Kohima, Jan 22 (IANS) Nagaland government on Wednesday once again urged the Centre to review its decision on the cross-border movement along the India-Myanmar border and re-imposition of the Protected Area Permit (PAP).
Nagaland’s Power, Parliamentary Affairs Minister and government spokesperson K. G. Kenye, while talking to the media said that considering the state’s ethnic position, tradition and customary system, the government of India must continue the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and re-impose the Protected Area Permit (PAP).
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently adopted a new scheme to issue a pass to the border residents of both India and Myanmar living within 10 km on either side of the frontier to regulate cross-border movements.
The new scheme would replace the previously suspended FMR, which earlier allowed citizens residing close to both sides of the India-Myanmar border to move 16 km into each other’s territory without a passport or visa. Four northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km), and Mizoram (510 km) — share a 1,643 km unfenced border with Myanmar.
Kenye expressed the state government’s objection to the new cross-border movement system.
“We respect the Centre’s security concerns, but at the same time Nagaland’s ethnic situation is unique and requires a different approach,” he said and added that the state has not yet received any official response from the Centre regarding its earlier request for a review of both FMR and PAP.
Noting the unique historical and political context of Nagaland, the Minister stressed that the state’s demand must be considered by the government of India in light of its diverse history, traditions and people.
People belonging to different tribal communities living on either side of the India and Myanmar borders and the Nagaland and Mizoram governments have been demanding to continue the old FMR regime.
After the Nagaland cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on January 6 urged the MHA to exclude the state from the purview of the Protected Area Permit (PAP) to promote tourism and to facilitate the visit of foreign tourists in the state.
Any foreigner keen to visit certain northeastern states, including Nagaland, has to mandatorily obtain the PAP, also known as the Restricted Area Permit, from the MHA.
As part of security measures and considering the northeastern region’s strategic location, sensitive nature, and geopolitical issues, the PAP had been in place for foreigners since the 1960s. The travel restriction was temporarily relaxed in 2010-11 in a bid to promote tourism.
The relaxation was withdrawn by the MHA last year in the aftermath of the political unrest in Bangladesh and internal turmoil in Myanmar besides the ethnic conflict in Manipur. Besides Nagaland, the PAP is now in force in several other northeastern states.
In the January 6 cabinet meeting, the ministers discussed the successful celebration of the famous 10-day long ‘Hornbill Festival’ from December 1 with around 2,530 foreign tourists attending the iconic event.
The 25th edition of the annual Hornbill Festival, at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, 12 km from the state capital Kohima, drew a total of 2,05,968 visitors over the course of 10 days (December 1-10, 2024).
According to an official of the Nagaland Tourism Department, last month’s festival attracted a diverse crowd, with 2,527 foreign tourists, 56,217 domestic visitors, and 1,47,224 local attendees.
–IANS
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