Border fencing threat to cultural rights: KIM, KCA
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, October 26 2024: Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) and the Kuki Chiefs Association have voiced strong opposition to the proposed fencing project along the Indo-Myanmar border, highlighting concerns that it would infringe on the cultural, traditional, and historical rights of tribal communities.

In a joint statement, the Kuki organisations urged the government to respect the historical significance of the Free Movement Regime, and to reconsider the fencing project.

They cautioned that any developments made against the will and sentiments of the Kuki people would be regarded as a threat to their culture and identity and would be met with an appropriate response.

They maintained that the project is the very antithesis of the Free Movement Regime, which facilitated long-standing socio-cultural, familial, and economic ties across the border, emphasising that any border security measures must be implemented only with full consultation and respect for indigenous rights and aspirations.

Relating that free cross-border movement has long allowed Kuki and other communities to maintain brotherly bonds with their kins across the border, the statement warned that the fencing would disrupt this lifeline and jeopardise traditional connections that are essential part of their way of life and identity.

According to the organisations, these ties have supported trade, cultural practices, and traditional gatherings that reinforce the community's shared heritage.

The proposed fencing project focuses on the border region within Manipur, which has beengripped by conflict for more than a year, though other border states like Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh share similar boundaries with Myanmar, contended the statement and urged the government to rather direct their attention towards resolving the ongoing conflict in the state.

The unique geographical and social conditions in the border region, where traditional lands and family networks straddle international boundaries, make a physical border unfeasible and disruptive, and fencing could fracture communities, isolate families, and threaten cultural continuity crucial to their identity, the statement warned.

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