Manipur Naga bodies serve 20-day ultimatum to Centre on FMR, fencing

A joint delegation of Manipur based Naga CSOs met Governor Ajay Kumar Balla in Imphal’s Raj Bhavan on Tuesday and reiterated their demand related to Free Movement Regime and border fencing.
During the meeting, the joint delegation submitted memoranda to the Governor addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh and union external affairs minister Subramanyam Jaishankar.
In the memoranda, the joint delegation highlighted their demands – immediate halt to border fencing in Indo Myanmar border and restoration of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) within twenty days.
The joint delegation included representatives of the United Naga Council, All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur, Naga Women’s Union and Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights SOUTH
During the meeting, the delegation expressed concerns over ongoing developments impacting the hill areas, particularly in relation to the Free Movement Regime and border fencing.
Governor acknowledged the grievances raised and said that the matter would be looked into, Imphal Raj Bhavan said in a statement after the meeting.
In the memoranda, sources said that the Naga based CSOs expressed strong resentment against abrogation of the FMR and the accelerated ongoing border fencing construction along the India Myanmar border.
Naga based CSOs stated that several forms of protests including “picketing of government office in Naga inhabited areas have been undertaken along with public demonstration of protest and rallies in Naga inhabited hill districts.”
While serving a 20-day ultimatum, the Naga based CSOs stated that “the government of India must revoke the notification/order related to the abrogation of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) immediately.”
Centre had scrapped FMR in February 2024. The FMR allowed people living along the India-Myanmar border to travel up to 16 km inside each other’s territory without a visa. It also demanded immediate halt to “all ongoing border fencing construction and demarcation works in Naga ancestral lands” and for “the government of India to initiate a meaningful and time-bound dialogue with the Naga Civil Societies, and affected stakeholders.”
The memoranda also cautioned that if the “demands remain unaddressed from the date of this ultimatum they shall be compelled to resume our protest movement in stronger measure across all the Naga hill districts.”