Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Thursday said no one can touch the integrity of India and Manipur, but persons who are challenging it will get a suitable reply. He made this statement while reacting to reports that his Mizoram counterpart Lalduhoma has proposed unification of Kuki-Zo under a single leadership.
Reports said Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla made the statement while addressing a Kuki diaspora gathering in the US on September 4.
ZPM President Lalduhoma reportedly declared his support to unite Kuki and other similar ethnic groups under a single leadership and nationhood, even if it called for surmounting the prevailing border between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The Manipur Chief Minister added: "I do not want to make any comment on his (Lalduhoma) observation. But as a proud Indian, as Chief Minister of Manipur, and as a nationalist I can say that no one can touch India's integrity. No one can touch Manipur's integrity. India is not a small but a big country. We should be proud of being Indian".
"We will stand for India and the unity and integrity of Bharat. It's our job to make Bharat strong and united. Whoever speaks against it shall be responded to appropriately. "
It may be recalled that Mizoram has provided shelter to over 30,000 Myanmarese nationals, and they are now staying in various camps, government buildings and rented houses in all 11 districts of Mizoram.
The state shares a 510 km-long border with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh and also offered refuge to more than 2,000 tribals from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.
Mizoram has also opened its doors to around 7,800 refugees belonging to the Kuki-Zo community, who ran to the state from neighbourly Manipur after the ethnic violence erupted in the state in May last year.
Myanmarese nationals took shelter in Mizoram in phased manners after taking over by the military in the conflict-ridden country in February 2021, whereas Bangladeshi tribals also took shelter in Mizoram from November 2022 after they fled from their villages in CHT as ethnic troubles in the neighboring country.
The refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur belong to the Kuki-Zo-Chin-Hmar-Bawm tribal community who also share ethnic, traditional, cultural and linguistic ties with the Mizos of Mizoram.
Mizoram's ruling ZPM and opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) have been expressing solidarity with the violence-hit Kuki-Zo people of Manipur.
The previous Mizoram government led by MNF had strongly opposed the Centre's advice not to provide shelter to the Myanmar refugees.
Zo unification has now become an important electoral issue along with the ethnic clashes in Manipur and before Mizoram's assembly polls as witnessed during last year's November 7 assembly election in Mizoram.
The common factor that is brought under one administrative umbrella through Zo unification includes all ethnic communities, like Mizos of Mizoram, Kuki-Zos of Manipur, Chin tribe of Myanmar, and Bangladesh.
A vast hill area of Manipur in Mizoram borders the Kuki-Zo community.
The ten tribal MLAs from Manipur, seven of whom are BJP members, have been pitching for a separate administration or a Union Territory for the tribals in Manipur.
Ethnic violence between the non-tribal Meiteis and the tribal Kuki-Zo broke out in the northeastern state on May 3 last year following a 'Tribal Solidarity March' organized in the hill districts of the state to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
