CSOs walk out of border fencing meet

Mungchan Zimik
Ukhrul, Nov 7 : The Tangkhul frontal organisations and the headmen of the border villages of Ukhrul and Kamjong district have once again raised their opposition to the proposed border fencing project in Tangkhul region.
Even as the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of Ukhrul and Kamjong co-chaired a meeting to address issues surrounding the border fencing project at Ukhrul DC Office Conference Hall today, representatives of Tangkhul organisations and village headmen walked out from the meeting to register their protest.
Officers of Manipur Police and Assam Rifles also attended the meeting.
After walking out from the meeting, Tangkhul Naga Long vice president Jollyson said that they are against border fencing and suspension of Free Movement Regime (FMR).
Saying that they have conveyed their position to the DCs clearly so that the message may reach the Union Home Minister, he added that they won't allow  the border fencing project to be implemented in Tangkhul region under any circumstances.
He further said that the Tangkhul community will not cooperate in the project nor attend any meeting to discuss border fencing in future.
Claiming  that imposition of the border fencing project disregards the rights of Naga people, he added that Naga people  living across the border will resist all attempts to separate them physically and emotionally.
Representatives from Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL), Tangkhul Naga Awunga Long (TNAL), Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong (TKS), Tangkhul Shanao Long (TSL), and Tangkhul Mayar Ngala Long (TMNL), along with border village headmen also staged  a protest at the Mini Secretariat Complex, Ukhrul.
The protesters displayed banners which read “No! Never to Colonial Relic Border Fencing in Naga Homeland,” “No More Insult and Injustice to Naga Peoplehood, Time for Peaceful Coexistence,” and “Immediate Withdrawal of FMR Scrapping from Naga Homeland.”