Will expel Meiteis if Mizos, Kuki-Zo are deported from Manipur: Student body

The Mizo Students’ Union (MSU) on Monday warned that if any Mizos or Kuki-Zo ethnic people residing in Manipur are deported to Mizoram, they will retaliate by expelling all Meitei people living in the state to Manipur.

 

The student body’s diktat follows Manipur CM N Biren Singh’s recent statement that his government will “identify and deport” anyone who entered the state and settled there after 1961.

 

According to MSU president Samuel Zoramthanpuia, the organisation had convened a meeting to discuss Singh’s statement and its potential impact on Zo ethnic people in Manipur.

 

The meeting concluded that if Manipur deports any Mizo or Kuki-Zo ethnic people to Mizoram, the MSU will respond by deporting all Meiteis from Mizoram to Manipur.

 

Zoramthanpuia also asserted that the student body has compiled a comprehensive list of all Meitei residents in Mizoram.

 

Manipur has been experiencing ethnic conflicts since May last year with the state government frequently attributing the unrest to “illegal immigration” from neighboring Myanmar.