Ex-chief secretary urges PM for firm border policy
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, June 09 2023:
Retired chief secre-tary Oinam Nabakishore has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi drawing the latter's attention to the cur-rent situation in the state and urging for formulation of a robust border policy to address influx of illegal immigrants from across the border.
The retired IAS officer also provided an overview of the violence in the state and highlighted numerous sub-tribes under the term Kuki, all seeking separate recognition, due to their distinct customs, costumes, and languages, despite some shared affinity.
Nabakishore also re-ferred to the porous border between Myanmar's Chin State and Mizoram and Ma-nipur, which is facilitating unrestrained entry of illegal Chin immigrants into Mani-pur and Mizoram in recent years.
The military coup in Myanmar in February 2021 led to a significant increase in their influx.
The Chin National Front and Chin National Army, engaged in insurgency against the Myanmarese government for greater autonomy, faced crackdown by the military junta, which further esca-lated migration to Manipur and Mizoram.
Unfortunately, due to the absence of a clear poli-cy from the Government of India regarding these immi-grants, the state government has struggled to effective-ly manage their entry and identification.
As a result, these illegal immigrants have effortlessly integrated with the local Kuki population, possibly with the support of political leaders and drug traffickers.
There are also allegations regarding involvement of armed Chin militants in the present ethnic dashes in Ma-nipur.
The clashes are be-lieved to stem from perceived threats to the Chin militants' interests, such as the eviction of new Kuki settlements in reserved forests, large-scale destruction of poppy plants, and the state government's arrest of drug traffickers.
The extensive destruction of poppy plants in Kuki ar-eas and the high number of Kuki individuals involved in drug trafficking indicate a concerning nexus between the Kukis, Chins, and drug lords, the letter elaborated.
Expressing concern, the retired chief secretary pointed out that the Prime Minister appears to either be unaware of the border terrorism inflicted by the Chins from Myanmar on the people of Manipur or lacks information about the situ-ation along the border.
Na-bakishore stressed the urgent need for the Government ol India to recognise and ad-dress these glaring problems by formulating appropriate foreign policies.
Failure to address the ethnic clashes and the subsequent loss ol lives and properties could result in recurring conflicts.
Additionally, reports suggest that the local population in Mizoram is also against the influx of Chin people due to potential resource compe-tition, he added.
Nabakishore concluded the letter by urging the Prime Minister to gather indepen-dent information about the social, economic, and po-litical impact of the influx of illegal Immigrants from Myanmar in Manipur and Mizoram.
He called for an appropriate policy response to resolve the crisis and en-sure the well-being of the affected regions.