ZoRO vice-prez highlights plight of indigenous Mizo tribes
He said while there are over 370 million indigenous people conquered by mightier nations worldwide, the Mizo community is among these tribes striving for unity and recognition.
On the occasion of World Indigenous Peoples' Day on Saturday, Renthlei extended his greetings to all Mizo ethnic tribes (Zofate) globally and called for the reunification of the scattered Zofate. He emphasised the need for a collective effort towards asserting their rights and identity as a unified people.
Renthlei referred to the UN's 'Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' (adopted on Sept 13, 2007), which advocates for indigenous peoples' self-determination and the restoration of their rights. According to the ZoRO vice-president, this declaration has been a source of hope for the 'Zofate', who are now eagerly looking forward to achieving self-rule under a single administrative unit.
He said while the Zofate are currently divided across various nations, their unification remains a critical goal. He stressed the importance of maintaining unity at the heart of the movement, as it would enable the people to reclaim their lost heritage and rights.
ZoRO, which was formed on May 20, 1988, to promote the reunification of the Zofate, gained NGO status as an affiliated member of the United Nations on May 21, 2004.
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NDTV
39 minutes ago
- NDTV
As Gaza Starves, A Look At Historic Use Of Famine As Weapon of War
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Israel is not the only government in history to cut off access to food and water as a tool of war. As an Indigenous scholar who studies Indigenous history, I know that countries - including the United States and Canada - have used starvation to conquer Indigenous peoples and acquire their land. As a descendant of ancestors who endured forced starvation by the U.S. government, I also know of its enduring consequences. Dismantling Indigenous food systems From the founding of the U.S. and Canada through the 20th century, settler colonizers often tried to destroy Indigenous communities' access to food, whether it was their farms and livestock or their ability to access land with wild animals - with the ultimate aim of forcing them off the land. 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The U.S. military forced over 10,000 Navajo to leave their homeland. Indigenous famine By the late 19th century, numerous famines struck Indigenous communities in both the U.S. and Canada due to the "targeted, swift, wholesale destruction" of bison by settlers, according to historian Dan Flores; this, too, was done in an effort to acquire more Indigenous land. One U.S. military colonel stated at the time: "Kill every buffalo you can! Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone." There were an estimated 60 million bison before U.S. and Canadian settlement; by the 1890s, there were fewer than 1,000. Indigenous communities on the northern Great Plains in both the U.S. and Canada, who believed bison were a sacred animal and who relied on them for food, clothing and other daily needs, now had nothing to eat. Historian James Daschuk revealed in his 2013 book, "Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life," that between 1878 to 1880, Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald did little to stop a multiyear famine on the Canadian Plains, in what is now Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Macdonald did not hide his intentions. He and his government, he said, were "doing all we can, by refusing food until the Indians are on the verge of starvation." Indigenous peoples on the Canadian Plains were forced to eat their dogs, horses, the carcasses of poisoned wolves and even their own moccasins. All the Indigenous peoples in the region - an estimated 26,500 people - suffered from the famine. Hundreds died from starvation and disease. Malcolm C. Cameron, a House of Commons member at the time, accused his government of using "a policy of submission shaped by a policy of starvation" against Indigenous peoples. 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First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
Foreign ministers of 25 countries urge Israel to let aid into Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens
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The Hindu
2 hours ago
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