Less than two weeks after President's rule came into effect in Manipur, India's northeastern state, the Union Home Ministry has decided to install barbed wire on the open border between Manipur and Myanmar. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned from the post on February 9 in Manipur, which has been in turmoil due to communal violence for 22 months.

After failing to elect a new leader for the Chief Minister, the central government has imposed President's rule in Manipur, showing the communal violence that broke out. Especially the recommendation made by the Manipur High Court on April 19, 2023 to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the status of the Raithane Manipuri (Maitei) community as a Scheduled Caste was the factor that fueled the movement. Two weeks after the recommendation, i.e. from May 3, a violent movement started between the Maitei and the Kuki tribes .

In a review meeting organized by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi last Saturday (March 1), Home Minister Amit Shah has directed to start the work of installing barbed wire at the specified entry points of the Manipur-Myanmar border as soon as possible. The ongoing protests by the Mizo, Naga and Kuki communities are believed to be the reason why Home Minister Shah gave such instructions to the security and administrative authorities of Manipur. India-Myanmar has an open border of about 1,643 km. Manipur along with Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh borders with Myanmar.

Since the Indian government has been claiming that the decision to install barbed wire on the Myanmar border is justified from the point of view of 'internal security', it will have a great impact on the local community . As a result, their dissatisfaction is rising. The common people of those states are constantly protesting against the decision to install barbed wire on the border and remove the 'Free Movement Regime'. The government is protesting saying that it is destroying the historical, cultural and family ties between India and Myanmar.

The Naga Students Federation in Kohima, the provincial capital of Nagaland, is leading the protest. Former president of the federation K. Tep told the Indian media, "Naga civil society and the Naga people are rejecting the government's decision to erect barbed wire on the border and ban unhindered movement across the border." Recently, protests were held in Manipur's Chandel and Tengnaipal districts led by those organizations. Protests have also started in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal states. The Kuki community is holding a separate protest in Manipur. Manipur's Churachandpur district-based United Zhou Organization has led the protest. where elected Kuki MPs and community leaders actively participate .

The Naga Students' Union of Manipur has also submitted a memorandum to the Governor saying that the installation of barbed wire in the border area is not justified. The president of the association, Antesang Charanga, has also submitted an argument that the Indian government is wrong to try to fence the border to control the infiltration of 'illegal immigrants'. He said, 'To prevent illegal infiltration, update the National Citizenship Register, form the Population Commission, strictly implement the inner line permit, not barbed wire on the border.'

A glimpse of the Assam-Bangladesh border dispute. At that time, Assam's majority Assamese community feared that the demographic balance of the state would be disturbed due to the illegal infiltration of illegal immigrants (mainly Bangladeshi Muslims). After the Assam Agreement in 1985, the Indian government took forward the process of fencing the Bangladesh border . Bangladesh protested this act as a 'defense structure'. Which also increased the tension between the two countries for some time .

Manipur's Raithane Maitei community is now saying the same. At that time Assamese called Bangladeshi . Their argument is, "Illegal immigrants from Myanmar are coming from Kuki-Jo". Which has not only affected the population of Manipur, but violence is also escalating. Indian media have commented that the centuries-old historical, cultural and family relations between the two countries are likely to be broken due to the barbed wire that is going to be installed on the Myanmar border. After the 2017 Rajya Sabha elections, there was a demand for barbed wire on the Myanmar border . In 2023, the nearly two-year-long violent conflict between the Maitei and Kuki communities led the central government to erect barbed wire along the border with President's rule in the state. Last year, Home Minister Shah had announced that a budget of Rs 31,000 crore had been approved for the construction of barbed wire on the India-Myanmar border.