Guwahati: Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and chairman of Mizo National Front, who has appealed for peace in strife torn Manipur has said that the MNF being the ally of the BJP led NDA “does not mean that the MNF will support the policies and objectives of the NDA government”. Addressing party workers at Hanam Rann (MNF party office) in Aizawl on July 24, Zoramthanga said, “neither the state government nor the MNF would be afraid of the NDA government at the Centre”.
“Though the MNF is an ally of the saffron party, it does not mean that the MNF will support the policies and objectives of the NDA government,” he said. Zoramthanga further said, "Though we are with the NDA, we do not support the policies and objectives of the NDA. The political parties in India have formed alliances in the name of the BJP-led NDA or the Congress-led INDIA. MNF is an ally with the NDA".
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Reacting further to the allegations that the MNF party was afraid of the BJP, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said that the BJP-led central government had directed the Mizoram government to push back all refugees from Myanmar but the state government refused to do so. "I announced in the Assembly that we will not deport them (the refugees of Myanmar) but will give them shelter and food. The MNF and the BJP work together for development. But do not support what they (BJP) say,” he added.
Zoramthanga also appealed the Union Home Secretary that the funds sought to provide relief to the displaced Manipuris who have taken shelter in Mizoram are yet to be released. "To put pressure on the Centre, I had said that the Government of India took care of the millions of refugees from the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) who took shelter in West Bengal in 1971,’’ he said.
Earlier on July 4, Zoramthanga had written to the Law Commission of India stating that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was generally against the interests of the minority community and the Mizos. Zoramthanga said that according to his party, the conflict of the Uniform Civil Code with the religious and social practices of the Mizos protected by Article 371 (G) of the Constitution and their customary laws is clear.
He added that no other party other than MNF boldly objected to the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) at the NDA meeting as most of them only wanted to maintain a convenient stand with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
