Mizo students take oath to not marry ‘outsiders’ 

One of the most influential student body in Mizoram, the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), administered pledges to hundreds of school students across the Christian-majority state to not marry outside the Mizo tribe on Monday, reported The Indian Express.

The pledge ceremony was organised in high school and higher secondary schools was a part of their campaign to “protect” the tribal community from getting “assimilated” with outsiders.

“Since 2015, every September we have been holding this campaign urging children not to marry a non-Mizo. We cannot get assimilated with outsiders, because we are a very small community. If we marry outsiders, that’s what will happen. We will be outnumbered. We have one MP in the Lok Sabha,”Ricky Lalbiakmawia, senior leader of MZP was quoted as saying in the Indian Express report

Lalbiakmawia, also the finance secretary of Northeast Students’ Organisation said, “On Monday, MZP leaders visited different schools across the state. Even in state capital Aizawl, we visited many schools. We reminded children that they should avoid marrying non-Mizos, outsiders. It was, of course, an oral pledge and not a written one. We do not force anyone, but just advise them”.

Young Mizo Association (YMA), an all-power NGO, had demanded a law to ensure that if a Mizo woman marries a non-tribal, she will lose her ST status.