New Delhi: Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma’s remarks that the state is being used as a transit route by foreigners entering strife-torn Myanmar to provide military training to rebel groups has sparked a political row, with his predecessor Zoramthanga terming it as a pretext to justify the Centre’s reimposition of the Protected Area Permit (PAP) regime in the state.
Addressing the Mizoram assembly Monday, Lalduhoma, whose party Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) came to power in the state in December 2023 defeating Zoramthanga-led Mizo National Front (MNF), said he was not opposing the reimposition of the PAP regime due to unrest in the neighbouring country.
However, Zoramthanga claimed the Centre had made attempts to reimpose PAP in Mizoram even during his time as CM, but he firmly opposed it.
“I was totally opposed when the Centre had expressed its intent to reimpose these restrictions. I was totally opposed and I am opposing it today as well,” Zoramthanga, who has served as Mizoram CM three times, told ThePrint Thursday.
Lalduhoma told the assembly that nearly 2,000 foreigners visited Mizoram between June and December last year, and many of them did not come as tourists and left the state unnoticed. He also alleged that some foreigners even crossed the Indo-Myanmar border and entered Chin Hills in the neighbouring country to give military training there.
“In the present geopolitics, the situation in our neighbouring country is being closely viewed by different countries, including China and the US. As this is the case, the situation of Mizoram being used by foreigners as a transit route has become a grave concern for the Centre, which prompted the reimposition of Protected Area Permit in the state,” PTI quoted the CM as having said in the assembly.
PAP, which comes under Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958, was reimposed in Mizoram and Nagaland by the Centre in December 2024. Foreign nationals are not allowed to visit areas under PAP regime without permits.
According to the Union home ministry, a foreign national is not normally allowed to visit such areas unless it is established to the “satisfaction of the government that there are extraordinary reasons to justify such a visit”.
“Every foreigner, except a citizen of Bhutan, who desires to enter and stay in a Protected or Restricted Area, is required to obtain a special permit from a competent authority delegated with powers to issue such a special permit to a foreigner, on application,” states the ministry.
In December 2010, the central government had issued an order lifting PAP norms for Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland initially for a period of one year from 1 January, 2011, to boost tourism. All foreigners except Afghanistani, Pakistani and Chinese nationals were exempted from the PAP.
While the relaxation was periodically extended, last December, it was reimposed. Incidentally, the ZPM had opposed the institution of PAR restrictions then.
Mizoram’s ruling party had then said that “it took strong exception to the reimposition of PAR in Mizoram, one of the most peaceful states in the country, which is moving towards development in the tourism sector”.
However, Lalduhoma’s remarks in the assembly Monday mark a shift in the ZPM’s stance on the subject.
Also Read: Two Mizo teens ‘captured’ by Myanmar resistance group released, but with a warning
‘I do not agree with CM’s statement’
According to Zoramthanga, while there may have been “stray incidents” of people crossing over to Myanmar, it was not happening at a large scale.
“Such stray incidents happen at borders everywhere but it is not happening at a large scale. I do not agree with the statement of the CM. He used it as a justification for the new restrictions. I am totally opposed,” he told ThePrint.
The former CM, who, along with his mentor Laldenga, who led a fierce insurgent movement seeking the secession of Mizoram from India until the signing of a peace accord in 1986, also cast doubt on whether Lalduhoma had the go-ahead of the Centre in attending a merger agreement of Myanmar-based rebel groups Chinland Council (CC) and the Interim Chin National Consultative Council (ICNCC) in Aizawl last month.
On 7 March, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was aware of the development.
“We have seen some reports on the matter. Our position on the situation in Myanmar is well known. I would also like to reiterate that foreign policy issues do not lie within the remit of state governments,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, responding to a question during his weekly media briefing.
Zoramthanga said it was not an advisable move. “The government of India is conscious of this. Without the initiative of the Centre, the CM should not get involved in things like this. As far as the merger of rebel groups is concerned, it is up to those groups,” he said.
Even last year, Lalduhoma had courted controversy after making a pitch for Zo tribe unity, which was seen as reviving the demand for a “Greater Mizoram”, while addressing the Chin community in the US which he was visiting.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: War of words as BJP ally MNF calls for Biren’s resignation, Manipur govt slams ‘constant meddling’
