Second coming of the Land of Christ in the offing

He also said that he wanted the Zo people to have the conviction and confidence that one day, through the strength of God who had made them a nation, they would rise together under one leadership to achieve the destiny of nationhood.

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strength of God who had made them a nation, they would rise together under one leadership to achieve the destiny of nationhood.

What made Lalduhoma's declaration significant is the fact that prior to her ouster, Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh, had spoken about a US-backed plan of creating a Christian nation like East Timor by carving out a part of Bangladesh and Myanmar with a base in the Bay of Bengal. She had warned about this in June earlier this year.

While Lalduhoma talked about a unification of the Zo people across international borders, his predecessor and former rebel chief and chief minister of Mizoram, Laldenga, had talked about incorporating Manipur's Churachandpur district into Mizoram, calling the Mizoram-Manipur boundary a colonial legacy. I recall answering his claim through the media, asserting that as an Indian Chief Minister insisting that the boundary between the State and Manipur is that of a colonial legacy, will he also support the Chinese claim that the boundary between that country and India is also a colonial legacy? He kept shut thereafter.

While the Mizoram chief minister was talking about a greater unification across international boundary lines, Manipur. This was when the Thadou Community International, in their convention held at Guwahati, declared that the Thadous are not Kukis. This has sent a shock wave across the anti-Meitei Kuki bloc. In fact, the Thadous were among the first of Kuki imports into Manipur from Burma around the 1830s, when the then British Political Agent to Manipur, McCulloh, put forward the theory of plugging in the exposed frontiers of Manipur to its ruler, Sir Chandrakriti, who gave a nod. A few got amalgamated into the Meitei society; for instance, General Balaram of the Sougaijam Clan of the Meiteis was originally a Thadou warrior.