Yimkhiung Tribe

Yimkhiung Tribe: Recently, the Yimkhiung Tribal Council (YTC) led a protest in Pungro Town, Nagaland against the Indo-Myanmar border fencing and abolition of the Free Movement Regime (FMR).

• About: Yimkhiung Tribe is one of the major Naga tribes, residing in eastern Nagaland’s Kiphire district and adjoining areas in Myanmar.

o Society is clan-based, with traditions of oral history, festivals, and communal land ownership.

o Community divided by the international border, which is viewed as an “imaginary line” splitting families and ancestral lands.

o Yimkhiungrü language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family and is spoken by over 100,000 people across 100+ villages/towns.

o Tsüngkamnyo is their most important post-harvest festival.

• Recent Controversy: In February 2024, the Indian government ended the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and proposed fencing the 1,643 km Indo-Myanmar border, including 215 km in Nagaland.

o FMR earlier allowed visa-free movement up to 16 km (later reduced to 10 km) across the border for social, cultural, and economic exchanges.