Nagas in Manipur hold rally against border fencing and scrapping of FMR

Imphal: Thousands of people from the Naga community in Manipur on Wednesday took out a rally in Chandel and Tengnoupal districts of the state to protest erecting fencing along the Myanmar border and scrapping of Free Movement Regime (FMR) with the neighbouring country.

Organised by the Chandel Naga Peoples' Organisation (CNPO), demonstrators raised slogans against border fencing claiming it would divide the Naga community residing on both sides of the border.

The rally also called for expediting negotiations for a solution to the decades-old Naga political problem.

Later, a memorandum was submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Chandel district by CNPO and its allied organisations calling for safeguarding the unity and rights of the Naga people.

The central government in January last year announced that the FMR, which allows people residing close to the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km into each other’s territory without visa, will be ended soon.

The 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, currently has FMR. It was implemented in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy.