Mizoram groups ask PM to halt Indo-Myanmar border fencing, cite threat to indigenous ties

Civil society organisations in Mizoram have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the Centre’s proposal to fence the Indo-Myanmar border, warning that the move could severely disrupt the social, cultural and economic life of indigenous communities living along the frontier.

In a joint memorandum submitted through Governor Vijay Kumar Singh, the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) and the Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO) said the proposed fencing would cause deep physical and psychological distress to ethnic communities that share common customs, language, culture and familial bonds across the international border.

The organisations said Mizo people have a shared origin, history, culture, language and social system, and that rigid demarcation of the present international boundary would fracture long-standing relationships. They noted that even during the administrative periods of colonial rule and after Independence, social, cultural, familial and economic interactions across the border have continued uninterrupted.

Expressing concern over livelihoods, the memorandum stated that border residents depend heavily on small-scale trade, agriculture and customary cross-border interactions for survival. Fencing the border, they argued, would adversely affect families, community networks and the overall emotional and social well-being of indigenous people inhabiting the frontier areas.

While acknowledging the Centre’s responsibility to ensure border security and prevent illegal activities, the organisations appealed for alternative, community-sensitive and consultative mechanisms that would safeguard security without undermining the peaceful coexistence of border communities.

The memorandum also referred to the Centre’s commitment under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which recognises the rights of indigenous communities, particularly those divided by international borders, to maintain cross-border cooperation for cultural, social and economic purposes.

Earlier this week, the MZP and ZORO, along with representatives of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi tribes of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, staged demonstrations in Aizawl opposing the border fencing plan.

Mizoram shares a 510-km-long border with Myanmar’s Chin State, with strong ethnic ties across the boundary. The Indo-Myanmar border stretches 1,643 km across four northeastern states—Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. According to officials, about 10 km of the Manipur sector of the border has already been fenced.