Indian forces using Kuki and Myanmar groups to wage war: NSCN

Indian forces using Kuki and Myanmar groups to wage war: NSCN

Sub: Geography

Sec: Human geo

Tag: Kuki

Context:

• The Indian armed forces are using a Kuki extremist outfit and a pro-democracy armed group in civil war-torn Myanmar to wage a war against the Naga Army along the India-Myanmar border, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) said.

Details:

• The NSCN said the Assam Rifles (AR) and the India Army’s para regiment have been using the Kuki National Army (Burma), or KNA(B), and the People’s Defence Force (PDF) for a proxy war to kill its members.
• The KNA(B) has a Manipur-based wing called the KNA.
• The PDF is the armed wing of the exiled National Unity Government that has been fighting the Tatmadaw, which staged a coup on February 1, 2021.
  • The Tatmadaw or Sit-Tat is the military of Myanmar. It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force.
• The Assam Rifles is in charge of guarding the 1,643 km India-Myanmar border.
• The NSCN claimed the Indian armed forces supplied combat materials to the KNA(B) and the PDF in Myanmar’s Chin Province bordering Mizoram and Manipur.
• Phaiyang is a village in Myanmar close to the border with India facing Namlee village in Manipur’s Kamjong district.

List of extremist/insurgent organizations of the Northeast region declared as “unlawful associations” and/or “terrorist organizations” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967: 

Main ethnic groupings of Manipur:

• The Meitei, Naga and Kuki-Zomi-Mizo are the three main ethnic groupings in Manipur.
• The Meiteis, the largest community, account for about 53% of the State’s total population of 27.21 lakh (2011 Census).
• The Nagas and the Kuki-Zo which are categorised into 34 Scheduled Tribes constitute 17% and 26% of the population respectively.

Suspension of Operation (SoO):

• Suspension of Operations (SoO) is a tripartite agreement between the Government of India, the Manipur government, and Kuki-Zo insurgent groups that was signed in 2008.
• The agreement requires insurgents to remain in designated camps and keep their weapons in locked storage for regular monitoring.

Naga Insurgency and origin of NSCN:

Background:

• The Naga National Council (NNC) was formed in April 1946 to carry out social and political upliftment of the Nagas.
• After the return of the radical leader of the Naga cause, Angami Zapu Phizo, from Burma in 1947, the faction of NNC demanding full impendence grew strong.

Shillong Accord and the split of NNC:

• The Shillong Accord was signed in 1975 by the Government of India with a section of the NNC leaders.
• As part of the accord, the leaders agreed to abjure violence and work towards the solution of the Naga problem within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
• It was opposed by Phizo, Isak Swu and Muivah. Later, Isak Swu and Muivah formed the “National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN)” in January 1980.
• Later, NSCN split into two factions, namely NCSN (I-M) led by Isak & Muivah and NCSN (K) led by Khaplang.

Demand for Greater Nagaland:

• The NSCN-IM has been demanding:
  • ‘Greater Nagaland,’ an extension of Nagaland’s borders by including Naga-dominated areas in neighbouring Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, to unite more than 1.2 million Nagas,
  • a separate flag and
  • a constitution.

Naga Peace Accord:

• Since 1997, NSCN (I-M) has been involved in negotiations with the Government of India and signed many ceasefire agreements.

2015 Framework Agreement (FA)

• On August 3, 2015, the Centre signed a framework agreement with the NSCN (I-M) to resolve the Naga issue.
• The agreement was only a framework, with many details still to be hammered out.
• Talks were being held regularly to chart out the finer details of the FA.
• In June 2022, talks broke down after the NSCN accused the interlocutor appointed by the Centre of excluding three political points.

About Assam Rifles:

• The Assam Rifles, one of the central armed police forces, is the leading counter-insurgency force in the Northeast.
• Background: 
  • It is the oldest paramilitary force in India.
  • The unit can trace its lineage back to a paramilitary police force that was formed under the British in 1835 called Cachar Levy.
  • Since then, the Assam Rifles have undergone a number of name changes—the Assam Frontier Police (1883), the Assam Military Police (1891) and Eastern Bengal and Assam Military Police (1913), before finally becoming the Assam Rifles in 1917.
  • Role: It is tasked with the maintenance of law and order in the North East along with the Indian Army and also guards the Indo-Myanmar border in the region.
  • It is also known as ‘Sentinels of the Northeast’.
  • HQ: Shillong, Meghalaya.
  • Motto: Friends of the Hill People.
• Control: 
  • It is the only paramilitary force with a dual control structure.
  • While the administrative control of the force is with the Ministry of Home Affairs, its operational control is with the Indian Army, which is under the Ministry of Defence.

India-Myanmar border:

• India and Myanmar share a 1,643-km border along the Northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is a porous border of which only 10 km is fenced in Manipur.

About Free Movement Regime (FMR):

• The FMR with Myanmar was formalized in 2018 following the agreement between India and Myanmar on land border crossing.
• It allowed tribes living along the border on either side to travel up to 16 km inside the other country without a visa and stay up to two weeks.
•  It was implemented in 2018 as part of the Narendra Modi government’s Act East policy.

Benefits of FMR:

• FMR  is considered an “enabling arrangement for movement of people” which would “facilitate regulation and harmonization” of the already existing free movement rights of people living along this border.
  • The Chin people living in the Chin state of Myanmar is contiguous with Mizoram and are of the same ethnicity as the Mizos and the Kuki-Zomis of Manipur.
  • There is also a sizable Naga population in Myanmar residing largely in the Naga Self-Administered Zone in Myanmar’s Sagaing region.
• The Mizo-Chins and Nagas on both sides of the border share close social, economic and day-to-day ties.

Why did the Indian government end FMR?

• Security issues with respect to the FMR.
• To check the influx of illegal immigrants, drugs and gold smuggling.
• To  “stop the misuse of FMR” by insurgent groups to carry out attacks on the Indian side and escape into Myanmar.
• “Fears of a demographic change” which had been triggered by the settling of “Kuki brothers” in the forests of Manipur.

Source: TH