Naga People’s Front (NPF) organised a public rally in protest against the India-Myanmar border fencing at Longwa on April 1, 2025.
NPF through its press bureau informed that the rally was attended by party central team led by its president Apong Pongener, secretary general Achumbemo Kikon, MLA, central office bearers (COBs), and office bearers of the central youth wing and women’s wing, Angh of Longwa, council leaders, student leaders, women leaders and the general public of Longwa.
Speaking the rally, Achumbemo Kikon, MLA, reiterated the points raised by the Angh of Longwa, who stated that their village, Longwa, existed long before both the independence of Burma and India.
He also echoed the message shared by the student leader of Longwa that the youth would stand for the rights of the people of Longwa and would leave no stone unturned in defending what their forefathers and elders have entrusted to them.
The student leader warned that anyone who encroached upon their land against their wishes would do so at their own peril. Kikon reaffirmed his commitment to oppose the implementation of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and the border fencing.
Opposing construction of border fencing, Kikon also questioned the logic of dividing the Angh of Longwa’s home into two parts (i.e. Burma and India). He urged the Government of India to reconsider this decision.
NPF legislator emphasized that Naga people should not allow such a division to occur by any means. “We are living on our own land, and no one has the right to divide our home,” Kikon said.
He also referred to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, who once referred to tribal areas as “the long frontier of India, which are neither part of India nor Burma nor any foreign state.”
Kikon recounted how, during a public meeting in Kohima, Naga leaders were denied the opportunity to speak and submit a memorandum to the Indian and Burmese Prime Ministers, Nehru and U Nu.
Kikon said “this act of humiliation” likely contributed to the subsequent division of Naga lands, a division, which he vowed to continue resisting.
Kikon also shared state chief minister Neiphiu Rio’s recent statements in the state assembly, where he expressed strong opposition to the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime and the construction of the border fence.
Kikon called upon the general public to unite and support one another in this struggle. “The real fight starts here (Border Villages. We must speak with one voice, and together, we will fight for our rights,” he asserted.