Stand against move to fence border Encouraging illegal immigration

It was more than just a protest against the decision of the Centre to fence the highly porous Indo-Myanmar border, but must be understood in the context of the strong stand taken against illegal immigration from across the border. This reality should be understood in the face of the growing anxiety over large scale entry of immigrants from across the border at Kamjong side in Ukhrul district and while voices of concern have been raised over the growing number of refugees at Kamjong, nothing much is heard of from Churachandpur, Pherzawl and Moreh. This is what is worrying and view this against the protest raised by the Zou civil society organisations at Behiang village in Churachandpur district against the move of the Government of India to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and this cannot be taken as just another protest against the policies and programmes of the Government. The decision to do away with the Free Movement Regime and to fence the Indo- Myanmar border came after the admission of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishanker that illegal immigration is one of the factors for the ongoing clash between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zos. A well researched study conducted by three gentlemen and which was published in The Sangai Express on February 13, 2024, showed the abnormal growth of the Kuki-Chin-Zo population and as per their findings, the population of this group of people which was pegged at 17,204 in the 1881 Census saw this climb to 4,48,214 in the 2011 Census. Correspondingly there has been an abnormal increase in the number of villages of the Kuki-Zo people and it is with a reason why Manipur has been demanding that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with 1951 as the base year must be actuated in the State. Again it was no one else but a Kuki gentleman by the name Paolienlal Haokip who more than admitted that since and India and the then Burma “share a long international border, much of which is porous...there has always been unrestricted trans-border movement of people.” In the said article which appeared in the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies back on May 23, 2002, Mr Haokip went on to elaborate that in 1967 the Burmese Government under Ne Win launched the Burmanisation programme during which the Kuki-Zos were served eviction notices, requiring them to move out within 48 hours. As a result 20,000 Kukis made their way to Manipur while the others went to Mizoram and Nagaland, recorded Mr Haokip. Again during the democratic uprising of 1988 in Burma many others too made their way towards Manipur. Here is a case of a Kuki gentleman himself admitting the free flow of people from across the border and the opposition to the move to fence the border should be seen in this perspective too.
The said article talks only about the mass immigration from across the border during the Burmanisation programme in the neighbouring country in 1967 and the democratic uprising in 1988, but the fact stands that movement of people from across the border has been a continuous process. And as Mr Haokip admitted in the article written back in 2002, many of the immigrants took to drugs and arms smuggling to make fast and easy money and fast forward to 2021 and the military coup in the neighbouring country only gave more push to illegal immigrants. Now add the ongoing military clash in the neighbouring country and one will get a clearer picture of the reality of mass human migration, which has come at the cost of the local indigenous folks. A look at the number of refugees at Kamjong will tell a clear story and it was with a reason why Phungyar Assembly Constituency MLA Leishiyo Keishing managed to draw the attention of the House to the reality at the border area of Kamjong during the recently held monsoon session of the Assembly. The open show of defiance and the protest staged against the move to fence the Indo-Myanmar border should be understood against the backdrop of the facts enumerated above, making it clear that this is not the time for New Delhi to pussy foot the issue. The whip must be cracked for here the question is about ensuring the protection of the Nation and not to give in to the unreasonable opposition raised by some whose only agenda is to encourage illegal immigrants and flood the State of Manipur.