Nagaland: Decision on Free Movement Regime, fencing of border was painful, says Chief Angh of Longwa Village

Mon (Nagaland) [India], April 7 (ANI): Longwa, a rich cultural heritage village located on the Indo-Indo-Myanmar border, is one of the major villages in the Mon district of the Konyak Naga tribe in Nagaland. While the village is home to about 6,000 people living on both sides of the border, they have maintained a peaceful relationship until the decision made by the Government of India on scrapping the Free Movement Regime and Border Fence along the Indo-Myanmar border tensed the situation at Longwa.
49-year-old Tonyei Phawang, who is the Tribal Chief Angh of Longwa Village, and the 10th generation from the lineage dating back to the early 1970s during his forefather's time, said the decision on the Free Movement Regime and Border Fence was painful.
Speaking to ANI on Monday at Chief Angh's House at Longwa, he said," We are now sitting at the Burma side, with the post in the kitchen demarcating the boundary".
While expressing discontentment on the decision, he said the Konyak Naga living in the two bordering areas would suffer as there are 35 villages under him,30 of which are located on the other side of the Indo-Myanmar border and five in India, Nagaland.
He said that he would lose his people and land from the Indo-Myanmar border, who are in the majority. In addition, Chief Angh said that villagers from Myanmar, Burma, come to Longwa for their household needs, marketing, and healthcare, and also send their children to Longwa schools for better-quality facilities.
Phawang maintained that despite the boundary demarcation that attempted to differentiate societal identities, people from both countries had continued to live with a shared identity as proud citizens of Longwa village and as Konyak Nagas since time immemorial.
"The traditional Chief Angh's House, symbolically and physically divided between India and Myanmar, has always stood as a mark of unity and peace, " he said.
He said during the tenure of former Chief Minister SC Jamir in 1987-88, there was a proposal to establish an international trade centre at Longwa--a project that never materialized, and the decision to now end the FMR, Phawang said, is especially painful given the community's long wait for development and recognition.
"We are Indians, and we are Burmese. We request and have been praying for peace. Please do not divide us. Let us live as we have always lived", said Chief Angh, appealing to the Indian Government on the decision made.
Talking about his family life, Phawang, whose grandfather had 60 wives, has two wives: one from Arunachal Pradesh with whom he has six children and another from Longwa with whom he has three children. This further underscoring the region's interconnectedness.
He said that, unlike those working in the government sector who receive regular salaries, the Anghs are different. They are simple people who depend on farming and manual labor to make ends meet. "Nowadays, Anghs suffer more than in the olden days," he remarked.
However, Chief Angh expressed appreciation for his wives, acknowledging their vital role in supporting the family. He shared that his wives create and sell traditional necklaces, jewelry, crafts, and swords. The income they earn is used primarily to support their children's education, he said. (ANI)