NIPF, ZORO oppose scrapping of FMR
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, October 30 2024: Joining the chorus of discontent over scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR), Nagaland Indigenous Peoples Forum (NIPF) and Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO) have called for a more inclusive and rights-based approach to border management.

The organisations also cautioned that the Centre's persistent efforts to construct border fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border in Tengnoupal, Chandel and Churachandpur districts would further alienate and marginalise the indigenous Communities.

In a joint release, ZORO president R Sangkawia and NIPF president Dr T Lima Jamir stated that the persistence of the central government in pursuing the construction of border fencing in Manipur despite opposition from the indigenous communities highlighted the need for a more inclusive and rights-based approach to border management.

"By prioritising national security over human rights, the government risks further alienating and marginalising the very people it is meant to protect," the release noted, adding that despite opposition and protests leading to a halt in the construction, the government is now aggressively pushing for resumption of the construction, even employing central forces to enforce its decision.

The bodies further stressed that to achieve a sustainable and just solution, the central government must strike a balance between national security imperatives and respect for human rights.

Border management in Manipur and the NE region should not come at the cost of disenfranchising indigenous communities, as the same would only exacerbate tension and hinder peace and development in the region.

The construction of the border fence must cease immediately to safeguard the rights and well-being of the indigenous people, it demanded.

This disregard for the concerns of the indigenous communities underscores the insensitivity of the government towards the people it affects.

The construction of the border fence poses a severe threat to the cultural heritage and way of life of the indigenous people.

When the fence cuts through villages, it not only divides their homelands but also imposes restrictions on traditional practices and interactions with counterparts across the border, further eroding their cultural identity, it decried.

The tribal bodies emphasised that people across the Northeast region had high expectations when the Free Movement Regime (FMR) was formalised in 2018 as a part of the Act East Policy by the BJP government.

"So the abrupt decision to scrap the FMR by the same BJP government came as a shocker to all,'' it said and questioned the motive of the BJP government in acting against its own policy.

Alleging that keeping aside the national security concern of the central government the whole gamut seems an appeasement policy towards a particular community, the statement pointed out that the communal state government bowed to the central government's decision, fully aware that the indigenous tribal people would be the victims of the exercise.

The tribal bodies maintained that by disregarding the need for consultation with stakeholders and bypassing international conventions protecting indigenous rights, the central government is violating the fundamental rights of the indigenous communities living along the border.

India's commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) should compel it to uphold the rights of these marginalised communities, including the right to maintain relations across borders under Article 36 of UNDRIP, it asserted.

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