Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton who is also the minister in-charge of Home and Border Affairs on Tuesday informed that there is no active fencing work being undertaken along the 215 kilometres stretch of India-Myanmar border in the state of Nagaland.
In a written reply to a starred question on the status of border fencing on the first day of the state assembly session, Patton said the state government has been maintaining a stand that physical fencing should not be taken up, considering the concerns and the unique demographic and cultural realities of Nagaland along the Indo-Myanmar border.
“This has been conveyed to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) accordingly on several occasions,” he stated.
Naga People’s Front (NPF) MLA Achumbemo Kikon who has toured the border areas earlier this year with his party workers raised concern that the border was manned by Assam Rifles personnel only despite the Centre’s instructions that state government representatives should also be stationed there.
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Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in his remark, assured that this would be looked into and the state government shall facilitate that its representatives are stationed where required at the earliest. Rio also informed the house that he along with a team of ministers met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on July 19, and had a “threadbare” discussion on the issues of FMR restrictions and the reimposition of Protected Area Permit (PAP) which could ultimately have negative repercussions on Nagas and Nagaland.
The chief minister expressed hope that the Centre would take the state government’s petition into consideration and review its decision.
Nagaland assembly has already adopted a resolution against the scrapping of FMR and construction of border fencing in March 2024 highlighting that Naga people live on either side of the international border, hence, fencing the border and scrapping the Free Movement Regime (FMR) would seriously disrupt the age-old historical, social, tribal, and economic ties of the Naga people.
