The Manipur government has announced that the Centre has re-imposed the Protected Area Regime (PAR), or Protected Area Permit, in the state, as well as in Mizoram and Nagaland, all three of them bordering Myanmar.
The statement by the BJP’s Biren Singh-led government in Manipur said the move, bringing back the restrictions after 13 years, was necessitated in the light of security concerns over influx from neighbouring countries. The state has held alleged illegal immigration from Myanmar as one of the prime factors responsible for the ongoing conflict in the state, which has claimed 258 lives so far, with over 60,000 people displaced, according to the Centre’s security advisor Kukdiep Singh.
Below is a close look at the PAR regulation and the regime it seeks to impose.
What is the Protected Area Regime or PAR?
The Union Home Ministry’s PAR guidelines disallow a foreign national to visit a ‘Protected Area’, as laid down in the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958, “unless it is established to the satisfaction of the government that there are extraordinary reasons to justify such a visit”.
Why has it been reinforced after a 13-year gap? Through the course of the ongoing year-and-a-half-long conflict, the Manipur government and most sections of Meitei civil society have alleged that an uncontrolled influx of “illegal immigrants” from the Chin community — which shares an ethnic bond with the Kuki-Zomis and Mizos — from neighbouring Myanmar was one of the key reasons for the instability in the state and the current violence.
What do the PAR guidelines specify?
The guidelines specify certain areas within the Protected Areas, which can be visited by tourists with a permit. For grant of Protected Area Permits for reasons other than tourism, prior permission is needed from the home ministry.
What is the history of PAR?
Until 2011, this regime extended to Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland in entirety, and to parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, all of which are border states. However, in 2010, this had been relaxed for Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, first for a period of one year, and periodically extended after that. The PAR remains in place in the other areas.
What prompted the relaxation?
This relaxation was made with an eye on boosting tourism in these states, with the then UPA central government stating that the lifting of the restrictions had been requested by the state governments. Certain exceptions were, however, in place. Citizens and foreign nationals of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan origins needed prior approval from the home ministry for entry into these states.
What is Myanmar’s role in the Manipur conflict?
The Manipur government earlier pressed upon the Union government to scrap the mutually agreed Free Movement Regime (FMR) with Myanmar, which allowed tribes living along the border on either side to travel up to 16 km inside the other country without a visa and to stay up to two weeks. In January this year, the Centre announced that the FMR was being cancelled, and that the entire length of the porous Indo-Myanmar, which runs along Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh would be fenced. While the Manipur government welcomed these decisions, they were stiffly opposed in Mizoram and Nagaland as the international boundary cuts through Naga and Kuki-Zo-Chin communities residing on both sides of it. Reintroducing the PAR would further restrict movement in these states.
What do the experts say?
Former BSF, UP and Assam police chief, Prakash Singh, believes that the government is treating the situation primarily as a law-and-order problem. Unfortunately, there is hardly any meaningful political initiative and there are few confidence-building measures, which is worsening the situation in Manipur.
What has been the public reaction?
Despite the opposition in Nagaland, the state has been emphasizing its tourism. The recent Hornbill Festival, the state’s biggest tourist attraction, drew 2.05 lakh visitors, 2,527 of whom were foreign tourists.