Mizoram People Forum Against Non-Local Traders

Aizawl, Nov 9 : Mizoram People Forum (MPF) has asked Mizos not to lend their trade license to non-locals.

In an appeal distributed to the people in the form of leaflets the MPF said, lending names and trade license to non-locals will soon lead to economic assimilations of indigenous people.

The MPF also said, the Inner Line Permit system enacted and enforced way back in 1930 by the British raj for protection of vulnerable tribals of the hills of the Northeast region continues to be an effective safeguard for the minority tribals and no one should try to violate or dilute the regulation.

''By lending our names to non-tribals, we are draining our economy for the benefits of outsiders,'' said the organisation.

There are over 260 Mizos who earn money just by lending their names to non-tribals so that the latter get trade license.

There are also a number of non-tribals who married Mizo girls in order to run business in Mizoram in the names of their wives.

In this process, the state government has also lost a huge revenue as the non-tribal traders have evaded income tax by trading under the guise of Mizo tribals who are exempted from the income tax, the Mizoram People Forum said.

This illegal practice, the MPF feared, posed threats to the social and economic security of the indigenous people of Mizoram who are specially protected from the threats of assimilation since the British time.