Fresh influx of 3,000 refugees from Myanmar into Mizoram over four days
Champhai, Mizoram: Over 3,000 Myanmarese refugees have fled to Mizoram’s Champhai district in the past four days, following intense clashes between two ethnic armed groups in Myanmar’s Chin State. This fresh influx has added to the existing population of over 32,000 refugees who have already taken shelter in Mizoram due to the ongoing civil war in the neighbouring country.
According to local reports, the refugees, mainly from Khawmawi, Rikhawdar, and Lianhna villages in Chin State, fled after a fierce gun battle broke out between the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and the Chinland Defence Force (CDF) in the Hualngo area. These two are among several anti-Junta forces operating in the region.
A report by Mizoram Post stated that the displaced persons have been accommodated in Zokhawthar village of Champhai district. The majority of the influx occurred between July 3 and 5, with continued movement even after hostilities ceased on July 6. At least 30 people crossed into Mizoram after the fighting had stopped.
In response, Assam Rifles personnel have sealed the international border to “prevent any untoward incident.” However, unarmed civilians fleeing violence have been permitted entry into India on humanitarian grounds.
The Mizoram government, acting on instructions from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, has initiated the process of collecting biometric data of refugees, with children under five exempted.
The conflict reportedly centres around control of Khawmawi, a key commercial town and transit hub linking Myanmar with India. Local sources indicated that four injured cadres were brought to Mizoram for medical treatment.
Efforts for peace are underway, with Mizoram’s largest civil society body, the Committee of Young Mizo Association (CYMA), stepping in to mediate and ensure a ceasefire between the rival groups.
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Rahul Gandhi has tea with 'dead' voters from Bihar, thanks EC for experience
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he had a unique experience of having tea with some "dead" voters from Bihar and thanked the Election Commission for it.
A group of seven voters from Bihar met the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha at his residence and shared their experience of how they were declared "dead" by the EC and their names removed from the electoral rolls.
"There have been many interesting experiences in life, but I never got the chance to have tea with 'dead people'. For this unique experience, thank you Election Commission!" Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
He also shared a video of his meeting with the "dead" voters. In it, Gandhi is heard telling them to move around and see Delhi as the "dead" cannot even be charged tickets.
In the video, some of them told Gandhi that they came to know that they were "declared dead" by the EC during the special intensive revision (SIR), and were among the 65 lakh voters whose names have been removed from the electoral rolls of poll-bound Bihar.
The group also told Gandhi that they appeared before the Supreme Court on Wednesday to get their voting rights back. The apex court is hearing petitions against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
In a statement, the party later said that seven voters from Bihar, all very much alive, shared tea with Rahul Gandhi today, even as the Election Commission's SIR list had them as "dead".
Ramikbal Ray, Harendra Ray, Lalmuni Devi, Vachiya Devi, Lalwati Devi, Punam Kumari, and Munna Kumar all belong to Tejashwi Yadav's constituency, Raghopur.
"They have been removed from the electoral rolls despite having completed the requisite paperwork for the SIR.
"The Election Commission has not openly published lists of the people whom it has declared dead, migrated, etc. Our teams on the ground were able to identify these people only because they managed to informally get EC's internal report in two to three polling booths," the Congress said.
These seven represent only a fraction of "unjustly" deleted voters in two to three polling booths in the constituency, it added.
"This is not a clerical error — it is political disenfranchisement in plain sight.
"After 'Vote Chori' was exposed in Bengaluru, it is clear that the Bihar SIR exercise is also compromised. When the living are struck off as dead, the death certificate is issued to democracy itself," the Congress said.
