Mizoram State’s Information & Public Relations Minister Lal Thanzara told the 124th anniversary Chin-Lushai Conference held in Mizzoram, India that borders cannot separate the Zo (also known as Zofate) tribes.
The Minister made the remarks during the Chin-Lushai Conference and ZoRO Convention, held by the Zo Reunification Organization (ZoRO) at Vanapa Hall in Mizoram State’s capital Aizawl on 28 January.
Lal Thanzara, Mizoram State's
Information & Public Relations Minister
He said: “No matter where we have been born or brought up, we will not lose our common identity of being Zo descendants. Interstate borders or international borders cannot separate our brotherhood.”
At the close of the meeting ZoRO made a declaration urging the governments of the countries where the Zo live to accept the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and to help the ethnic tribes to use the declaration for their benefit.
The ZoRO declaration also stated: ““Although the India and Myanmar governments have signed the UNDRIP, their parliaments are still not applying it in their treatment of indigenous people. The Indian Confederation of Indigenous people and ZoRO jointly submitted a formal message to the Indian government and the Mizoram State Legislative Assembly adopted it [UNDRIP] on 8 October 2015. We request that the parliaments of India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), 2007 for the benefit of ethnic tribes.”
ZorO is based in Aizawal, Mizoram State, India and it has been trying to unite the Zo tribes that live in India, Burma and Bangladesh under a single administration.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
