The All Assam Manipuri Students’ Union (AAMSU) on Monday advised Mizos living in Meitei villages of Assam’s Barak Valley to take “precaution for their own safety” as the Mizoram government’s action has “caused anger” among Manipuris in Assam.
The one-para “advice” is in response to Friday’s statement by the Peace Accord MNF Returnees Association (PAMRA), an association of former Mizo National Front militants, urging Meiteis living in Mizoram to leave the state for their “own safety” owing to “anger among Mizo youths” over “atrocities” committed on the Kuki-Zo people in Manipur, according to the AAMSU advisor S. Kamalakanta Singh.
The advisory issued on Monday evening is a diluted version of the one issued earlier in the day when the AAMSU advised the “Mizos living in Meiteis areas of Assam to vacate the area at the earliest” for their own safety.
Sources said the second advisory, issued in the form of a clarification, was due to reservations from several quarters on the tone and tenor of the earlier advisory. One of them said it was harsh compared to one issued by the PAMRA.
Even the Cachar district administration had expressed its opposition to the firstadvisory.
“The earlier press statement was misinterpreted as a quit notice. That is why we issued the clarification urging them to exercise caution. Already over 100 Meiteis have come down to Cachar and taken shelter in two relief camps following the PAMRA advisory. More are coming down,” Kamalakanta said.
There is another change from Mizos to Mizo missionaries in the second advisory. When asked, Singh said most Mizos living in Meitei areas are related to the Church but this advisory is for all Mizos living in Barak Valley which comprises three districts — Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj.
The population of Mizos in Barak Valley will be a few hundred, an official said.
Monday’s development reflects how the unrest in Manipur involving the Meiteis and the Kukis is impacting neighbouring Mizoram and Assam, and has the potential to affect Nagaland as well.
The strife in Manipur has claimed at least 152 lives and displaced 60,000 with over 12,000 taking shelter in Mizoram, and over 500 in Assam. Mizos and Kukis share the same Zo ancestry.
The earlier statement had alleged that the MNF-led Mizoram government is giving a free hand to anti-Manipur activities while pretending to show concern for Meiteis living in Mizoram.
Singh cited the PAMRA statement to back the claim.
However, the Mizoram home department called a meeting with the PAMRA on Saturday to defuse the situation.
In the meeting with the home department, PAMRA representatives clarified that their press release was issued as an “advisory requesting Meiteis living in Mizoram to exercise caution in the light of public sentiments regarding the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur and was not a diktat or a quit notice to Meiteis”.
Following the meeting with PAMRA, the Mizoram Home Commissioner met with representatives of All Mizoram Manipuri Association (AMMA) and assured them of their safety and security and not be misguided by rumours, the home department said on Saturday.