Lalduhoma: The man with cross border 'reunification' mission

Guwahati: Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma sprang a surprise on March 10 when he indirectly supported the Union government's decision to end the Free Movement Regime (FMR), a mechanism that allowed the Mizos and other ethnic communities living along the 1,643km India-Myanmar border to move a limited distance between the two countries without any travel documents. Speaking in the Mizoram Assembly, Lalduhoma, a former IPS officer, also favoured the Centre's move to regulate people's movement across the border.  

This, for many in Mizoram, came as a 'U-turn' given Lalduhoma's constant open opposition to the Centre's decision to scrap the FMR in 2024. His claim then was that it would not only keep the Zo communities across the border divided but would also  prevent them from realising their dream of 'Zo reunification'. 

"It is my mission," Lalduhoma told DH on March 4 indirectly referring to his constant efforts for 'reunification' of the greater Zo community — comprising Mizos of Mizoram, Chins of Myanmar and Bangladesh, Kukis-Hmars of Manipur and elsewhere.

On February 26, the 76-year-old leader even went to the extent of 'facilitating merger' of two Myanmar-based 'pro-democracy' Chin rebel groups, in Mizoram capital Aizawl. The two groups have been fighting against the military junta since it took over Myanmar's elected government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in February 2021. 

The Mizoram CM attended the 'merger' event, shook hands with the rebel leaders and even posed for photographs, raising eyebrows of many in India. The Ministry of External Affairs reacted angrily to this, saying foreign policy does not lie within the ambit of the state government. The MEA also reiterated India's (balancing act) stand on the Myanmar issue.  

This, according to many in Mizoram, could be the reason behind Lalduhoma's alleged U-turn on the FMR. He also faced questions in September last year when, during a visit to the US, he spoke in favour of 'Zo reunification' under one administration. Many outside Mizoram called this an anti-national statement.        

The leader

An IPS of 1977 batch, Lalduhoma had served as security-in charge of former prime minister Indira Gandhi for three years, before he joined the Congress. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 but he quit the party, mainly due to his conflict with former CM and now a veteran Mizo Congress leader Lal Thanhawla. After small stints in some local parties, Lalduhoma formed the Zoram National Party and was elected as MLA twice. He later formed the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), a forum of regional parties that was blamed by Congress for the Lal Thanhawla government's debacle in the 2018 Assembly elections. Congress had then claimed that ZPM facilitated MNF's victory by dividing the grand old party's votes.

Lal Thanhawla, who served as CM for five terms since 1984, lost to the Mizo National Front (MNF), led by Zoramthanga. A former insurgent leader-turned-CM, Zoramthanga is another vocal supporter of the 'reunification', which had been one of the demands of those who led the Mizo insurgency till 1986. Zoramthanga, who had served as CM thrice since 1998, lost to Lalduhoma's ZPM in the 2023 Assembly polls. 

Zoramthanga, too, openly opposed the Centre's move to regulate movement along the India-Myanmar border. In fact,  defying the Centre orders, he started providing shelters to 'pro-democracy protesters' and Chin 'refugees' fleeing the military action in Myanmar that began in 2021.

'Zo reunification' continues to remain an emotion on which Mizoram politics thrives.  After becoming the CM in 2023, Lalduhoma has been trying to carry the baton over this issue.

The issue of 'reunification' is not restricted to Mizoram. In neighbouring Manipur and Nagaland, it has turned into a burning topic.  

Manipur conflict

The Zo communities and the Nagas living in India, Myanmar and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh have been agitating for 'reunification' for long. Their demand got a boost following the conflict involving the Kuki-Zos and the Meiteis in Manipur that had erupted in May 2023.

More than 260 people — of which more than 150 are Kuki-Hmars — have been killed and over 60,000 others have been rendered homeless. The Meiteis, including Manipur CM N Biren Singh, claimed that the root of the conflict was "demographic invasion by the illegal Chin-Kuki migrants" from Myanmar.

Laldhuhoma, on the other hand, supported the Kukis and contradicted his Manipur counterpart's claim. He even demanded Biren Singh's ouster more than once to end the conflict. The Lalduhoma government has provided shelter to more than 12,000 Kukis displaced by the conflict. Mizoram also provided shelters to over 1,000 Chins who fled the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh following alleged atrocities in that country.

Parallelly, the Lalduhoma government even convinced the Centre to provide financial assistance to take care of over 30,000 'refugees' and 'pro-democracy' leaders from Myanmar taking shelter in Mizoram. But an investigation by the NIA claimed the "rebel groups" of Myanmar were procuring weapons in Mizoram and sending them to the conflict-torn nation to fight against the military. 

The movement for 'Zo reunification' got further boost in September 2024, when the Centre decided to end the FMR and fence the border with Myanmar, one of the major demands of the Meiteis. 

Kukis and Nagas, on the other hand, oppose the decision saying the fence would further alienate their "ethnic brethrens", who got divided due to demarcation of the border with Myanmar through the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, signed after the First Anglo-Burmese War. They refuse to accept the border saying it was decided without the consent of the local communities.