AIZAWL:
The Young Mizo Association (YMA), the largest civil society group in Mizoram, will be filing an official complaint to the government demanding cancellation of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate issued to an alleged non-tribal businessman in Aizawl.
“We will formally file a complaint to the home minister against the issuance of an ST certificate to this man, who now goes by the name Kamlova Chhangte,” said central YMA president R Lalngheta, post an executive meeting of the association held in this regard, on February 12.
According to the YMA, the businessman, who owns KR Construction at Thuampui locality, Aizawl, changed his name to Kamlova Chhangte (a Mizo first name and clan name) and allegedly acquired a ST certificate in 2018.
Chhangte, whose original name is said to be Kamrul Islam Laskar, is married to a Mizo woman and lives at Thuampui in Aizawl. According to the ST certificate, a photo of which has gone viral on social media, his father is Tlangchhuana Chhangte.
The case gained prominence after Chhangte’s firm was awarded contracts worth crores of rupees by the government, triggering a lot of hue and cry on social media.
The locals, in their objection, feared that such a move would allow non-tribal businessmen to easily grab tribal rights, thus posing threat to the indigenous people in the state.
“We don’t have any issue with Kamlova and his business. What we are against is the issuance of a tribal certificate to a non-tribal, which we fear can set a bad precedence,” Lalngheta said.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have alleged that Chhangte is a close ally of chief minister Zoramthanga and has received “special favour” from the latter in terms of contract works.
Mizo Customary Law experts said that the Saphun custom, which allows people from one clan to adopt the customs and practices of another clan along with the clan’s name as a surname, applies only between Mizo clans and a non-Mizo cannot become a Mizo under the custom.