The Zomi Revolutionary Organisation (ZRO)/Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), a Manipur rebel outfit, has allegedly joined hands with the Myanmar junta, in a bid to crush the pro-democracy movement in the neighbouring country. 

According to a news item published in The Irrawady, the ZRA “has raided the bases of resistance groups in Chin State”. 

“Local resistance groups have alleged that the ZRO/ZRA has reached an understanding with the junta. But the group has denied working for any army or any dictatorial government,” the report added. 

The allegation was levelled by Chin National Force (CNF) spokesperson Salat Htet Ni in an interview with The Irrawaddy

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CNF is an ethnic political organisation of Myanmar’s Chin state, which is aiding the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar. 

“…they have always threatened us to make us withdraw from our strongholds,” CNF spokesperson Salat Htet Ni said. 

He added: “They (ZRA) have abducted some of our troops, detained them for a while and told them not to stay in Tedim. This has forced us to conduct clearance operations to protect our region and our troops.” 

“…the ZRA is conducting military operations together with the military regime,” the CNF spokesperson further said. 

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Notably, in August last year, Northeast Now published a news item quoting highly placed sources who informed that the Myanmar junta has been pressurising the militant outfits from Northeast in joining its offensive against armed groups that have been opposing military regime in the Country. 

“Myanmarese Army are demanding money and pressurising Northeast militant outfits to join them in dealing with the PDF (People’s Defence Force) and other groups against military junta,” sources told Northeast Now last year. 

The People’s Defence Force (PDF) is the armed wing of the National Unity Government (NUG), a body claiming to be the legitimate government of Myanmar.  

Despite having massive support from the people of Myanmar, the military junta designated the PDF as a terrorist organisation on May 8. 

Zaheer Akram Bora is a senior copy editor with Northeast Now with over 10 years of experience in the field of journalism. He can be reached at [email protected]