Aizawl: Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga on Tuesday said that the Mizo National Front (MNF) has been working for the unification of all Zo tribes for decades since 1961.
Addressing the MNF block conference in Saitual, Zoramthanga said that he recently informed his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh that his party (MNF) has been spearheading a movement to integrate all the different tribes of the Zo community and to bring them under one administrative since 1961.
He said that the party is sustaining the movement to date.
He claimed that the MNF continues to grow despite several hardships on its way to progress. “The MNF is firm on its motto- “For God and My nation.” It is not due to the charismatic qualities of the party leaders, but due to the grace of God that the party has been lifted up and continues to shine,” Zoramthanga claimed.
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Last month, Zoramthanga said that the unification of all ethnic Zo or Mizo tribes in India and bringing them under one administrative unit was one of the main objectives of the founders of the Mizo National Front (MNF).
His statement came close on the heels of the demand made by 10 Kuki MLAs and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) in Manipur for separate administration of the hill areas from the Manipur government
In his address to party workers during a meeting at the party office, Zoramthanga had said that the question of unification of Mizo-inhabited areas of Mizoram’s neighbouring states to form one administrative unit under the concept of Greater Mizoram was one of the demands of the Mizo National Front, and the issue was raised during the peace parleys with Indian Government.
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The Centre then maintained that it could be done under Article 3 of the Constitution of India, the MNF president had said.
He, however, said that Mizoram cannot directly interfere in the internal affairs of Manipur on the issue of ‘Greater Mizoram’ or the unification of Mizoram’s contiguous area in Manipur with the state.
“The initiatives should come from ‘our kindred brothers’ in Manipur as the issue of unification of Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Hmar-Zomo tribes should not be imposed,” Zoramthanga had said.