ZOU CSOs MEET REPRESENTATIVES OF BRTF AND AR ON BORDER FENCING
Several Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from the Zou community, a cognate tribes of the Zomi last Monday met with representatives of the Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) and the 37 Assam Rifles (AR) Commanding Officer (CO) at Behiang, Lamka (Churachandpur) to discuss issues on border fencing. The CSO raised their opposition to border fencing, highlighting how it would disrupt ethnic ties across the border. They also expressed resentment at the manner in which the construction was forced upon border villages, which the CSOs say was due to pressure by radical Meitei groups in Manipur. The meeting was also attended by chiefs from the area.
The CSO met with the representatives of BRTF and AR at the residence of the Chief of Behiang village. The CSOs apprised the meeting of the ethnic ties across the borders, through times of misfortune, community festivity, and familial feasts, and how the forced construction of the fencing would put an end to the age-old ethnic and cultural ties of the Zo ethnic tribes. The CSOs also resent how the border fencing was forced upon local villages without their consent, stating that the forced move lacked consultation with local stakeholders and prioritised the vested agenda of Meitei radical groups like the Arambai Tenggol over tribal land owners and indigenous transborder community rights concerns.
The CSOs also expressed dismay at the centre government for how the fencing work was enforced only in the Behiang area when no such pressure was given to neighboring States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram all of which share borders with Myanmar. Five districts in Manipur, Churachandpur, Chandel, Kamjong, Tengnoupal, and Ukhrul, share roughly 398 km border with Myanmar. Arunachal Pradesh shares 520 km, Nagaland shares 215 km, and Mizoram shares 510 km with Myanmar. In addition, the CSOs also said that the centre government forcing the construction would mean a total disregard for the voice of the local people. The CSOs expressed their resolution to oppose the partisan policy of the government.
They also request that the BRTF and the AR be considerate of the interests of the local communities. Acknowledging the issues brought up by the CSOs, the 37 AR CO also expressed appreciation for the meeting and conveyed respect for the concerns of the local people.
The representatives from the CSOs later held a demonstration at the site of the construction in Behiang against the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and the forced construction of border fencing, putting up placards and shouting slogans. Previously, the United Zou Chiefs' Association Manipur and the Zomi Council Steering Committee had written to the Union Home Minister, detailing concerns about the construction of border fencing and scrapping of FMR.