Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga has hinted at a renewal of his party’s historical demand of bringing the Zo people under a single administrative unit, two days after the beheading of a Kuki villager in neighbouring Manipur’s Churachandpur district.
The Zo ethnic group is made up of several tribal people known as the Mizos, the Kukis and the Chins in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Mizoram, or land of the Mizos, split from Assam to become a Union Territory in 1972, during a separatist insurgency led by the Mizo National Front (MNF) that became a legal party after a peace accord in 1986. Mizoram became a state in 1987.
Zoramthanga now leads the MNF, which supports the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre but there is no such understanding at the state level. Mizoram is due for Assembly polls this year.
In a tweet, Zoramthanga tagged his Manipur counterpart N. Biren Singh and wrote: “The onset of May witnessed a brutal, untoward and uncalled-for incident in Manipur. At this very moment, 3:30am, July the 4th, 2023, nothing seems to have changed. We are counting, and today is the 62nd day.”
At least 139 people have been killed and thousands displaced in Manipur since May 3.
“When will it STOP? I condole my Manipuri Zoethnic brethren, my incessant prayers for those who have lost their loved ones, their homes and families wrecked in shatters. May the gracious Lord give you the strength and the wisdom to navigate through this disastrous incident.
“I wish not to see any more pictures and video clips of Churches being burnt, brutal killings and violence of all nature, regardless of gender and age. If there is ONLY one way of settling for peace, shall we opt for that? Many lives have been lost, bloodshed all over, physical torture & the victims are looking for refuge wherever possible. With no iota of doubt, those victims are my kin and kin, my own blood and should we quieten the situation by just being silent? I don’t think so! I would like to call for immediate restoration of peace and normalcy. It is incumbent and imperative upon those responsible and law-abiding citizens or entities of India to look for immediate ways for peace restoration. Development with a human touch and Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas applies to my Zo ethnic tribes in Manipur too!”
Two Kuki groups had lifted a blockade on National Highway 2 in Manipur, and prohibitory orders were relaxed in West Imphal on Sunday.
However, on the same day, the impaling of Churachandpur resident David Thiek’s head on a fence in alleged retaliation for the killing of three Meiteis in the neighbouring Bishnupur district has heightened tensions in the state.
Zoramthanga’s reference to “ONLY one way” comes just days after he iterated his party’s demand for a separate Kuki administration in Manipur.
In an interview with the Northeast Live channel, which was broadcast on July 1, Zoramthanga said that Mizos were under one ruler during the British rule. He explained: “Of course, the Myanmar-side, and the Bangladesh side since it is a foreign country, we can’t say anything. But we’re in India... as it has happened in many parts of India, one state can be divided to form two-three states as you have seen here in the Northeast previously, we were all under more or less Assam…. So the Constitution Article 3 provided that if the government or Parliament feels so, the state can be divided or… joined together to form different administrative areas depending on the political requirement and necessity.”
He added: “That is why from 1961, the founding fathers of the MNF said that all the Mizo-inhabited areas, especially living together in a contiguous area, should form an administrative unit.”
Last month, the MNF endorsed a resolution by Kuki MLAs of Manipur demanding a separate administration for areas inhabited by their community in Manipur — a demand that Meitei groups and the BJP-run Manipur government are opposed to.
Mizoram currently hosts thousands of refugees from Zo communities, the majority of whom fled from the civil war in Myanmar. A few hundred have also fled counter-insurgency operations in Bangladesh. Since May, there has been an influx of Kukis from Manipur. The population of Mizoram in 2011 was fewer than 11 lakh.
Zoramthanga added in his tweet on Tuesday: “The brutal violence in Manipur has resulted in Internally Displaced People to the tune of 12,000 in Mizoram. Refugees and/or IDPs from Manipur, Myanmar & Bangladesh have risen to over 50,000. I wish & pray that the Central Govt. on humanitarian ground lend us an immediate helping hand.”