Aizawl/Imphal, May 1 (IANS): Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), Mizoram's apex students' body, has accused the Manipur government of grabbing Zo ethnic tribals' land in the neighbouring state and evicting them.
"The origin of these problems is the Manipur government's attempts to evict ethnic Zo people from their various settlements so that their lands can be taken from them and these tribal lands can be declared reserved forest, protected forest, wildlife sanctuaries and wetlands," the MZP said in a statement.
Incidents of violence were recently witnessed after the tribals, mostly belonging to Kuki-Chin-Zo communities, launched fresh protests against the Manipur government's action against the illegal poppy cultivators and destroying poppy fields in the forest land, especially in the reserve and protected forests in the hilly areas.
The violent incidents took place in Manipur's Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal, where the Kuki-Chin-Zo community tribals have been residing for decades.
The MZP said it has been closely monitoring the problems being faced by ethnic Zo people in Manipur.
Slamming Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh-led government's action against ethnic Zo people, the MZP criticised the Manipur government for demanding Inner Line Permit (ILP) from Zo ethnic tribes from Mizoram.
"While the ILP is required for non-Mizoram residents, we never demand it from or create problems for Manipuri (Meitei) people (living in Mizoram), whom we treat without discrimination," the MZP said.
Noting that demanding ILPs from those who are entering Manipur from Mizoram state is detrimental to ethnic Zo people and can lead to discord between the Mizoram and Manipur governments, the statement said: "We, therefore, demand that the Manipur government stops demanding ILP from our ethnic brethren."
If the Manipur government continues to take action that is not safe for ethnic Zo people, we would not be responsible for anything that happens to Manipuri (Meite) people in Mizoram, the statement said.
It said that the MZP would continue to work for the safety of ethnic Zo people in Mizoram's neighbouring states and around the world.
The MZP said "it will continue to promote unity among ethnic Zo people because it wants to preserve the brother/sisterhood of the community".
"The Manipur government is attempting to expel our brothers and sisters, who are people of the northeast, from their own villages, and we are unable to accept this. We demand that the Manipur government immediately stop such initiatives that can be detrimental to ethnic Zo people," the organisation said.
With the same ethnicity, Zo, Mizo, Kuki, Chin tribals are scattered in Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Tripura, western Myanmar, Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeast Bangladesh.