Expressing strong opposition to the proposed Indo-Myanmar border fencing and the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR), Vice President of the Konyak Union (KU), Hongnao Konyak, highlighted the unique and inseparable bond shared by the Konyak community across both India and Myanmar.
“The Konyaks live in both India and Myanmar. We are brothers by blood, speaking the same language, practicing the same culture and traditions, wearing the same dresses, and celebrating the same festivals on the same day,” Hongnao said. He stressed that some Konyaks live in India but cultivate land in Myanmar, while others live in Myanmar and work in India, emphasizing that “blood and land cannot be separated.”
Hongnao called for the Indian government to respect the traditional boundaries of the Konyak people, stating, “If at all mighty India wishes to build a physical border fence, India should go beyond the Chinwin River (currently in Myanmar), where Naga traditional land ends.” He made it clear that the Konyaks, as a united community, will never allow any external agency to erect physical structures within the heart of their ancestral land.
“China and Pakistan have occupied India’s land and now India wants to just give away a large portion of land to Myanmar,” Konyak claimed.
Hongnao also urged the continuation of the Free Movement Regime (FMR), arguing that its removal would create chaos and disharmony in the region. “The existing structure of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) should continue. Scrapping of FMR will create more chaos and disharmony in the region. Therefore, FMR should be restored,” he added.