Mizoram: MZP appeals to PM Modi to reconsider Indo-Myanmar border fencing
Aizawl: Mizoram's apex student body Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him that the Centre reconsider its decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and scrap the Free Movement Regime.
In the letter sent through state governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, the MZP expressed concern and opposition to the Centre's decision.
It said that fencing the Indo-Myanmar border and scrapping the FMR will divide the ethnic Zo people living in India and Myanmar.
"Although the Zo people have been divided by the administrative division since the colonial period and international boundary in the post-colonial era, we do not feel separated, " the organisation said in the letter.
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" It (FMR) enables us to participate in each other's funerals, and marriage ceremonies, pay visits to patients at home, participate in religious meetings, and engage in local-level sports tournaments. The decision to terminate the FMR regime will take away these essential aspects and will deprive us of our rights as human beings, much like other communities around the world, " it said.
The MZP said that it is shocked by the decision of the Indian government, which is a world power and a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007 (UNDRIP) which addresses the problems of indigenous peoples including those divided by international boundaries like Zo people.
Article 36 of the UNDRIP asserts the right of indigenous peoples divided by international borders, to maintain and develop contacts, relations, and cooperation across borders for spiritual cultural, political, economic, and social purposes—with their own members as well as with other peoples across borders, the MZP said.
Urging the Centre to reconsider its decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and scrap the FMR, the organisation said that alternative measures can be explored to address concerns such as drug trafficking and smuggling without resorting to actions that divide the indigenous Zo communities.
The petition serves as a plea for a thoughtful reconsideration with a focus on preserving the cultural and social fabric of the Zo people across the India-Myanmar border, the organisation added.
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While addressing a function in Guwahati on Saturday Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the Centre would fence the entire Indo-Myanmar border and also scrap the FMR with Myanmar.
Reacting to Shah's statement, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma had said that the state government did not have the authority to stop the Centre from its decision but was strongly opposed to fencing the international border and scrapping the FMR.
He had also said that the present Indo-Myanmar border was imposed by the British and fencing the border would amount to approval of the boundary made by the British government.
