AIZAWL:
A non-tribal businessman in Aizawl has been stripped of his Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate following pressure from civil societies in Mizoram.
The State Scrutiny Committee for Verification of Community Certificates, set up by the state government, in its May 6 order, said the ST certificate fraudulently obtained by one Kamrul Islam Laskar has been cancelled with immediate effect.
Laskar’s ST certificate was cancelled under Section 7 of the Mizoram Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Community Certificates Act 2014, as he does not belong to any of the Scheduled Tribes.
The committee said in its order that Kamrul Islam Laskar, hailing from Bagha Bazar in Assam’s Cachar, came to Mizoram and lived in multiple places since 1978.
Later in 2002, Tlangchhuana Chhangte, a close relative of Kamrul Islam Laskar’s wife, Remsangpuii, declared that he accepted Kamrul as his son.
Chhangte even went on to say that the name Kamrul was changed to Kamlova Chhangte and he became a Mizo through the customary law’s Saphun custom.
Several people in rural Champhai district reportedly signed the declaration for Saphun, sources said. It has been alleged that he later obtained the ST certificate by using the declaration in early 2018 in the Aizawl deputy commissioner’s office.
Laskar, who owns KR Construction, based at Thuampui in Aizawl, came to the limelight when opposition parties hit out at Chief Minister Zoramthanga for awarding him several lucrative government contracts worth crores of rupees, including renovation of Lengpui Airport.
They alleged that the construction company owner is extremely close to Zoramthanga, who also holds the state government’s public works portfolio and civil aviation wing.
Mizo Students’ Union was the first to demand cancellation of Laskar’s tribal certificate, and the call for its cancellation was supported by the Young Mizo Association and several other organisations.