The Mizoram Assembly adopts a resolution opposing border barrier with Myanmar

GUWAHATI: The 60-member Mizoram Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution opposing the Center’s plan to fence the border between India and Myanmar and renounce the Free Movement Regime (FMR) agreement with the neighboring nation riven by civil conflict.

Residents living along the 1,643 km border between the two nations are permitted to enter each other’s territory for up to 16 kilometers without a visa and to stay there for a short time under the FMR.

The Zo ethnic group includes the dominating Mizos of Mizoram, the Kuki-Zomis of Manipur, the Chins of Myanmar, and the Kuki-Chins of Bangladesh.”Under their own authority, the British spatially split the Zo ethnic group who had lived in [modern-day] Mizoram and the Chin Hills of Myanmar for millennia. Mr. Sapdanga stated, “We cannot accept the India-Myanmar border that has been imposed upon us. We have been dreaming of reunification.”

He also said that it was unacceptable to eliminate the FMR.The Minister stated that although the statements made by Central Ministers make things clear, the Union government has not yet informed the Mizoram government about its intention to build a border fence and suspend the FMR. Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, declared on February 6 that a fence would be built between India and Myanmar. Two days later, he announced that the FMR would be eliminated in order to “maintain the country’s internal security and demographic structure of the Northeastern States.”

The Center’s action, according to Mr. Sapdanga, was prompted by the Manipur government’s requests following ethnic violence between the dominant Meiteis and Kuki-Zomi people in May 2023. He stated that national security could not be used as a justification for fencing the border and doing away with the FMR.

He remarked, “The Center should fence the international borders with Bhutan and Nepal if it is so concerned about national security.” Travel documents are not required for visitors from these two nations to enter India.

The ethnically related residents on both sides of the border will be emotionally and financially impacted, he claimed, by the construction of a border fence between India and Myanmar and the removal of the FMR.

The Mizo National Front’s Leader of the Opposition, Lalchhandama Ralte, and Chief Minister Lalduhoma were present when the resolution was overwhelmingly approved following much deliberation.

Mizoram and Nagaland, two of the four States that border Myanmar, are against the proposed wall. Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur support it. The Tiau river forms part of the 510 km border between Mizoram and Myanmar.