Over 10K rally in Ukhrul against scrapping of FMR, border fencing
Source: Chronicle News Service / R Lester Makang

Ukhrul, April 02 2025: Over 10,000 people marched through Ukhrul town's thoroughfares on Wednesday to denounce the scrapping of Free Movement Regime (FMR) and the subsequent border fencing exercise in Naga inhabited areas along the international Indo-Myanmar border.

At 10:30 am on Wednesday, rallyists including women, youth and students clad in traditional attires marched from two points - Dungrei Junction and Kharasom Junction, and converged at the headquarters ground where a public meeting was held.

The rally participants held banners and placards decrying the scrapping of FMR and border fencing which the Naga community in the state have termed as a ploy of the Government of India to divide their brethren settled across the border.

Over 10K rally in Ukhrul against scrapping of FMR, border fencing

The rally organised by Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) and Tangkhul Frontal Organisations under the aegis of United Naga Council (UNC) was illuminated by the presence of local MLAs Khashim Vashum and Leishiyo Keish-ing along with UNC president Ng Lorho, NPMHR secretary general Neingolu Khrome, Naga Hoho vice president David Boyes, and Global Naga Forum convenor Prof Rosemary Dzuvichu among others.

Addressing the public gathering, MLA Khashim Vashum urged the authorities to reconsider the decisions regarding FMR and border fencing and called for respecting rights and traditions of the Naga people.

"We, the Nagas, are bound together by our shared heritage, culture, and ancestral land.

Our forefathers have traditionally lived, cultivated, traded, and migrated freely across these boundaries, without needing permission from outsiders," he asserted.

"We must be allowed to move freely within our ancestral lands, without restrictions or divisions, " he stated, expressing his sentiments, which reflected deep-seated convictions in the inherent bond among the Naga people.

Stating that the border fencing infringes upon the ancestral lands and territories of the Nagas, divid ing their families, Khashim Vashum exuded that these artificial boundaries will one day be erased.

"I'm sure we will be reunited as one people, free to move and live within our ancestral juris diction without restriction or discrimination," he noted.

In his speech, MLA Leishiyo Keishing observed that coming together as one is the first crucial step to resolving any issues, stating that despite the artificial boundary, the Nagas remain a family.

He recounted that the Treaty of Yandabo which resulted in the demarcation of the present Indo-Myanmar boundary is the genesis of the current situation of the Nagas who are scattered across the artificial boundary.

"Now, diverse languages, religions, politics, and social concepts within the Nagas have left in division," he noted and called for withholding the border fencing exercise until the traditional Naga boundaries are rectified.

According to Neingolu Khrome, the Naga forefathers, being illiterate, had fallen prey to foreign powers.

"But today; as we have come together, we stay united in the fight for our land and rights," he said, condemning the barriers imposed upon the Nagas.

In a fervent appeal, David Boyes called upon the Naga people to remain stead-fast in the divine guidance which would safeguard their cause, reminding the gathering of God's unfailing mercy upon the Nagas.

In her address, Prof Rosemary Dzuvichu stated that the scrapping of the FMR is a calculated move by the Indian government to suffocate the Nagas.

"-For generations, the FMR stood as a fragile bridge between the divided Naga people across so-called international borders.

The abrupt scrapping of the FMR is not about 'national security' or 'controlling illegal migration', as New Delhi claims, but is a deliberate act to suffocate the Naga people, to cut us off from our own kin, and to assert absolute control over every aspect of our lives," she contended.

She also observed that the real agenda of the Government of India is justifying military occupation under the guise of development and national security and urged the Naga people to raise questions as to why the Government of India is suddenly so desperate to shut down even the limited movement of Nagas across the Indo-Myanmar border.

"The truth is simple and chilling - this is not about us, but about the crumbling Indian state that sees the Northeast, particularly Naga lands, as little more than a strategic military outpost," she added.

Later, TNL and TFOs submitted a joint memorandum to PM Narendra Modi through Ukhrul DC Ashish Das, appealing for restoration of FMR and cessation of the border fencing exercise in Naga inhabited areas.

The memorandum reiterated that the Nagas will not accept removal of FMR and construction of border fencing, citing the impact of British colonial rule on the Naga people, specifically the arbitrary division of their homeland into parts within India and Myanmar.

Describing the division as a betrayal that threatens the Naga identity and existence, the memo called for the immediate restoration of FMR to alleviate their sufferings.

The memo also noted that India, having gained freedom from British colonialism through nonviolence under Mahatma Gandhi, should be in a position to eliminate colonial relics.

However, modern India appears to reinforce practices like "Divide and Rule" and ongoing injustices, perpetuating physical and emotional segregation among its people, it pointed out.