AGENCY
NEW DELHI, Apr 17
Amid growing concerns over the Centre’s decision to fence the India-Myanmar border and revoke the Free Movement Regime (FMR), the Union government has reached out to civil society organisations in Mizoram, seeking their cooperation. According to Malsawm-liana, general secretary of the Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan urged representatives of five leading organisations, including the CYMA and the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), to support the initiative during a meeting in New Delhi, The Centre’s plan to fence the 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border – of which 510 km runs through Mizoram – and end the decades-old FMR has triggered protests in the hilly state.
The FMR, introduced in 2018, allows tribal communities living along the border to travel up to 16 km into each other’s territory without a visa. During the meeting, the Mizo leaders expressed concerns about the cultural and humanitarian implications of ending the FMR and constructing physical barriers.
“We urged the Centre to be sensitive to the sentiments of the Mizo people who have strong ancestral links with the Chin communities across the border,” said Malsawmliana.
In response, Home Secretary Mohan assured the delegation that the Centre would also take measures to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking in the state. He mentioned that financial support would be provided through the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to bolster anti-drug initiatives, a matter of growing concern in Mizoram, which has emerged as a key transit route in the illicit drug trade from Myanmar’s Golden Triangle region.
The meeting came at a time when several organisations and political leaders in Mizoram have spoken out against the fencing plan, warning that it would sever traditional kinship networks and aggravate humanitarian issues, especially with hundreds of refugees from Myanmar still taking shelter in Mizoram following the military coup in the neighbouring country in 2021.
