Constitution violations 

NET News Network

Aizawl: What is the Mizoram government doing is a question that cannot be helped but asked over the incidents at Nausel village where a Church has not been allowed to be established and church leaders banished from the village with warnings that if they return it would be at the cost of their lives.  

The Constitution of India is clear that any one who is a citizen of India can settle wherever he likes within the country and that everyone is free to enjoy and practice his religion. This has been blatantly disregarded by the Nausel villagers and the legally elected village authorities.  

In the past and even as recent as last year, village councils have been dissolved because of alleged misuse of funds, which much less serious than violations of the Constitution. But the state government has not lifted a finger against Sihphir Vengthar village council for the Nausel incidents and this is enough cause for concern about how the present government gives regard to the Constitution of India.

The kind of incidents that we have witnessed in Nausel and other parts of the state where organizations take the law into their own hands and violate rights and the Constitution will always occur again and again if the government is reluctant to come down on the wrong doers with a heavy hand.  

The Nausel incident is particularly disturbing since it smacks of anti-feelings against a particular tribe and has ethnicity colouring. What is also disturbing is that the YMA is deeply involved in the incidents again. This gives rise to the thought whether the YMA has outlived its usefulness and is more a hindrance to society than a help. Another food for thought is how racist is the Mizo society.  

It is a fact that we cannot tolerate non-Mizos and other minorities in the state and are willing to commit atrocities in the name of a misguided notion called ‘Mizo nationalism’. These are all disturbing factors which the Mizo society has to ponder. However, at the end of the day, it is the state government who has to shoulder the responsibility and take the blame for any violations of rights and the Constitution.