Free Movement Regime must be scrapped, says Nagaland legislator Imchen

DIMAPUR — Advisor for Information, Public Relations, Soil and Water Conservation in Nagaland, Imkong L Imchen emphatically declared that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) should be abolished, despite opposition from all 59 state MLAs.

“FMR should be scrapped and thrown to dustbin”, he asserted, while addressing the Faith Theological College on Tuesday at Faith Gospel Church, Ura Villa colony in Dimapur.

 “FMR was never a cabinet decision but only a bureaucratic mechanism only, and politics is failing because of it,” he added.

According to Imchen, the FMR means ‘nothing’ and “the Nagaland- Myanmar border should be fenced immediately”. He said that all the 59 MLAs disagree with him, but, “I have a strong belief that it has to be done.”

Discussing the history of the Naga political issue, he said that the Government of India, in the past, ‘applied the veil of tribalism’ within the leadership of the Naga National Council (NNC) and the federal government, leading to internal conflict and a loss of vision.

“We lost our agenda and tribalism was made our forefront agenda,” he lamented, adding that it has resulted in internal strife and division.

Imchen highlighted the Eastern Naga Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) demanding separation and the perception among some tribes in Nagaland of prioritising their own tribe over others, as examples of this division.

Shutter down was due to extortion, not illegal taxation

Further, Imchen clarified that the recent ‘shutter down’ call made by trade bodies in Nagaland was due to “extortion” and not “taxation.”

He said that he appreciated the recent shutter down as it was “against illegal and criminal extorting in Nagaland today and it is a protest to show that the people cannot tolerate any longer.”

He said that message has been given to the competent authority as well as organisations. However, “if we go on agitating, that may not bring the desire of the people.” While showing of your disagreement, displeasure is a democratic right, unlimited closing of market may be counterproductive, he added.

He reiterated that protest was not about ‘illegal taxation’ but pure extortion, and said that the, “Naga people are fond of committing crimes against their own people.”

Naga-‘Land’ may be for Christ but not the people

Imchen went on to state that Nagas are proudly declaring ‘Nagaland is for Christ’, but he opined that the ‘land’ maybe for Christ but the people are not, as “we kill too much and commit too much crime”.

He stated that Nagaland is one of the smallest states in India but individual personality wise, “we may be the greatest obstacle to the nation as we are over critical.” The Nagas overestimate and judge with a prejudiced mind, while seeing themselves as very good people, he added.

Be a spokesperson for God– Rev. Wati Aier

Meanwhile, convenor of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, Rev. Dr. Wati Aier, also addressed the event, asking the Nagas to be more realistic and accept their weakness and mistakes, as we are all humans.

He opined that being lazy is one of the weaknesses among the Nagas, and said that there are many people who claim to be ‘academic’ but have not read even a single book.

He encouraged the students to have perseverance as a degree alone is not enough. He urged them to be the kind of spokesperson who shares the word of God all over the world and challenged them to cause ‘trouble’ in the sense that they fight to change the world in a good way.

It may be mentioned that 27 graduates were conferred degrees during the programme. It included 5 Bachelor of Theology (regular and external) graduates, 17 Master of Divinity (regular and external) graduates and 5 Master of Theology (external) graduates for the year 2024.