AIZAWL, March 16: The central committee of the Young Mizo Association or Central YMA (CYMA) has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to reconsider the Centre’s decision to fence the India-Myanmar border and lift the Free Movement Regime (FMR) with the neighbouring country, a leader of the body said on Sunday.
YMA is the largest civil society organisation in Mizoram with more than 4 lakh members out of the state’s nearly 11 lakh population, according to the 2011 Census.
CYMA general secretary Malsawmliana told PTI that leaders of the association met Shah during his visit to the state on Saturday and submitted a memorandum urging him to stop fencing the India-Myanmar border and reconsider the decision to lift FMR.
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The memorandum said that the proposed scrapping of the FMR and fencing the international border would have a detrimental effect on the vital ethnic and cultural ties between ethnic Mizos of India and Myanmar as well as their livelihoods.
It said that FMR has been a vital mechanism in maintaining ethnic and cultural connections and fostering brotherhood between the Mizo communities of the two countries.
“The proposed abolition of the FMR and the implementation of border fencing would have a detrimental effect on the vital ethnic and cultural connections, disrupting the harmonious co-existence and cultural exchanges that have been integral to the lives of Mizos.
“We firmly believed that the scrapping of the FMR and the erection of border fence would not only disrupt these cultural connections but also the lives and livelihoods of the Mizo people on both sides,” the memorandum said.
Mizoram has been providing shelter to around 40,000 refugees from Myanmar’s Chin state, who share ethnic ties with the Mizos, since the military takeover of the neighbouring country in 2021.
Besides, the state also hosts 2,000 refugees from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and 12,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) from Manipur.
The memorandum urged the Centre to extend humanitarian assistance and provide additional funds to support the YMA and other organisations’ efforts in providing relief to refugees and IDPs.
The CYMA also placed several demands, including the upgradation of Lengpui airport, allocation of more funds for combating drugs, inclusion of the Mizo language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and creation of a Mizo battalion under the Border Security Force (BSF).
Malsawmlian said that Shah assured them of the upgradation of Lengpui airport, which will be executed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the work will be completed within six months.
Shah told the leaders that the Centre would provide financial assistance to the state government to provide relief to the refugees and IDPS, he said.
As regards lifting the FMR and erection of the border fence, the Union home minister informed the CYMA leaders that it requires careful deliberations and suggested to them that they should send representatives to Delhi, according to Malsawmliana. (PTI)
