Aizawl: Extension of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki-Zo armed groups by the Centre is just a “pain reliever” and will not solve the problem in Manipur, Lalduhoma, Chief Minister of Mizoram, told ThePrint in an exclusive interview Thursday.
“Manipur will need a political solution. Installation of a popular government is one of the solutions. But there has to be negotiation, which will finalise the settlement of the issue. What is happening in the state is a political issue. Opening a bus service will not solve the problem,” Lalduhoma said, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Manipur ever since violent ethnic clashes broke out in the state in May 2023. The visit is scheduled for Saturday.
The Centre and Manipur government on 4 September signed the agreement with Kuki-Zo armed groups to extend the SoO for a year. The tripartite agreement between the Centre, state and Kuki-Zo armed groups for cessation of violence was not extended after it lapsed in February 2024. The move to extend the SoO is thus being seen as an outreach towards the tribal community.
Lalduhoma, a former police officer who became CM for the first time in 2023, is also against the fencing of the Mizoram section of the India-Myanmar border, part of the fencing project being executed by the Union home ministry.
“I have discussed with the prime minister and the home minister and we have some sort of understanding with them. We are not in favour of fencing of the border and I firmly believe that actual fencing will never take place on our border because the people living on the other side, in the adjoining area, are brothers and sisters of the same line,” he said.
According to the Mizoram CM, fencing would be an obstruction in achieving the dreams and vision of Bharat. “Preparation (for fencing the India-Myanmar) will take place, development of the boundary area will take place but the actual fencing may not take place in our area. It may take place elsewhere in the Manipur and Myanmar area, but not here,” he asserted.
The CM was, however, agreeable to the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar by the home ministry. In February 2024, Union home minister Amit Shah had announced the government’s decision to scrap FMR to ensure the internal security of the country and to maintain the demographic structure of India’s north-eastern states bordering Myanmar.
“Looking at the geopolitics today, I understand the mind of the central leaders. We are agreeable to the restrictions, because right now, we have around 40,000 displaced people coming mostly from neighbouring Myanmar and some from Manipur and some from Bangladesh. And this free access is utilised by drug racketeers also,” Lalduhoma said.
India and Myanmar had signed the FMR in 1968, which allowed people of both countries to cross the border freely up to 16 km.
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‘Rail line a bridge between Mizoram & Bharat’
On the 51.38 km Bairabi-Sairang rail line in Mizoram that is being inaugurated by the PM Saturday to connect the landlocked state to the national railway network, Lalduhoma said it was not just infrastructure but an investment into “our children’s future, in the dignity of our citizens and in the economic resilience of the state”.
“It is a bridge between dream and reality, between Mizoram and Bharat,” he added.
But there is an apprehension among the people of the state that opening of the new rail line will result in an influx of beggars from outside, the CM said.
To check this, the Lalduhoma government this year brought in an anti-beggary law. “Since this railway line is connecting us, we anticipate that more and more beggars may come. So, in order to protect ourselves, we have passed the law,” he told ThePrint. The law bans public begging while promising assistance and rehabilitation for those forced into it.
“We have just about a dozen beggars here from among the natives. We did not allow any beggars in our history… these people who have been begging are very small in number, at times they are only just a dozen. Those would be taken care of by the localities,” the Mizoram CM said.
“Besides, NGOs are there, the village institutions are there, we have a strong institution of churches here too. So, we must help them so that they don’t resort to begging.”
‘Won’t join NDA but can’t afford to be confrontational’
Lalduhoma made it clear that though his government will not be confrontational with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, there was no plan of the Zoram People’s Movement, the coalition that he leads, to become an ally of the NDA.
“We can’t afford to be confrontational with the central government, whoever is there… this party or that party. That doesn’t make much difference for us. We depend heavily on the central government, being a regional party with a national outlook. Whoever is in power in Delhi, we want to have a close relationship with them,” he told ThePrint.
He also asserted that he had no wish to join the NDA. “We want to maintain our own existence and identity,” he said.
On the controversial dissolution of the Chakma Autonomus District Council (CADC) by Mizoram Governor V.K. Singh, Lalduhoma said he did not think it was “intentional”.
“The main cause behind this (dissolution) is instability (of the council). He (Mizoram Governor) is afraid that even if a new government come, the instability may continue. But now I think he will give another chance,” he said.
The executive committee of the CADC was constituted under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for the welfare of the ethnic Chakma people. Formed in 1972, the council has been in political turmoil since a no-confidence motion was passed against its head. The head of the CADC has been changed seven times since May 2018.
Mizoram’s second capital
With the opposition Mizo National Front accusing the Lalduhoma government of shifting the capital of Mizoram from Aizawl, the CM said the state did need a second capital.
“Aizawl is one of the worst cities in the country and we do not have room for expansion and improvement, and upgradation is too costly now. It is almost impossible to do so. So, we need to have a second capital,” he said.
He added that he has discussed the need for a second capital with PM Modi and “he has agreed”.
“Thenzawl is going to be a second capital. It will be a modern city. There will be zoning in a phased manner and we will have landpooling as well. That way we will be able to get some revenue from auctioning of plots,” the CM said.
Thenzawl, a census town located about 100 km from Aizawl, falls in Lalduhoma’s assembly constituency Sercchip.
Lalduhoma said his government would go on to develop Thenzawl as a peace city in a structured manner. “In the beginning, we will try to accommodate, say 1 lakh population. Then, depending on the requirement and necessity, we will keep increasing. We will start as soon as the DPR (detailed project report) is finalised. We will be able to start work by next year,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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Why don’t Mizoram provide permanent shelters and a part of its land to the illegal immigrants from Myanmar. It’s not nice to interfere unnecessarily in others affairs.