MIYC extends support to FNCC's stir
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 29 2025:
The Manipur International Youth Centre (MIYC) has declared full solidarity with the Foothills Naga Coordination Committee (FNCC), which launched an indefinite bandh on July 18, 2025, in protest against the unauthorised construction of the German/Tiger Road 'through indigenous Naga foothill territories' .
MIYC, in a statement, stated that construction of the road to connect Churachandpur and Kangpokpi is widely perceived as an ethnic provocation due to its association with Kuki militant leaders.
Further stating that the disputed roads are also linked to a broader narcotics crisis, with poppy cultivation and drug networks destabilising remote indigenous settlements, MIYC demanded urgent environmental and public health safeguards, alongside transparent investigations into these 'criminal networks'.
Saying that FNCC was prompted to enforce roadblocks at Makhan in Kangpokpi district, Tongjei Maril (Old Cachar Road), Dolang Chiru, Tupul-Noney junction, and Longsai Khoupum road in Noney district, the Youth Centre alleged that the road development violates the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) .
Ancestral ownership of these territories predates colonial boundaries, MIYC said and affirmed that no development project should override indigenous sovereignty without equitable consultation.
It also claimed that repeated Kuki-Naga clashes since India's independence, notably the violent conflict from 1992- 98 resulting in over 50,000 displaced and more than 1,000 killed stemmed from contested territorial claims of Kukiland.
The symbolic naming and strategic construction of the Tiger/German Road is thus seen as part of a broader agenda to normalise Kuki presence in traditionally Naga lands, MIYC said.
Echoing FNCC's concerns about alleged proxy militarisation.
SoO camps near Naga and Meitei villages, the Youth Centre alleged that the German/Tiger road ceases to be civilian infrastructure and instead serves as strategic corridors for conflict.
Communities must respect FNCC's peaceful protest and acknowledge legitimate concerns over boundary violations and insecurity on all sides, it said and claimed that Nagas and Meiteis have faced genocide and ethnic cleansing campaigns, primarily driven by foreign-backed armed groups since the 1990s.Maintaining that the FNCC's blockade is not an act of separatism but a necessary human rights defense which demands immediate attention, the Youth Centre added that such suppression of indigenous assertion will only deepen conflict and fragment peace if left unaddressed.
The MIYC also said that the Indian Government has a Constitutional duty to prevent illegal encroachment, address grievances through dialogue, and uphold community autonomy.
MIYC also demanded immediate recognition of FNCC's 'lawful authority' to halt infrastructure like the Tiger/German road, removal of SoO camps from Naga and Meitei areas and a credible investigation into drug-linked activities in the foothills.
MIYC said that FNCC also demands the removal of SoO camps operating near or within Naga-inhabited zones and raised alarm over rampant poppy cultivation, drug trafficking, and criminal networks proliferating around these roads, viewing them as a threat to territorial integrity.
To the outside world, the German/Tiger road may appear as a developmental lifeline, but to the Naga people, it is a violation - an imposition through sacred land, built without consent, and symbolically named to assert foreign dominance, the Youth Centre contended.
MIYC called upon the Indian State and international community to uphold Constitutional protections, international human rights standards, and the UN principle of Indigenous Self-determination, cautioning that anything less would reinforce 'ongoing occupation, demographic engineering, and colonial aggression' .
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