IMPHAL: The Manipur government criticized Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma, urging him to be a "good neighbour" and demonstrate "better statesmanship" instead of igniting "hatred and division" with "unwarranted comments."
After decades of careful preparation, the state government said in a statement that India should be cautious of the "greater agenda of carving a Kuki-Chin Christian nation" out of contiguous territories of Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar.
In response to foreign vested interests or "secessionist interests as openly espoused by the Mizoram CM", it said that it will not permit the division of Northeast India.
“Mizoram CM reveals his democratic credentials by espousing imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur while opposing boundary fencing of the Indo-Myanmar international border. He also calls for reunification of the Zo people. He also talks about possibility of armed militias in Manipur pointing their guns at Delhi and need for disarming, and sincere negotiations with hill leaders,” the statement read.
According to the Manipur administration, the state's current predicament is the result of illegal immigrants from Myanmar, whose economy has suffered greatly as a result of CM Singh's "War on Drugs" and is fuelled by the illegal poppy industry.
“It is not on account of any anti-tribal policy of the State Government, as has been falsely portrayed by the Mizoram CM through fabricated narratives and history,” it said.
“The Mizoram CM must note that Manipur has a recorded history and a rich culture going back thousands of years unlike Mizoram which was carved out of the State of Assam only a few decades ago,” it said.
According to the statement, Lalduhoma was "apparently unable to fathom" the causes of the unusual rise in the number of villages in the hill districts that are either heavily populated by Kuki people or are dominated by them.
Lalduhoma should keep in mind that the Mizoram government had given instructions to Myanmar nationals not to buy land or operate enterprises without first obtaining permission due to similar worries about the strain on land, livelihoods, and resources, the statement stated.
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