AIZAWL, Jan 28: An organisation of Mizo communities living in two valleys in Assam’s Karimganj district on Tuesday told Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma they want to be a part of Mizoram.
The Thangram Indigenous People’s Movement (TIPM) leaders, during a meeting held here, told Lalduhoma that their communities, culture and religion would be most secure and protected if their area was included inside Mizoram, a leader said on condition of anonymity.
The TIPM, which represents the Zo indigenous people of the Singla and Langkaih (Longai) valleys, urged Lalduhoma to take steps to ensure that their villages and inhabited areas are merged with Mizoram, the leader said.
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According to him, Lalduhoma told the leaders that he was aware of the situation of the Mizo people in the two valleys and assured them of help in their efforts to be a part of Mizoram.
TIPM claims that over 30,000 people of various Zo ethnic tribes live in the Singla and Langkaih valleys, which cover over 180 square miles of area.
The TIPM leaders were accompanied by functionaries of Mizoram’s apex student body, Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), at the meeting.
The Mizo communities of the Singla Valley and the Langkaih Valley have raised the demand for a merger with Mizoram since 2020 and submitted memoranda in 2021 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah expressing their desire for the merger.
They had also sought help from the previous Mizo National Front (MNF) government headed by Zoramthanga.
Although the MNF dispensation endorsed the TIPM’s initiatives, no further progress could be made in this regard, officials said.
The area where the Mizos live in Assam is known as ‘Thangram’ (Western part) and it has around 24 villages.
It shares its borders with west Mizoram’s Mamit district.
The TIPM leaders also claimed that the Thangram area has been occupied by the Mizo or Zo Indigenous tribes from time immemorial and was part of Mizoram before it attained statehood in 1987.
They alleged that the area has been neglected by the Assam government and they hardly received development and other welfare schemes. (PTI)
