Following a Seminar on “Borders Without Consent: The Naga Struggle Against Forced Division and Surveillance”, the Global Naga Forum (GNF) along with representatives of diverse Naga organizations, political parties, civil society groups, students and scholars, concerned citizens, and solidarity partners from across Naga territories and beyond, issued joint recommendation. The recommendation was proposed in response to the Government of India’s unilateral decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and enforce border fencing and biometric surveillance along the Indo-Myanmar border—within Naga ancestral lands.
The statement recommended the Government of India to recognize that resolving the long-standing Indo-Naga political issue is of far greater importance and urgency than introducing new layers of confusion and unrest by scrapping the Free Movement Regime (FMR). It asserted that a just and honorable political settlement should be the Government’s top priority, rather than actions that exacerbate mistrust and hardship among the Naga people.
Claiming that the Indo-Myanmar border is an illegitimate imposition, the joint statement argued that Naga homeland is not a buffer zone, but the ancestral land of a people who predate modern nation-states with the boundary being drawn in 1952 without Naga consent.
The statement also highlighted the oppressive nature of scrapping of the FMR and biometric surveillance. “These measures criminalize our kinship ties, restrict indigenous mobility, and erode our way of life. We reject them as violations of both human and indigenous rights,” it stated.
The statement categorically opposed any form of border fencing or militarized infrastructure, contending that such actions threaten the identity and unity of the Nagas turning one’s homeland into a zone of fear and control. However, this moment also presents an opportunity—a call for unity. The widespread opposition expressed by all Naga political groups, civil society organizations, and student bodies must now transform into collective resistance to defend our rights and future as one people.
Recognising the right to live, trade, worship, and move freely across one’s ancestral land as nonnegotiable, the statement asserted that the right is not only rooted in history but also upheld by international instruments such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
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It also called upon the elected Naga leaders to stand with the people. “The State Government of Nagaland and all Naga representatives—regardless of state or political affiliation—must take a firm stand against fencing and surveillance. They are accountable first to the Naga people, not to external political pressures. Any compromise on our land, movement, or inherent rights is a betrayal of the Naga political vision rooted in unity, dignity, and self-determination,” mentioned the statement.
Acknowledging that unity transcended artificial borders, the statement reaffirmed the shared destiny of Nagas as one people and rejected any attempt to divide the people.
Seeking regional and international solidarity, it called upon indigenous networks, human rights defenders, and democratic institutions worldwide to stand with the Naga people and hold governments accountable to international standards.
The joint statement also resolved to reject all fencing and surveillance imposed under the pretext of national security or drug control; defend the Naga homeland and people through united, cross-border collaboration; and further resist peacefully, grounded in indigenous wisdom, international law.
