New Delhi: Despite “repeated requests” from Mizoram over the last several months, the Union government has not rendered any assistance in “cash or in-kind” towards providing relief to internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are fleeing violence-hit Manipur, said officials from the state government according to The Telegraph.
There are about 12,000 Manipuris currently seeking refuge in neighbouring Mizoram, following the unabated ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis for the last several months.
Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga wrote to the Union government two letters for financial assistance of Rs 10 crore; one in May and the other in June this year. Later, the state government also dispatched one of its Cabinet ministers and a senior official from the state home department to Delhi to follow up on the letters, which requested the Centre to share its burden in providing relief to IDPs.
Zoramthanga had said, in his letters, that it was very difficult on the part of his government to look after the thousands of IDPs, and the state government apprehends a bigger humanitarian crisis unless the Union government steps in to share the burden of looking after the IDPs.
The Mizos of Mizoram share the same ancestry with the Kuki-Zo community from Manipur as well as with the Chin community of Myanmar and Bawm refugees from Bangladesh. In addition to the influx of Manipuris seeking refuge, Mizoram has also been providing shelter to many running for cover to escape persecution in conflict-ridden Myanmar and Bangladesh.
According to Mizoram officials who met the authorities at the Union home ministry in Delhi, “the exercise didn’t bear any fruitful results”. Following this, Mizoram’s chief secretary received a phone call in September from officials in the Union home ministry expressing their “inability” to provide financial assistance but promised “in-kind” support. However, nothing came of that phone call till date, according to Mizoram officials.
“There was no response to this, which left the people of the state baffled. There is a negative mindset about the Centre in relation to the treatment of the displaced people from Manipur (in Mizoram) and the refugees (from Myanmar and Bangladesh),” Telegraph quoted a senior official from the Mizoram government.
“When the Government of India is very prompt in giving in-kind assistance and relief materials to Palestinians, why is the Centre having difficulty in rendering assistance to its own citizens who have been internally displaced from Manipur to Mizoram within India?” the official asked.
Most of the fleeing Manipuris are taking shelter in nine of 11 Mizoram districts, where the state government has made arrangements. Except for the Saiha and Lawngtlai districts, there are internally displaced persons in all other districts. The majority of the relief work is being carried out by the Mizoram government, the Church, and local civil society organisations.