A spokesman for Myanmar’s Chin National Front said that Manipur’s armed group Jomi Revolutionary Organization/Jomi Revolutionary Army has joined hands with the Junta military regime of Myanmar to crush their movement. Some Meitei groups from Manipur operating in the border areas of Myanmar have also been accused of being with the junta.
New Delhi: The Chin National Front (CNF), an ethnic political organization from Myanmar’s Chin State, which is supporting the pro-democracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) against the country’s military rule, has joined forces with Manipur-based armed group Jomi Revolutionary Organization (ZRO)/Jomi. The Revolutionary Army (ZRA) has been accused of joining hands with Myanmar’s junta military regime to crush their movement.
According to the report, this northeastern armed group is part of formal talks with the Narendra Modi government since 2017 to reach a peace deal.
CNF spokesman Salat Hetet Ni made these allegations during an interview with The Irrawaddy. Salat also accused some Meitei groups of Manipur operating in the border areas of Myanmar of being with the junta.
Asked whether Myanmar’s junta military regime is mobilizing separatist groups from Northeast India to crush resistance groups in Chin State, the CNF spokesperson said, “Yes, it is true.” Earlier, the same was done in the towns of Kel and Tamu in the Sagaing area adjacent to the Indian border.
The CNF is particularly accusing the ZRO/ZRA in the Tedim township of Chin State of helping the Myanmar junta.
After the coup in February 2021 in Myanmar, fierce clashes broke out between PDF joint forces, various ethnic groups and junta in different parts of the country. In the midst of this ongoing struggle, thousands of people had to leave their homes. Thousands of affected families from Chin State had to go to Mizoram to take shelter.
The Northeast Indian armed group ZRO/ZRA is part of the United People’s Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organization (KNO) since talks started by the Modi government in August 2017.
This group is active in Churachandpur district of Manipur, which borders Myanmar.
According to the report of The Irrawaddy, the Indian armed group has actually been involved in conflict with the combined forces of PDF in Tedim Township after the settlement with the Junta.
The report also stated that but the ZRA has refused to work with any military or dictatorial government.
Note that the ethnicity of the people of Chin State in Chin State is not only similar to the Mizo people of Mizoram but also the Jomi population of Churachandpur.
The ZRA/ZRO demands either a separate state for the Jomis who had been separated from Manipur or an autonomous district council on the lines of the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) of Assam.
The CNF spokesperson claimed that the group was increasingly becoming a challenge to them as the ‘Eastern ZRO’ in the region, citing the deepening ties between the people of that region and the Tedim people of Manipur.
Salai Hetet Ni said, ‘ZRO/ZRA has a ceasefire agreement with the Government of India and is active in India. It is also active in Myanmar, where they are called Eastern ZROs.
He said, ‘The Jomi tribe lives in Tedim and India. They have always threatened us to withdraw from our strongholds while working as Eastern ZROs in Myanmar. We didn’t do anything to them but when we launch evacuation operations with local resistance groups in Tedim, we encounter them, which leads to clashes. The same thing happened in the month of January last.
He claimed that the organization has been threatening Tedim to back down since 1995.
He said, ‘At that time they were not on the border with Myanmar. We made Tedim our stronghold after the agreement with the erstwhile military junta.
A CNF spokesperson told The Irrawaddy, “ZROs/ZRAs have become more active in 2020 and 2021. They kidnapped some of our soldiers and took them into custody and asked them not to stay in Tedim.
“Such activities have given the CNF and PDF an opportunity to lead evacuation operations to defend our territory and our troops,” he said.
According to the report, the Eastern ZRO had raised a battalion on 16 January.
“One of the reasons for our conflict with the ZRA is that prior to the conflict we learned that they frequently visit Myanmar military units in Tedim,” he said. They carried out two attacks on our CNF office. This office was opened after a nationwide ceasefire agreement with the erstwhile military junta.
Asked whether the CNF would hold talks with the ZRO/ZRA to resolve the differences, he said, “It depends on their stand but it will be very difficult to negotiate with them as they have an agreement with the military junta.”
“We have no plans to hold talks with them in the current situation, but if people are harmed by these clashes, we will be sad,” he said. We will try our best to stand with the people.
the wire Tried to get in touch with the ZRO/ZRA of Manipur, which is in the process of negotiating with the Government of India for comment on these allegations but did not get revert. If there is a response, it will be added to the report.
Meanwhile, a CNF spokesperson also explained why their forces clashed with other Manipur armed groups in Tonzang township in Chin State in mid-January.
“We will not accept foreign armed groups cultivating opium on our land,” he said. It is our national duty to stop this. Some groups are doing narcotics business after negotiating with the military junta. This clash took place when we launched a security operation there.
Armed groups of the Meitei community of Manipur are active in Myanmar. Organizations like the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are banned in India.
In November 2021, the PLA was involved in an ambush on an army convoy in Churachandpur district, in which a commanding officer of the 46 Assam Rifles, his wife and their six-year-old son, besides four other security personnel were also killed.
“We CNF and local resistance groups will work together and do our best to prevent such incidents,” a CNF spokesperson said.
read this also…
Categories: world, north east, special
,