Aizawl: The Mizo National Front (MNF) will sever its ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if a uniform civil code is “imposed” in Mizoram, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said in an exclusive interview with ThePrint Thursday. He, however, added that the BJP-led central government was “wise enough” to not take any steps that would force such a hand.
While the MNF was among the 38 parties present at the meeting of NDA allies in Delhi on 18 July, Zoramthanga has been vocal not only against the uniform civil code (UCC) but also against how the ethnic violence in Manipur has been addressed. This Tuesday, he even led a rally in Aizawl, expressing solidarity with the Kuki community, which shares deep ethnic ties with the Mizos.
How do these stances align with the MNF’s position as a member of the NDA? Zoramthanga explained that the MNF lends “issue-based” support to the NDA— “but that does not mean we will obey them on every issue”.
“When the issue is, for example, UCC is going to be imposed here in Mizoram, then certainly we cannot be in NDA. But at the same time, I don’t think they will do that. The leaders certainly will have the wisdom to be able to include all the important ingredients for the cementing factor of the NDA,” he said.
He noted that the NDA leadership is “wise enough and mature enough” to see that the imposition of a UCC “does not help them”.
“I don’t think they will make any issue which will necessitate us leaving the NDA,” he added.
When asked about Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh’s statement Wednesday that Zoramthanga should not “interfere” in the affairs of other states, the Mizoram CM asserted that unrest in Manipur “affects” him too due to the influx of refugees.
He also made a strong pitch for the reunification of all Mizo-inhabited areas in the Northeast under one administration, underlining that it was a key element of the 1986 peace accord that ended a two-decade-long insurgency in Mizoram.
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‘Mizo-inhabited areas should be under one administration’
When asked about Biren Singh’s allegations of “interference”, the Mizoram CM said Thursday that his position was one that he and the MNF had maintained for 63 years — that Mizo-inhabited areas should be put under one administration.
“What we have reiterated has been our position since the year Biren Singh himself was born — that is, in 1961, when the MNF was founded. It’s not about interference in Manipur affairs, or Assam affairs or any other thing,” he insisted.
It should be noted that the ‘Zo’ people are an ethnic group comprising various tribes, and known by different names in the regions they inhabit— Kuki-Chin-Lushai or Mizo in Mizoram, Kuki in Assam and Manipur, and Chin in Myanmar.
“As far as India is concerned, (carving out a new state) is permitted,” he said, referring to Article 3 of the Constitution that deals with the “formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states” through an Act of Parliament.
He cited the examples of Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland being carved out from the state of Assam, as well as Chhattisgarh from Madhya Pradesh.
“So as per the Constitution, one state can be formed and the boundary of a state can be changed. Well, this can be done by Parliament all along. That is what is also clearly written in our peace accord and that is what I reiterated,” he said.
“The Union and Manipur government should consult Meiteis as well Kukis and try to solve it politically. That’s the only solution,” he added.
Zoramthanga, who took charge as chief minister of Mizoram for the third time in 2018, was a close associate of MNF founder Laldenga, who steered the rebellion to demand secession from India and a sovereign Mizo State.
The MNF led an armed uprising against the State between 1966 and 1986. It eventually signed a peace accord with the Rajiv Gandhi government on 30 June, 1986, ending a conflict which witnessed independent India’s only instance of the Air Force being used to bomb a civilian territory within the country.
‘Situation in Manipur affects Mizoram’
Zoramthanga said that the strife and displacement of people in Manipur directly affect Mizoram.
“The situation is such that because of the trouble in Manipur thousands of displaced persons and refugees have come to Mizoram whether I like it or not. It is forced upon us that we have to act, we have to try to find a solution for this — because it affects me and at the same time it has been our principal for more than 63 years,” Zoramthanga said.
So far, around 12,300 Kukis from Manipur have crossed over to Mizoram, according to the CM’s estimates. While approximately 3,000 of them are staying in 35 relief camps across the state, the remaining have taken shelter with kin and acquaintances.
He also said that he was “surprised by the attitude of the Centre” in not granting aid and assistance to refugees and those internally displaced from Manipur, adding that he requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to look at the issue from a “different angle”.
On Myanmar refugees
Mizoram has also been sheltering around 35,000 Kuki-Chin refugees from Myanmar, where a military coup in February 2021 triggered an exodus, in addition to some refugees from Bangladesh. This was in contradiction to the central government’s March 2021 advisory to states that border Myanmar not to shelter refugees from the country.
During his conversation with ThePrint, Zoramthanga said what his government has been doing mirrors the stand taken by the Government of India during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war when millions of refugees had crossed into India.
“I told this to the Union Home Secretary even three days ago over the telephone,” he said.
“So we just follow what the Union government has done in 1971. If they have done that, if the East Pakistan people were given shelter and help, well, why can’t you give it to people from Burma (now Myanmar)? The same formula has to be applied internationally.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)