(Aq, *tne, rlr*n5 , Mo.ll&rtt , , f q7 zo REUNIFICATIONORGANISATION (ZORO) GENEALHEADQUARTERS : ZBRAM

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigeneous Issues 5th Sessionat (Jnited Nutions Headquarters' New Y?r!, lSth tô 26th May, 2006 Item No 3 (a) & (b) Millennium DevelopmentGoal und IndigeneousPeoples Re-definingthe Gouls HIHHÏ'â Zo R eu n if i c *, ":L:âl[*il RespectedChair,

Permitme to congratulateyou on your electionto the Chair of this augustForum, and also let me thank you for the opportunityof talking issuesand concernsof the Zo indigenouspeople that - . Zo peoplewere then inhabitantsof the undividedcountry of their own, roughly 91,000square miles, covering present hill areasof the TipperahHills,Tripura (); the CacharHills, (lndia); the south-easternand western hills of (India); the Lushai Hills, now called (India); the ChittagongHilts and Hill Tracts ();the ArakanHills, the Chin Hills, the Lower and lJpperChindwin of SomraTracts including the Kachin Hills () . The British colonial force invadedthe Zo countrytwice by launchingthe historic BritishExpeditions in l87l and l8BB.The invadingforces in 1890took controlof the land of Zo peoplelfiercelydefènded by the tribal forcesunder command of Zo chiefs and Pasaltha(knights). . The colonial rulers divided the Zo country for administrativeconvenience and had the Zo peoplebrought under three administrative units respectivelyheaded by the Chief Commissionerof Burma,Rangoon; the Lt. Governorof Bengal,Calcutta and the Chief Commissionerof Assam,Shillong. o The colonialrulers at the historicChin-Lushai Conference in 1892 at Fort William,Calcutta, attended by senioradministrators of thenBritish-India Government 'the passeda resolution that whole tract of countryknown as the Chin-LushaiHills should be brought under one administrativehead as soon as this can be done." This one-lineresolution even to this day assumesgreat importance for the dividedZo people who had later acquireddifferent nationalities. . The British India Governmenthad declaredthe Zo country as "ExcludedArea" from the rest of the British ruled statesand enforcedthe laws, such as, the Foreign JurisdictionAct 1890and amended1937 Iater; the ScheduledDistricts Act 1884,the Chin Hills Regulation1896 and the Bengal EasternFrontier Regulation1873 and amended1925 later. . Zo peoplethen were a free and independentpeople running their own simple but efficientadministration headed by Chiefsand their Council of Elderstill the British invadedand conqueredthem. . The British rule cameto end after the Worid War II following the independence of India (1947)the independenceof Burma(1948) and the independenceof Pakistan ( l e48) o Consequenton the political changesbrought about by the outcomeof the World War II, onepart of the Zo countryunder the Chief CommissionerofAssam was acceded to the Indian Union,the otherpart underthe Chief Commissionerof Burmawas acceded to the Union of Burma and the remainingthhd part of the Zo country under the Lt. Governorof Bengal had fallen to the then East Pakistan,now Bangladesh.

RespectedChair, that was in brief the fate of the original Zo country and how the Zo peoplegot divided,like cattlesold in themarket, and they acquireddifferent nationalities, suchas Indians, Burmese, Bangladeshis. Nevertheless, divided ,having the advantageof living in contiguousareas have been preservingtheir colrunonethnic identityand culturalafÏinity mostly throughthe traditionalsocial, cultural, economic and religiousinteractions.

RespectedChair, with your permission,I would like to draw kind attentionof this augustForum that - o Zo ethnicgroup of peoplehad been and are still the leastknown people by virtue of the fact that the territory they inhabitedare fàr-flung, land-lockedhill areaswhere majority of the people in remoter places normally perform journeys on foot due to absenceof communicationand transport infrastructure. . Absenceof basicinfrastructure for providing healthcare, education, security and so on hadthe betterpart of the divided Zo peopleto remainextremely backward and poor with no securitywhatsoever when modernworld is amazedat the emerging advancementof Science& Technologyto maketheir litè betterand more comfortable.

RespectedChair, please allow me thento suggestthat implementation of theMillennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) in respectof leastknown and poorer group of indigenous peoplecan be a reality within the time frame only when. . A social and cultural infrastructureof internationaldimension for cofilmon use by ethnicgroup of indigenouspeople, regardlessof affrliationto nationality, be set up throughthe sponsorshipsof IPOs / NGOs for providing securityand training to help assistand prepare the peopleto work out their basic humanneeds.

With a prayerthat MDGs be redifinedto directly benefitinterests of indigeneous people,I concludemy speech.

Once again,thank you, respectedChair.