Lamka, Nov 25, 2019: Zomi Council, Gen Headquarters inntekna in tuni’n Lamka khawpi ah Zoland Territorial Council (ZTC) gupna leh UPF/KNO tawh India Govt kihouna suhat ding phutna in Public Rally om a, huai lou in, Singngat, Leijangphai leh Tualbual (Thanlon) ah leng Rally om a, New Delhi ah leng Zomi pawl tuamtuam makaihna in Jantar Mantar ah Sit in protest om hi.
Lamka
Lamka ah Tangnuam Public Ground ah zingsang dak 10:30 in mipi paikhawm in Rev. S. Langkhogin, ES/CBA in Public Rally flag off nei in lampi zuihna pat hi. Tangnuam Public Ground apan Tedim Road ah, Traffic Point akihei tou in Lamka Public Ground ah public meeting om hi.
Hiai hun ah, John K. Ngaihte, Chairman, Zomi Council; Dr. R. Sanga, Speaker, Zomi Council tel in makai tuamtuam in thugenna hun zang uhi. Hun zatna Rev. Jerry Joliansanga in hun zatna khak hi.
——-
Delhi
Zoland Territorial Council
Peaceful sit-in demonstration
25th November 2019
Jantar Mantar
2-5 pm
Highlights
1. Solidarity speeches led by Pu L Keivom, Pu Biaklun Shoute.
2. Special Items from Pi Lianlunching, Frisky Pints, Christy Vunggohching, David Samte, Nemsiam, Manlungching and many
others
3. Mass Prayer Fellowship
4. Cultural dance
For Zoland and Zo people!
——
ZOMI STUDENTS’FEDERATION
DELHI CELL
Motto: Unitv and Solidarity
Press Note
24th November. 2019 | New Delhi
The Zomi Students’ Federation is organizing a peaceful public demonstration on the 25,h November 2019 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi between 2 PM – 5 PM to demand Zoland Territorial Council (ZTC) in Manipur for the Zo people. This is in support of the political dialogue between Government of India, Government of Manipur, United People’s Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) for an honorable political settlement for the Zo people in Manipur.
The struggle of the Zo people is to regain the political status that was taken away by the British colonial regime and continued by the legatee of the colonisers in post-colonial India. The Zo people, often known and recorded under various imposed names including Kuki and other local tribal identities, were never ruled by the Manipuri kings before the advent of the British colonisers.
Our political struggle is for the restoration of our dignity, our identity, our land and its resources to its rightful place under the Constitution of India. It is to fulfill our rightful claim for political autonomy. In fact, the Zo people in Manipur, together with the Nagas in Manipur, remain the only hill tribes in the entire North Eastern part of India without the provisions of neither Sixth Schedule nor a state of their own. The constitutional safeguards and protections given to other indigenous tribes in the North Eastern region unfortunately were never extended to the indigenous hill tribes of present Manipur.
The recent political developments in North East India are witnessing signs of tectonic shifts. In view of this, we, the Zo people, who were categorized by the colonial ethnographers as Kuki-Chin group, reaffirm our indigenous cultural identity, i.e., the Zo identity. In fact, the Zo people in Manipur have been voicing their political aspirations under various banners to realize their longstanding demand for a rightful place under the Constitution of India since the 1960s.
This peaceful sit-in demonstration is to demand from the Government of India three points:
(i)To expedite the political dialogue with the UPF & KNO
(ii)To create Zoland Territorial Council as a political settlement to the ongoing peace dialogue as per the assurance given by NDA leadership in 2017
(iii)To hasten the process of paving the way for peace and development in the region and facilitate Act East Policy through Zoland Territorial Council
The indigenous hill tribes in Manipur have been demanding the extension of Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution for the last 42 years now. The existing Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) are not only ineffective but redundant to meet the socio-economic and political aspirations of the Zo people. Recently, existing Autonomous District Councils in states like Tripura are in the process of being upgraded into Autonomous Territorial Councils. We also learn that the Government of India is in the process of creating Naga Territorial Council as a part of the Naga settlement.
It is the demand of the Zo people that a political solution should be considered for the Zo people, who were identified with an etic category- Kuki-Chin – by the colonial ethnographers.
The creation of Zoland Territorial Council will be the restoration of our indigenous identity, the Zo identity, which manifests in our poetry, song, fables, legends and myths, and rectification of the mistake committed by the colonial ethnographers which was handed down to the post-colonial state of India in 1947. In fact, Zoland is inclusive, as it is rooted in the culture and history of the people who were wrongly categorized as Kuki-Chin group in colonial accounts. Therefore, Zoland is the ONLY encompassing nomenclature acceptable to all Zo kindred tribes for a political administration.
The demand for ZTC is within the purview of the Indian Constitution and is not against the territorial integrity of Manipur State. As a matter of fact, the existences of separate administrative systems for both hills and valley of Manipur during and after colonial period and is intended not to divide Manipur into pieces but to create a healthy administrative system and good governance.
The demonstration is to highlight our collective interests and aspiration, both tribal and non-tribal, as well as Naga and Zo people. We also resolved to pursue the agenda until the government established ZTC through the ongoing peace Talks.
Today, peaceful demonstration is organized simultaneously in 7 locations in Manipur and Jantar Mantar, Delhi under the aegis of Zomi Council and Zomi Students’ Federation respectively.
A memorandum to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India is being submitted. We hope and pray that Pu Modiji will fulfill the commitment of his party leaders to us at the earliest possible.
It is time for the Zo people in Manipur to live under a self-administered autonomous Territorial Council. It is time for the Zo people to rise up and grow at their own wisdom and genius, contributing to India’s remarkable growth story and taking part in a resurgent North East as active stakeholder.
We acknowledge the overwhelming support and solidarity from different tribes and communities, especially from our Zo brothers and sisters in Mizoram. We express our deepest gratitude to the Churches, various tribe-based organisations, student bodies, CSOs, media fraternity and civil administration for their cooperation.
Zoland Territorial Council Demand Committee
Zomi Students’ Federation | Delhi Cell 9717691266, 9953552369
Lamka
Leijangphai
Singngat
Suangdoh
Thanlon
Delhi
Leave a Reply