Indian Army personnel keep up vigil along the India-Myanmar international border. File
| Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar
The Centre has invited key members of the United Naga Council (UNC), Manipur’s apex Naga organisation, to New Delhi for talks regarding the government’s decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and fence the country’s 1,643 km border with Myanmar.
Brought into place in 1968 due to ethnic and familial relations between people on either side of the border, the territorial limit of free travel for the border residents was reduced from 40 km to 16 km in 2004. The distance was further reduced to 10 km from the border less than a year ago.
The UNC stated on Thursday (August 21, 2025) that the invitation from A.K. Mishra, Advisor (North East) to the Ministry of Home Affairs, for the meeting scheduled on August 26 was addressed to its president, Ng Lorho. The invitation followed a meeting between a UNC team and Manipur Governor, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal on August 16.
Naga groups in Manipur and adjoining Nagaland have been opposing the Centre’s decision to fence the India-Myanmar border to check the influx and scrap the FMR. The Manipur stretch of the border is 398 km long.
On July 22, the UNC and other Naga organisations, such as the Naga Women’s and the All-Naga Students’ Union, Manipur, submitted a joint memorandum to the Centre through the Governor, demanding an immediate halt to the border fencing plan.
Mizos against it, too
Apart from the Nagas, the Mizos of Manipur have been vocal against the border fencing and the FMR scrapping idea.
Earlier, the office of Manipur’s Rajya Sabha member, Sanajaoba Leishemba, lodged a complaint against an Imphal resident named Sanaton Meitei for claiming on social media that the Arambai Tenggol was the MP’s private army.
“The post is in very bad taste, casting aspersion on the bloodline of Maharaja Sanojaoba Leishemba, which is considered the highest offence to a titular king. Branding the Arambai Tenggol as the private army of the Maharaja is unfounded,” the complaint at the Porompat police station in the Imphal East district read.
“His association with Arambai Tenggol is only an encouragement to an indigenous cultural group. A political choice is a prerogative of a person and is decided in the best interest of the State. He is an MP who raised multiple issues on the floor of Parliament in the interest of the State. He is trying to settle the issue of internally displaced persons non-stop,” the complaint signed by Maisnam Shivadutta, the personal secretary to the MP, read.
Seeking action against the social media user, Mr Shivadutta said ‘right to expression’ does not mean saying whatever one pleases.
Published – August 21, 2025 12:49 pm IST
