Manipur, Myanmar shadow on Mizo polls

Manoj

At 79, life has come full circle for Zoramthanga, the chief of Mizo National Front (MNF), who is fighting to retain office in Aizawl. If he wins, it will be a record fourth term as chief minister for Zoramthanga, who started his political career in the Mizo nationalist movement in the 1960s as an activist of MNF, then an underground outfit. Though militancy ended in the 1980s, Mizo nationalism has remained a subdued strand in Mizoram, which has a long international border with Myanmar and Bangladesh. In the last lap of his political career, Zoramthanga hopes to ride a new wave of Mizo sub-nationalism to win yet another election.

Mizoram chief minister and and Mizo National Front chief Zoramthanga (File Photo)

The events in Myanmar and Manipur, which have people who share kinship ties with Mizos, have cast a shadow on the goings-on in Aizawl. Zoramthanga has shown exemplary leadership in dealing with the influx of refugees from both regions – the Chin people escaping military action in Myanmar and the Kuki-Zomi people fleeing the ethnic violence in Manipur. Aizawl, unlike Imphal, saw the Chin refugee influx as a humanitarian crisis. The MNF is hopeful that the surge in ethno-nationalist sentiment will help the party overcome anti-incumbency, especially corruption charges.

Electoral politics in Mizoram has ceased to be bipartisan with the arrival of the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) in 2018. The ZPM and the Congress have new younger chief ministerial faces and hope to end Zoramthanga’s long innings in government. The Congress campaign has focussed on the MNF’s association with the NDA and NEDA (North-East Democratic Alliance) and is accusing the party of being in the BJP camp. Mizo sub-nationalism, it believes, has an anti-BJP flavour in this Christian-dominated state this election season. Which turn it will take on November 7, when votes are cast, is anybody’s guess.

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