in a position to question, or whether they were too engrossed in building the militancy ridden state with still had a strong wave of Naga nationalism in existence, or whether the then Naga lawmakers were not equipped to understand the issue. So when Nagaland was still under the ministry of External Affairs, the present imaginary International boundary line was drawn and accepted by both the countries and formalised in 1972. Nagaland has since then come under the ministry of Home Affairs.
The border fencing that is being constructed at present will ultimately physically divide the people of the two nations of India and Myanmar and along with it the communities living in the border will also be divided. Of all the tribes in Nagaland, the Khiamniungans are the worst affected by the International boundary that divided the tribe. It is reported that there are more Khiamniungan villages in Myanmar than in India. The case is not isolated to Nagaland alone and similarly cases have been reported from Mizoram, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. However the division of the Nagas between India and Myanmar in present state of Nagaland and in Manipur will be more significant since the Nagas are the most vocal in the International arena alleging that India and Myanmar arbitrarily, without consultation, divided their people between the two countries. Likewise, the case of the boundary line that divides the house of the Angh of Longwa village in Mon has now attained its own legendary status in the media.
With the ongoing peace talks between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India for a final settlement to the protracted Indo-Naga issue the border fencing against the wish of the people may not auger well among the masses. In spite of the efforts of the Government of India and its agencies along with the Indian Armed Forces posted in the region to display the best of the region especially in the case of the Nagas in its Public Relations exercise across the world, the start of border fencing between India and Myanmar might just be the beginning of the undoing of what was achieved all these years. It will surely send out a message to those armed groups operating from Myanmar especially the NSCN(K) however antagonising the people is more costly for the government agencies as history has shown in the region.
