Kohima: Residents of some Naga villages have urged the Indian and Myanmar governments to halt a plan to build are upset a border fence after turning 3,500 fertile acres into “no-man’s land.”
Village councils say the fencing will leave 10,000 members of the Khiamniungans Naga tribe, living on both sides of the India-Myanmar border, without a livelihood.
“Our land and people cannot be divided by any external forces or aggressors by putting up fencing and drawing any imaginary lines under the guise and pretext of national security,” says a letter written by the Khiamniungan Tribal Council to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar President U. Htin Kyaw.
The letter pleads the two governments to halt the fencing work, as the villagers were not consulted on the issue.
“In the history of Khiamniungans, though divided and living separately across the imaginary boundary between India and Myanmar, there have been no land disputes and encroachments,” the letter says.
According to the KTC, the border pillars were set up in the 1970s on agricultural lands without understanding that people on both sides belonged to the same community.
The work on the fence has started between the existing border pillars demarcating the two neighboring nations.
The district administration, located in the border town of Noklak, has begun preparations to seal off farmers’ passage to the 3,500 acres of land, according to sources.
“In the history of Khiamniungans, though divided and living separately across the imaginary boundary between India and Myanmar, there have been no land disputes and encroachments,” the letter claims.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said that India was not involved in the construction of the fence.
“If the Myanmar government is doing this, then we will ensure that no construction is done in the 10 meters of no-construction zone. The government is trying to clear all the doubts of the locals living in the border areas on this,” an ministry official told IANS.
Myanmar, which shares a 1,600-mile-long border with India, serves as its gateway to the other 10-member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Four northeastern Indian states — Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km) — have unfenced border with Myanmar.
In 2013, the Indian government had to stop fencing work across Manipur’s border with Myanmar following allegations that it passed through Indian land in many parts.
Many villagers from the Myanmar side come to the Indian side to buy basic essentials.