FMR abrogation: WC-NNPGs asks Centre to abide by essence of Agreed Position

DIMAPUR — The Working Committee (WC), Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) has asked the Centre to abide by the essence of the Agreed Position signed between the two parties, specifically on the issue of Free Movement Regime (FMR).

In a press statement issued on Saturday, the committee noted that the government of India has recently floated the proposal of fencing the Indo-Myanmar border. “Out of the total length of 1643 km, bordering the NE states, the present Nagaland state shares 215 km international boundary with Myanmar.

“The contents of the Status Paper cannot be edited unilaterally either by GoI or WC, NNPGs. There is a clear agreed point in the Status Paper that with the amendment of Indian Passport Act, Naga identity would be clearly reflected. The FMR for indigenous Nagas on both sides of the international border shall be extended up to 35 miles. This is a clear agreed point,” the statement read.

Using the oft-cited case of the Angh of Longwa village in Mon district—whose house falls on both sides of the Indo-Myanmar divide—the committee stated that it was an explicit example of historical injustice done to the Naga people.

Fencing the border will mean forcing indigenous Nagas off their ancestral lands and depriving them of their right to livelihood, it stated. “If GoI forcibly erect border fencing, it would contravene the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the General Assembly on 13th September 2007.

“GoI should not, for trouble in other border areas, punish Indigenous Nagas spread across India and Myanmar. Extending the distance for operating Free Movement Regime (FMR) for Nagas is the fundamental demand and right. WC, NNPGs will insist and hold onto the principles of Agreed Position and the status paper. FMR is the lifeline for thousands of Nagas,” read the statement.

The WC-NNPGs warned that past arbitrary political decisions on the Naga people's future taken by New Delhi had “angered the Nagas and bled India”.

“An inalienable part of Naga history, culture and tradition dwells in Naga land under Myanmar. Erecting boundary wall in the middle of our ancestral land will have serious ramifications. WC, NNPGs call upon the GoI to announce early political solution and nothing else.

The Agreed Position is neither a vague signed paper nor a shallow gentlemen's agreement. It is a fully conscious, irrevocable and unprecedented historic political document based on which the GoI and WC, NNPGs, with complete endorsement of Naga tribes, village headmen and civil societies, agreed to sit on the negotiating table from 17th November 2017,” it added.

The committee further stated that talks officially concluded on October 31, 2019. “Therefore, the political leadership of India cannot shrug it off or consign it to political cold storage. The Agreed Position encapsulates the sowing and germination of the first seed of Naga nationhood and the possible political future of the Nagas,” it asserted.