The recent storming of Imphal by the armed Arambai Tenggol, a radical Meitei organization; administrating oaths to 37 legislators and two MPs at Kangla Fort, their demands (abrogate SoO with Kuki-Zo; remove Assam Rifles (AR) from Manipur and delist Kuki-Zo as Schedule Tribes); and overall arming of the majority Meitei community of Manipur has been covered in these columns earlier (https://www.southasiamonitor.org/spotlight/growing-radicalization-manipur-remains-boil). 

In the situation of over 3,000 guns looted from the police armouries still with radical Meitei elements, armed cadres of the Arambai Tenggol riding in gypsy vehicles, flying  Kangleipak flags, having free run masquerading as police, without security forces accosting them, has caused serious concerns among the Naga community of Manipur.

Nagas are openly saying that the Meiteis will come after them post sorting out the Kuki-Zo, especially since the Meitei are now armed in very large numbers compared to the tribals of Manipur–Kukis and Nagas combined. According to ground sources, the Nagas are also publicly voicing that the government is against tribal Christian minorities because of which the state administration is deliberately not controlling the violence, as well as that no ‘peace talks’ have taken place.   

UNC warning

The United Naga Council (UNC) said in a statement on February 2, 2024 that the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo should desist from targeting, provoking and attacking Nagas, their homes and properties in the Imphal Valley and peripheral hill areas; otherwise, Nagas in Imphal valley will be forced to vacate and further “appropriate measures” will be taken up; if Kuki-Zo continues to target Nagas, free access to Naga township and villages and free passage across Naga areas for them will be prohibited.

The UNC said it issued this statement given several incidents and situations that have been happening, targeting the Nagas in the context of the prevailing situation in the state of Manipur since May 3, 2023, despite the neutral position adopted by Nagas in the quest for peace and communal harmony in Manipur. The statement also listed all the incidents of violence against the Nagas - attacks, killings, mutilations, beatings, torture, kidnappings, molestations, rapes, burning of houses/properties, looting, and extortion.

Border fencing

To add to the above concerns of Nagas in Manipur, Home Minister Amit Shah said on January 20, 2024, that the central government will soon fence the 1,643 km border between India and Myanmar, as well as consider ending its free movement regime (FMR) agreement with Myanmar, which allows residents of both countries living along the border to travel up to 16 km into each other’s territory without a visa. Shah has now officially confirmed this decision on February 6, 2024.

The border states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram would be fenced off from Myanmar as per the above plan. But Mizoram and Nagaland are against the fencing and cancellation of the FMR between India and Myanmar as the people on either side of the international border in these states belong to the same ethnic communities. Already some bout 30,000 Chin people from civil war-torn Myanmar have taken shelter in Mizoram since the military takeover of Myanmar in February 2021.

The newly elected Chief Minister of Mizoram, Lalduhoma, on his first visit to New Delhi, told Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister Shah that fencing off the Indo-Myanmar border will be “unacceptable” as Mizoram shares ethnic ties with Chin communities in Myanmar and the fence would divide ethnic Mizos and approve the British-created border.  Similarly, Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, who is also a senior BJP leader in his state, has said that any resolution regarding fencing the Indo-Myanmar border would be unacceptable to the Nagas, and the same goes for the FMR which permits cross-border movement without travel documents.

If the Nagas are drawn into the already raging ethnic conflict in Manipur, it would be catastrophic for the border state and have repercussions in the entire northeast of India. The decision to fence the entire India-Myanmar border and cancel the FMR could potentially lead to discontent in Nagaland and Mizoram.

These issues need to be carefully examined and an appropriate course of action adopted. China is already waging an asymmetric war in the Northeast. Let us not give it more opportunities to exploit.  

(The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views are personal)