Advocating for the well-being of Zo people amidst Meitei radical challenges: Zomi Council Steering Committee's memorandum to PM
Zomi Council Steering Committee (ZCSC) submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister highlighting the plight of the Zo people — the Hmars, the Kuki-Zos and the nine Zomi tribes — who continue to bear the brunt of Meitei radicals.
The ZCSC letter described how the Arambai Tenggol, a Meitei militia group, after radicalizing and then subsequently militarizing the 700-odd square miles of Meitei ancestral territory within the last eight months, have influenced 39 Meitei representatives — 37 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAS) and two Members of Parliament (MPs) — to take an Oath favouring the desires of the militia group.
The memorandum explained how the Oath commissioned by Arambai Tenggol is a pledge by the Meitei MLAs and MPs to further the State sponsored ethnic cleansing pogrom on the Zo ethnic tribes and is no different from relinquishing of the Indian State of Manipur to a group of armed Meitei radicals.
The entire Oath-taking exercise testified the collapse of democracy and all forms of governance in Manipur, a case similar to Afghanistan, Libya, Gaza, etc. where armed militias took over the elected government.
