NSCN (IM) opposes India-Myanmar border fencing, warning it will divide Naga homeland and weaken traditional cross-border ties
DIMAPUR — The NSCN (IM) has reiterated its opposition to the proposed fencing along the India-Myanmar border, asserting that Nagas will resist any move to physically divide their homeland and restrict traditional movement across communities.
In a notification issued on Sunday, the outfit described the scrapping of Free Movement Regime (FMR) on security grounds as “anti-Naga”, arguing that it would undermine cultural ties and Naga brotherhood across the border.
It stated that Nagas on both sides of the border had maintained close ties with neighbouring villages long before the present boundary was drawn.
The NSCN (IM) maintained that Nagas were “not illegal immigrants in their own land” and said it had no objection to fencing elsewhere to address illegal immigration, but would not accept fencing through what it described as Naga homeland.
“Nagas will never permit the proposed so-called border fencing through the Naga homeland to further alienate the Naga brotherhood,” it stated, adding that “Nagas are one wherever they are”.
The outfit also opposed the reported offer of land compensation to villagers affected by the fencing, describing it as an attempt by the government of India to entice landowners into accepting the project.
It called upon village chiefs and landowners to remain vigilant and not accept what it termed a “derogatory approach” by the government of India, asserting that customary rights over land and resources could not be exchanged for compensation.
The NSCN (IM) further urged the present generation of Nagas to stand firm in defence of the rights of future generations, invoking the example of their forefathers who, it said, had stood their ground to protect Naga interests.