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Journalism of Courage
As Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma landed in Imphal on Saturday bearing a message for all sides to work together to find a way to end the month-long ethnic violence in Manipur, other states in the Northeast would have been keeping a close watch. In particular, Mizoram.
The Kuki-Zomis, who are in conflict with the dominant Meitei community in Manipur, share deep ethnic bonds with the Mizos of Mizoram, tracing their descent to the ethnic ‘Zo’ umbrella. The pressure this poses for Mizoram, in relation to the Manipur violence, is evident in the actions of the BJP unit in the state.
While the party’s Manipur leaders stand divided along ethnic lines since the violence, its Mizoram unit last month passed a resolution supporting the Kuki-Zomi demand for a separate administration, a demand the BJP government at the Centre has not commented on.
The Mizoram BJP resolution was only one among the many public declarations of support in Mizoram for the Kukis in Manipur — a solidarity cutting across party lines.
Ruling Mizo National Front’s (MNF’s) senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlalvena posted on Twitter, “The best and only solution to establish permanent peace in Manipur is to create new administrations for both Meitei Community and Tribal Community.”
More recently, MNF youth wing vice-president Zodinpuia reiterated this. While the MNF is a part of the larger BJP-led NDA, the two do not have any power-sharing arrangement in the state, and in fact fight the Assembly elections as rivals. The lone BJP MLA, B D Chakma, sits on the Opposition benches in the Assembly.
Many in Manipur have denounced the support coming from Manipur as “interference” in its internal affairs. The BJP’s Manipur unit issued a statement condemning its Mizoram counterpart’s resolution.
However, observers say it is impossible to separate the crisis in Manipur from the politics of Mizoram, where elections are due later this year. For one, around 9,500 people fleeing Manipur violence have taken shelter in Mizoram.
The state earlier took in the Chin people — who share the same tribal ethnicity as the Kuki-Zomis — fleeing the civil war in Myanmar. Mizoram has continued to accept the refugees, with their numbers now estimated to be around 33,500, ignoring the Modi government’s directives not to do so.
One of the issues cited by the Meiteis is that the Kukis are facilitating similar movement of refugees into their areas in Manipur from Myanmar. Many in Imphal valley, where the Meiteis are the majority community, express the fear that the migrants will overwhelm the local “indigenous” populations — an apprehension that has animated the tensions leading up to the violence in the state.
The influx from Manipur now, on top of Myanmar refugees, has put a strain on Mizoram’s already-faltering state exchequer.
Home Minister Lalchamliana recently told The Indian Express that despite help from the local population and the Church, the state was “under a lot of pressure” and facing a “financial crunch”.
On May 26, Chief Minister Zoramthanga wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking financial assistance of “at least Rs 10 crore so (that) the said internally displaced persons who are citizens of India continue to be well looked after”.
Apart from Myanmar and Manipur, Zoramthanga cited the recent conflict in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts, which had caused many to enter Mizoram. And said that the state’s resources would be further strained by expenses of “at least Rs 350 crore for conducting the upcoming state Assembly election”.
The Young Mizo Association, the most influential civil society group in the state, has said that while they are able to keep helping the refugees because of “donations from the Mizo public”, the Centre needed to pitch in for the displaced people from Manipur.
