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India, May 26 -- On May 16, the Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO), a Mizoram-based civil society organisation, organised a unique public rally in the state's Champhai district, bordering Myanmar, to protest the Indian government's decision to fence the India-Myanmar border and suspend the Free Movement Regime (FMR).
Held in Vaiphei and Zokhawthar villages, people from both sides of the border gathered to participate in coordinated demonstrations. During the event, the organisation's general secretary, L Ramdinliana Renthlei, issued a rare warning. "If the Centre continues its plan to fence the border and ditch the FMR, the youths will have no other alternative but to take up arms again," he said.
As startling as the threat appears, it reflects the frustration of communities living along the India-Myanmar border over New Delhi's decision. It also shows how dearly they hold the open border to their existence. But what is ZORO? Whom do they represent? And can border closures really trigger violent uprisings in the Northeastern border states?
ZORO is a pan-Zo integrationist group with a single-point agenda: to advocate for the merger of all areas in India, Myanmar and Bangladesh that are inhabited by kindred "Zofate" tribes. These include the Mizo of Northeast India's Mizoram state, the multiple Chin tribes of western...