Mizoram groups urge PM to review plan to fence Myanmar border

Aizawl, Jan 16 (PTI) Mizoram’s apex student body Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) and the Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO) on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the Centre’s plan to fence the Indo-Myanmar border, saying it could disrupt social, cultural and economic ties of indigenous communities.

In a joint memorandum submitted through Governor Vijay Kumar Singh, the organisations said the proposed fencing could physically and psychologically separate ethnic communities that share common customs, language, culture and familial bonds across the border.

They said Mizo people share a common origin, history, culture, language, and social system that long predate the demarcation of the present international boundary.

"Even as administrative borders were introduced during the colonial period and formalised in the post-colonial era, our social, cultural, familial, and economic relationships have continued to exist across the border in a peaceful and organised manner," the memorandum said.

It said the proposed border fencing may cause an economic impact for people living on either side of the border as they heavily depend on small-scale traditional trade, agriculture and customary cross-border interactions for their livelihoods.

Fencing the border will also affect family ties, community networks and the overall emotional and social well-being of the indigenous people inhabiting the frontier areas, it said.

Even though the organisations fully acknowledged the responsibility of the central government to ensure border security and to prevent illegal activities, the objective may be achieved through alternative, community-sensitive, and consultative mechanisms without resorting to measures that may permanently disrupt indigenous social systems that have historically remained peaceful and cooperative, the memorandum said.

The memorandum also reminded the Centre of its adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which affirms the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly those divided by international borders, to maintain and develop contacts, relations, and cooperation for cultural, social, and economic purposes.

"These principles resonate with the constitutional values of equality, personal liberty, and freedom of movement and association, and are further reinforced by the special constitutional safeguards applicable to Mizoram under Article 371-G, which recognise the importance of protecting customary practices, social institutions, and the cultural life of its people," it added.

Earlier on Friday, MZP and ZORO, a Mizo group representing the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi tribes of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, also staged a demonstration in Aizawl to protest the plan to fence the Mizoram section of the Indo-Myanmar border.

Four Indian states - Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh - share a 1,643 km long international border with Myanmar.

Mizoram alone shares a 510-km long border with the Chin state and the Mizos share ethnic ties with the Chins.

More than 30,000 people from Chin state displaced by the military coup in 2021 are currently sheltered in Mizoram.

About 10 km of the Manipur section of the Indo-Myanmar border has been already fenced, according to officials. PTI CORR MNB