Don't Separate Zo: Mizo Org Appeals to PM Modi Not to End Free Movement Between India & Myanmar

Aizawl: The Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the apex student body in Mizoram, has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the Indian government's decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and abolish the Free Movement Regime (FMR). The MZP conveyed its concerns and opposition to the plan of fencing the border through a letter conveyed by state governor Hari Babu Kambhampati.

MZP’s Concerns About Border Fencing and FMR Termination

In the letter dated Monday, the MZP highlighted that the fencing and termination of the FMR would lead to the division of the ethnic Zo people residing in both India and Myanmar. "Although the Zo people have been divided by administrative divisions since the colonial period and international boundaries in the post-colonial era, we do not feel separated," the organisation said in the letter on Monday.

FMR Crucial for Zo

The FMR has played a crucial role in enabling them to partake in various communal activities, including attending funerals, participating in marriage ceremonies, visiting patients, engaging in religious gatherings, and participating in local sports events. The organisation further added,"The decision to terminate the FMR will take away these essential aspects and will deprive us of our rights as human beings, much like other communities around the world.”

Discontinuing the FMR would strip the ethnic people of these essential aspects and infringe upon their basic human rights, similar to other communities worldwide, the organisation added. Further the MZP urged the Indian government to reconsider its decision, suggesting that alternative measures could be explored to address concerns like drug trafficking and smuggling without resorting to actions that could potentially divide the indigenous Zo communities.

The plea from MZP serves as a call for thoughtful reconsideration, underlining the preservation of the cultural and social bonds among the Zo people residing on both sides of the India-Myanmar border. 

Mizo CM Opposed Centre’s Decision to Fence Indo-Myanmar Border 

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma, responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's announcement in Guwahati about fencing the entire Indo-Myanmar border and scrapping the FMR, asserted that the state government lacked the authority to halt the central government's decision. However, as per reports, he had strongly voiced opposition to the proposed fencing and the discontinuation of the Free Movement Regime.