iMizoram : i Mizoram

Monday, April 23, 2012

Inter-ministerial team to visit Mizoram

AIZAWL: A joint team from India and Myanmar will visit the site for construction of land custom at Mizoram’s Southern area on April 24 next.

The nine-member Indian delegation side will be led by Ranjan Mathai, Foreign Secretary while the 8-Myanmar team will be headed by Utun Htay, Port Officer, Rakhine State.

Ambassador to India and his First Secretary of Myanmar will also include in the Myanmar team. They will visit the site of Zorinpui Land Custom.

Meanwhile, in connection with the forth coming high profile visit Renu Sharma, Commissioner/Secretary,GAD, Planning, Finance etc today held a meeting with various departments in Saiha, a southern Mizoram town.

The joint delegation from both the countries will have a meeting at Zorinpui Land Custom before meeting with Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Mizo NGOs, parties agree on Bru refugees

Aizawl :Mizo NGOs and political parties have agreed on the accepting repatriation of Bru refugees on the basis of 1995 electoral roll. They will submit a memorandum to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram who arrived here in Aizawl today on a 2-day visit.

The minister who landed at Lengpui Airport in a chartered plane this afternoon was received by State Home Minister R. Lalzirliana and the Sports Minister Zodintluanga, after which he directly proceeded to Thuampui Helipad by Helicopter where Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, Finance Minister H Liansailova and senior officers received him.

The Union Home minister then rushes to the Raj Bhavan by road via Chaltlang. On his arrival in Raj Bhavan he met the Governor and had discussion with the Lal Thanhawla.

The Home Minister will also meet Civil Society leaders. A dinner cum Cultural Programme was hosted by the Chief Minister at his residence. The Union Home Minister will also visit Damdiai and Tuipuibari villages to see for himself the living condition of repatriated Bru families before he leaving Mizoram.

A memorandum was all Mizo political parties and NGOs prepared and signed yesterday at the meeting held in Central YMA Office which was presided over by the Central YMA President, T Sangkunga. The points incorporated in the memorandum included their acceptance of all genuine Mizoram Bru identified on the basis of 1995 Electoral Rolls, their demand for payment of compensation to 83 Mizo families who left their habitation in Sakhan area of Tripura because of threat and intimidation in 1997, laying down of arms by refugee camp based Armed Bru Militants who frequently created law and order problem in the Border area, rehabilitation of repatriated Bru families in their respective original villages and dismantling of all the bru camps in Tripura after completion of repatriation process. The meeting was attended among others by representatives of MUP, MHIP, MZP and all Political parties in the State.

Easter Sunday observed in Mizoram

Aizawl, Apr 9 : Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the death, after his crucifixion to save mankind from eternal death, was celebrated with reverence and happiness in the Christian-dominated Mizoram state today.

The Salvation Army musical bands roamed Aizawl streets and also in other towns and played 'He's arisen' to wake the devotees from their slumber early in the morning to mark the beginning of the Easter.

The Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church observed the day with sermons on resurrection of Christ like 'The power of resurrection' and "God has resurrected Him' in all the local houses of worship, by priests.

Members of the Catholic Church in all the parishes participated in holy mass and community feasts in many parishes and the night would be for 'Adoration' and 'Benediction'. Colourful Easter eggs were distributed to the children by all the churches in their respective units.

Friday, April 6, 2012

PC tells Brus: Be good citizens

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who visited some villages in western Mizoram where Bru refugees repatriated from Tripura are being resettled, told the community to try to be good citizens. Addressing a public meeting at Damdiai village yesterday, the Home Minister made a repeated appeal to the Bru refugees, still lodged in six relief camps in North Tripura, to return to Mizoram ignoring problems created by a few Bru leaders to derail the repatriation process. Assuring them that the Centre would do everything to ensure proper resettlement of the Bru refugees from Tripura, Chidambaram said, " There is no human dignity in refugee camps and everybody should return to Mizoram. Fund allocation for the repatriation process will not be a problem." He requested the Bru community in Mizoram to convince their brothers and sisters now lodged in the Tripura relief camps to return to Mizoram. Meanwhile, the Bru Coordination Committee (BCC) submitted a memorandum to Chidambaram at Damdiai appealing him to extend the period of free ration to the repatriated Brus for two years. The BCC memorandum, signed by its general secretary Elvis Chorkhy, also urged the minister to establish Bru Migrant Facilitation Cell as proposed by the state government and start functioning of special development project in the Bru inhabited areas of the state. Chidambaram on Wednesday had told reporters at the Raj Bhavan in Aizawl that the fourth phase of Bru repatriation would commence from April 26 when 669 Bru families would return from the relief camps in Tripura. These 669 families, he added, were identified by the Mizoram government as bonafide citizens of Mizoram, and should not be doubted. Thousands of Brus fled Mizoram in 1997 following ethnic conflict with Mizos triggered by the killing of a Mizo forest official by Bru militants. Other hundreds of families fled in 2008 in similar communal conflict sparked off by the killing of Mizo youths by Bru miscreants. Over 3000 Brus had been repatriated to Mizoram in the first three phases until it was stalled by the Mizoram government in June 2011 to put pressure on the demand for rehabilitation of 83 Mizo families driven out of their homes in Sakhan Hills in Tripura by Bru militants in 1998. After the Centre decided to give rehabilitation fund of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the families, the Mizoram government agreed to resume the repatriation. Mizoram officials said this would be the final phase of repatriation as all the rest refugees would be taken back.

Mizos brave rain to observe day

AIZAWL: Braving the pre-monsoon rain, Christian devotees in Mizoram observed Good Friday, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to redeem the world from sin. The 'Procession of the Way of the Cross' was taken out by members of the Catholic church in Aizawl, but since the procession was disrupted by the rain, the church members continued the service inside the houses of worship.

The members of the Presbyterian Church attended special Good Friday services, where hymns on the sufferings and the death of Christ to redeem the world from sin, were sung and priests delivered sermons on the same subject.

While Catholic Church members observed fast, community feasts were organized by the units of the Evangelical Church of Maraland in south Mizoram's Saiha district to observe the day.

Man Axes Drug Addict Son

Aizawl, Apr 6 : An 65-year-old man axed his drug-addict son in a Mizoram village, police said Friday.

The incident took place Thursday in Darlawn along the Mizoram-Manipur border, 180 km west of capital Aizawl.

The 27-year-old son tried to hit his father with an axe. But the elder overpowered the junior and hit him on the head with it, killing him on the spot.

The father surrendered to police and confessed to his crime.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Mizo tribes Integration Seminar held in Mizoram

Aizawl : Christianity is a strong force for the integration of all the Mizo tribes spreading in three countries, viz, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
This was echoed in a seminar on Mizo tribes integration held in a remote district of Mizoram on Friday.
The seminar was organized by Lunglei, Lawngtlai and Chhimtuipui Academy of Letters in Lunglei Art & Culture Auditorium on Friday, report reaching here said today.
Addressing the seminar, the Mizoram Art & Culture Minister, PC Zoramsangliana asked all the Mizo tribes to accept Mizo nomenclature for their unification. He asserted that the name Mizo coined by the forefathers is the most accurate collective name of Mizo tribes.
The Minister deplored the divide and rule policy applied by the British in 1890, by which Mizo tribes inhabiting the vast area had been divided and scattered in three countries, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. He also said, the present Mizoram is only one-fifth of the total area occupied by Mizo tribes. PC Zoramsangliana also described Christianity as the strongest force for reunification of Mizo tribes scattered in various part of the world.
In this seminar, the president of Lawngtlai Academy of Letters, Hrekunga presented his papers on Integration by traditional games and the president of Chimtuipui Academy of Letters, Dr. Chawngkhuma Chawngthu also presented a paper on Mizo Integration on folktales of the Mizos. The seminar was presided over by the president of Lunglei Mizo Academy of Letters, C.Hrangdula.