Aizawl, July 3 NNN: The Hmar Students’ Association (HSA) today demanded that the Government of Mizoram stops segregating the Hmar peoples.
In a memorandum submitted to the Mizoram government, Hmar students’ body reacted to the direction of state government of Mizoram to take measures not to allot/issue house pass/site to the ‘Hmar refugees’; measures to segregate them from the local population and not to issue job cards under MGNREGS to the Hmars in Mizoram and measures be taken not to enroll the Hmar refugees in the ensuing Special Revision of Electoral Roll, 2012 in Mizoram.
The memorandum stated that Vanhela Pachuau, Chief Secretary, Government of Mizoram along with officials from various departments convened a meeting on October 20, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. and derived a segregationist resolution under Memo No. D. 32020/24/2010-HMS dt. 21.11.2011, which was directed to the Hmar tribe, one of the Mizo tribes of Mizoram. According to the minutes of the meeting, R. Lalremsanga, Under Secretary to the Government of Mizoram, Home Department was directed by the government to take necessary actions against the Hmar tribe on mentioned above points.
“The order, by ostracizing the Hmar tribe, spelt out measures to deny the community of their constitutional and citizenship rights. It stands against the rightful interests of a community whose rights and entitlement cannot be suppressed by a bias and unjust order. The insensitive order is detrimental to the unity and integration of the Mizos; it stands opposed to the collective interests of the same and negates the Hmar tribe of their fundamental rights. The assented order is parallel to the Nuremberg Laws that was dictated by Adolf Hitler under the Nazis,” said the memorandum. The memorandum further stated that the Hmar peoples cannot be “refugees” in Mizoram; and shall never be.
“We mould and built Mizoram with our blood and sacrifices. The sacrifices of our forefathers should not be negated by few narrow minded policy makers to serve their selfish end. Our forefathers have founded and named many of the villages and towns of Mizoram after various Hmar clans much before the colonial and imperial invasion that survive till today. The Hmars are a major tribe in Mizoram. Despite that, the attempt, on the part of the government and its institutions, to “segregate”, seclude and suppressed the Hmar peoples’ and their rights shall not be received in silence. We shall not tolerate the insulting order that has already dehumanise us. We stand with our rights and entitlement to secure the future of the Hmar peoples’ with respect and dignity; we shall not be alienated from them,” the Hmar students’ memorandum pointed out.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/hmar-opposes-apathy-of-mizoram-govt/
