How to Un-Govern the Borderland: India’s Troubled Northeast Borders Needs a New Regime of Movement (P-II)

The larger question that needs pondering is how to govern the ungoverned physical-scape and social-scape, which had remained largely outside the purview of strict and formalized regime till now. The social connections and relations between the people and communities in Indo-Myanmar border is not the same with other borders in India. Here, the communities across the borders have strong ties with each other and it has remained unchanged for many years. Like the Konyaks, the Tangkhul communities in Ukhrul district have numerous villages across the border, who not only shared age-old culture but also do partake in festivities and rituals in numerous occasions. The implementation of FMR, although people from other sides could travel only few kilometres, has facilitated inter-connections and relations between people even if they live in different countries and in different political system. It also helps in mitigating numerous social issues, as people from one side of the border help the other side in terms of education and humanitarian activities.  Thus, policy makers at the top should try to negotiate the local needs and, at the same time, ensure that border areas are safe and secure. Instead of disrupting the existing ties and connection, there is a need to enable the social connection and facilitate the border areas for economic growth. Most of the border areas in the Northeast region can be a viable source of economic growth, which has remained untapped for many years. Economic transactions between the communities at the border exist but largely been through informal mode, in some cases barter systems are also being practiced. Thus, rather than disrupting the existing system it will more viable to take advantage of this social capital and turn into beneficial activities for people at both sides of the border. Meanwhile, not regulating the economic and social ties may also breed the growth of illegal transactions of contraband items. Thus facilitation of trade and interconnections by the state may also help in regulating transactions at the border which may well serve the interest of both the state and people for growth and development.

(Part-I) How to Un-Govern the Borderland: India’s Troubled Northeast Borders Needs a New Regime of Movement

What has largely escaped the discourse on border fencing is the environmental question as it is definitely going to do some serious damage on the ground in varied terms. The Indo-Myanmar border region is not only rich in biodiversity and minerals, which includes rare plants and animals; it is also an ecologically sensitive zone. Border fencing will not only affect the movement of people and goods, but movement of wild-life between the borders will be permanently disrupted. Indo-Myanmar borders serve as corridors for animals that pass through the tense forest and help in maintaining ecological balance on both sides of the border. Although not many studies exist, local sources indicate that most of the wild animals that are found in the Indian side of the border came from Myanmar. One the other hand, the stark reality is that wild animals and forest areas are increasingly depleting in the Indian side of the border and with the cutting off the inter-connections between the mountain ranges, the wild-life routes of the Indo-Myanmar border, in both sides of the border, will be considerably affected. Even if fencings are being constructed now, it will be environmentally sensible to facilitate the movement of wildlife by opening animal corridors wherever necessary.

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The need for regulating Indo-Myanmar border in a more stringent manner has apparently arisen mainly due to multiple security reasons: illegal arms trade and immigration, drug trafficking, and political violence in Myanmar. All these issues need attention of the state and common people. However, rather than overlooking the need of one over the other, a mechanism should be evolved where people from both sides could interact and travel under regulated systems instead of stopping all forms of interactions. One of the major difficulties that people face while traveling between the borders is interaction with the paramilitary forces. The border areas are also mostly regulated by paramilitary forces and the role of the state police and civil administration has been mostly negligible. This maybe largely due to operational necessity, but it has become difficult for the common people to negotiate and work with paramilitary forces as they function under different mode. Rather than taking the border areas as a sign of weakness or strength of the sovereign state, a new outlook is required to address the concern of the people living at the border in India’s Northeast borderland. We need to realize that border areas are not only meant for maintaining the boundary line and regulating movements of goods and people for security purposes, rather it should be utilized for facilitating socio-cultural relationships and economic growth.

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Dr. A. S. Shimreiwung is an Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Tezpur University. Views are personal. Email: shimreiwung@gmail.com

(The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ukhrul Times. Ukhrul Times values and encourages diverse perspectives.)

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