Mizoram CM Zoramthanga bats for unification of Zo areas?

Unification of the ethnic Mizo areas living in Manipur, Assam and Tripura had been propounded by the MNF all the time, the CM said

By Issac Zoramsnaga

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Friday said that the state government cannot directly interfere in the internal affairs of neighboring Manipur on the issue of ‘Greater Mizoram’ or unification of Mizoram’s contiguous area in Manipur with the state.

The hill area of Manipur, adjoining Mizoram, is inhabited by ‘Zo’ community who shares the same culture, religion, tradition and ancestry.

Zoramthanga, while addressing the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) workers at ‘Hnam Run’, MNF party office in Aizawl, said that initiatives should come from ‘our kindred brothers’ in Manipur as the issue of unification of Kuki-Chin-Mizo tribes should not be imposed.

He said that while the state government cannot directly interfere in the internal affairs of the neighboring state, which was recently rocked by violence, he had spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his Manipur counterpart N. Biren Singh.

“We have tried our best to bring peace and tranquillity in Manipur as well as looking after internally displaced people in Manipur taking shelter in the state and evacuation of stranded people from the neighbouring state,” he said.

The MNF president said that unification of all the contiguous areas inhabited by Zo tribes has been one of the main objectives of the founding leaders of the party.

While unification of ‘Zo’ tribe inhabited areas in foreign countries – Myanmar and Bangladesh – would be difficult at this time, unification of the ethnic Mizos areas living in Indian states of Manipur, Assam and Tripura had been propounded by the MNF all the time, he said.

“The issue of unification of all the inhabited areas of our kindred brothers in neighbouring states highly featured in the peace talks held with the Indian government and the erstwhile underground MNF,” he said, adding that the centre then maintained that it could be done under article 3 of the Constitution of India.

Zoramthanga’s statement came close on the heels of the demand made by 10 elected ‘Zo’ legislators of Manipur and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) for separate administration of the hill areas from the Manipur state government.

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