With the fear of being swamped by “outsiders”, the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), Mizoram’s powerful student union, has asked Mizos to stop marrying non-Mizos.
The MZP has decided to launch an awareness campaign among the youth against marrying non-Mizos, the Outlook has reported.
L. Ramdinliana Renthlei, president of MZP said the awareness campaign is being launched across Mizoram to protect the tribal culture, tradition and religion.
The MZP campaign is being launched to encourage young boys and girls not to tie a nuptial knot with tribals from other states, and especially non-tribals.
The Mizos are an ethnic group native to Mizoram and Chin hills in western Myanmar. In fact, Mizo is an ethnic group primarily composed of Hmar, Ralte, Lai and Lusei.
Mizo Tawng is a language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, and is spoken natively by the Mizo people in Mizoram.
Under Article 371G of Constitution of India, the Mizos enjoys a lot of privileges, including practice of customary law and procedure.
Ownership and transfer of land is also restricted for outsiders. Only indigenous Mizos can buy and sell land in Mizoram.
Even non-Mizos travelling to Mizoram are required to obtain the inner-line permit (ILP) for a specific period of time.
The MZP has probably decided to launch the campaign as a large number of youths, who migrate to other states for education, end up getting married to “outsiders”.
The MZP members will soon start visiting schools and colleges Mizoram to inspire the young students to marry only within the indigenous tribes of Mizoram.