ZHRF condemns actions that escalate tension
Source: The Sangai Express
CCpur, October 19 2020:
The Zomi Human Rights Foundation, General Headquarters has condemned the incident where some 'miscreants' from the Assam side of the border allegedly destroyed plantation and damaged homestead/ huts belonging to the Zo People at Thinghlun, Siahapui "V" and Vairengte Village, within Mizoram bordering Assam.
Their actions have escalated the volatile situation along the Assam- Mizoram border which was hitherto preceded by the unresolved disputes over the boundaries of the two States, it said.
The ZHRF also claimed that the disputed areas were their ancestral land where their forefathers have been living for decades before the Colonial British annexed the entire Chin-Lushai country in 1889 .
'We are historically, culturally and administratively different from the valley Assam dwellers.
Unfortunately, this part of Mizoram State remains un-demarcated during the NE Re-organization in 1971 and is inconclusive when Mizoram attained statehood in 1986.This created loopholes for Bangladeshi migrants and other internal migrants from Assam to illegally occupy our ancestral lands and attempted to forcibly drive out our people living in the borderland on several occasions,' it added.
At this time of humanitarian crisis enveloping the globe due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the closure of National Highways connecting Mizoram from Assam, whereby essential supplies of goods were halted infringed upon the right to lives of the 'Zo People' (Zo Fate) inhabiting the state of Mizoram.
The very act of interrupting the chain of supply of essential commodities and closing of the only supply line from Assam also violated all existing humanitarian laws, said the rights body and called for immediate demarcation of the Assam and Mizoram boundary based on historical facts and by the provisions of the North Eastern Frontier Re-Organization Act, 1971 .
It further said that permanent border signs must be erected on the ground and uninterrupted movements of essential goods, services and supplies along the National Highways connecting Mizoram from the state of Assam should be
restored immediately.