The Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP, Mizo Students’ Union) has slammed Chakma political leaders and NGOs for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, complaining about victimisation through an allegedly illegal National Register of Citizens (NRC), and demanding that the Mizoram-Myanmar border be sealed.
Ground Zero | Being Bru in Mizoram
Mizoram and Myanmar share a 404km-long border and an agreement between the two countries allows people in border villages to travel up 16 km in each other’s territory from the border without any documents.
The Chakma organisations attributed “unabated influx of foreigners”, smuggling of drugs, arms and other illegal activities to the open border.
‘Creating rift’
The MZP said the memorandum by the Chakmas to Mr. Modi was aimed at creating a rift between the people of Mizoram and Myanmar. “Chakma NGOs should stay within their limits,” MZP leader Peter Chhangte said.
The Mizos are ethnically related to the Chins of Myanmar, unlike the Chakmas, many of whom are seen as infiltrators from Bangladesh.
The Mizoram-Bangladesh border is 318km long.
In their memorandum to the Prime Minister on March 2, the Chakma groups said the Mizoram government was targeting their community by conducting an “illegal” NRC in Lunglei district. The State government has been conducting the NRC drive without the sanction of either the Centre or the Supreme Court, which monitored the exercise in Assam, they said.
Additional questions
They also pointed out that the forms issued by the local authorities for the registering citizens had five questions more than Assam’s NRC, which included religion, place of birth and name of village last settled in. The villagers were also asked to provide food, accommodation and translators for the officials who conducted the exercise.
Almost all Mizos are Christians while the Chakmas are Buddhists.
