Manipur’s ‘peacekeeper’ women rally to save Naga talks

Opposition to New Delhi’s decision to fence the India-Myanmar border marks the golden jubilee of the apex women’s body of the Tangkhul community

Manipur’s golden pukreilas have a new mission after 1974 – save the “Indo-Naga peace process” that has been under stress since the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland or NSCN (I-M) threatened to return to armed resistance.

On November 8, NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah accused the Centre of betraying the “letter and spirit” of the August 2015 Framework Agreement and indicated his outfit could return to violence. This made the Tangkhul Shanao Long (TSL) members underscore their traditional role as pukreilas while celebrating its golden jubilee in Ukhrul.

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The hub of the Tangkhul Naga areas straddling India and Myanmar, Ukhrul is about 80 km northeast of Manipur’s capital Imphal and about 25 km southeast of Somdal, where Mr. Muivah was born. The TSL is the apex body of Tangkhul women.

“Pukreila means peacekeeper in Tangkhul tongue. Our organisation was formed in 1974 after Border Security Force personnel raped Rose Ningshen, a 19-year-old girl from Ukhrul’s Kumbram village who committed suicide,” TSL president Thingreiphi Lungharwoshi said during a “Save the Peace” rally on Friday.

Thousands from across the Tangkhul domain, including Myanmar, participated in the rally to demand the settlement of the Naga political issue without further delay and the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from the Naga homeland.

“We are tired of fighting for our rights and against the AFSPA and other oppressive measures of the government of India. Our people sacrificed a lot for peace that has been reigning in the Naga areas for almost three decades now,” Ms. Lungharwoshi told The Hindu, urging the Centre to ensure that the hard-earned peace is sustained.

“Once the Naga political issue is settled, there will be lasting peace in the Northeast,” Priscilla Thiumai, the Naga Women’s Union president said.

Ramreichan Keishing, the president of Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong (students’ union), said the faithfulness of the Naga people to their leaders and their respect for the Indian government should not be mistaken for their weakness. “Thousands have gathered here to send a clear and loud message to the rest of the world that the Nagas stand together for the settlement of the peace process and against any move to fence the India-Myanmar border,” he said.

No to border fencing

Ms. Thiumai said the Nagas have been fiercely independent but their homeland was divided between two countries leading to decades of resistance. “Today, 60% of our people are in India and 40% in Myanmar. How can our people be separated by a fence on an imposed border?” she said.

The TSL and other Naga organisations also emphasised the need for New Delhi to reintroduce the free movement regime (FMR), which allowed border residents to travel up to 16 km in each other’s territories without documents.

Neingulo Krome, the secretary general of the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights said the Naga homeland knew no border other than the Chindwin River in Myanmar and the Brahmaputra River in Assam. “The British divided our homeland before India occupied one part and Myanmar the other. For Nagas, there is no India-Myanmar border between these two rivers,” he said.

He also said New Delhi has been humiliating the Nagas by delaying the peace process through several rounds of talks and by not honouring its commitment inked in the Framework Agreement. “Ceasefire (with NSCN since 1997) has no value if it is meant to insult and humiliate the Nagas,” he added.

Appeal from Myanmar

The representatives of the Tangkhul people from the Naga Self-Administered Zone in Myanmar appealed to New Delhi to not fence them off “our brethren in India”. Unlike in the FRM era, a 55-member team of the neighbouring country’s Tangkhul Naga Literary and Cultural Committee was held up for almost a day by Indian security forces on the border before being let in.

“We depend on India for healthcare and other necessities. It is faster and cheaper for our patients to get treatment in Ukhrul or Imphal than to go to Yangon or Mandalay. We hope your government considers our case on humanitarian grounds,” Chhanpoh Kashung, the headman of Myanmar’s Phungtret village said.

Phungtret, one of 35 Tangkhul villages in Myanmar, is about 5 km from the country’s border with India.

Published - November 15, 2024 10:47 pm IST