Zo is the name most Chin call themselves How to Overcome the Fragmentation of the Frontier (Indo-Burma-Bangladesh)Indigenous People
The people inhabiting the southern part of Indo-Burma ranges (between 92 and 95? longitude east and 20 and 25? degrees latitude north) are called Chin, Kuki, and Lusei by their neighbors. The British adopted these names when they colonialized these people at the end of the nineteenth century. This indigenous people, however, are one and the same people calling themselves Lai, Zo (i.e., Mizo, Zomi), Sho, Khumi, and Asho. (Zomi and Mizo means Zo people or they call themselves Zofate meaning the descendents of Zo). Although they recognize each other as kin with a common ancestry and although they have a close affinity in language, culture, traditions and social organizations, the nomenclatures confused themselves and outsiders. At the time of the British invasion, chiefs ruled in small communities and there was no organized state or nation that protected them from foreign invaders. The British and their more numerous neighbors took advantage of the different names and their disorganized chieftains to divide them into various units.
The people traditionally named their sons and daughters and villages the name of their successful and admired ancestors. Some of them traced their genealogy to a man named Zo (see Genealogy tables by Khup Za Thang and C. Chawngkunga). This is the reason why Zo is popularly used by the people and named their children, villages, business, etc. Some people less familiar or ignorant of their history interpret the name Zo to mean the climatic condition of the “highland” they occupy because they called the land with a cold climate of higher elevation “zo”. This must have been one of the most catastrophic historical interpretations because the people called themselves Zo when they lived in the plains of Burma. Today the Yaw people occupies the Yaw country in the Magwe division. When the Burman settled with them since the 14th century they became Burmanized. The name Zo was corrupted to Yaw. Today they speak a language which is neither Burmese nor Zo. Yaw country is in the plains of Burma. Thus the name Zo could not have come from the climatic condition of their land.
For the purpose of finding a common name for this article, to the Chin, Kuki, Lushai people, Lai, Zo (Zomi and Mizo) Sho, Khumi, and Asho, the name Zo is used to represent the people as a group because Zo is the most commonly used name. Zo is the name the people used as the name of the villages, and children.
There are many people whose name has the word Zo. The Ciimnuai people commonly
known to others as Paite and Bochung descendents who are known to others as Lusei and a sub-tribe of Lai in Matupi (Zotung) and Zophei in Thanthlang area are known as Zo people.
Almost one tenth of the world's population, over 300 million people, can be recognized as indigenous people, usually minorities in their states. Who are these indigenous people? Some people say it means "the owners of the land." The indigenous people are usually the original inhabitants of the land, such as the Aborigines of Australia, the Red Indians in the USA and Canada, the Inuits of Canada, the Mauri of New Zealand, the Incas and Indios of South America, and many more. These people become minorities in their own countries because they were massacred in large numbers, or were driven off their land by the newcomers to their country. In Asia, European colonial powers were less successful in exterminating the indigenous people.
However, they disrupted the political, cultural, and social equilibrium of the people. When they left, there was chaos. Because once proud and independent nations were incorporated into statesthat had more numerous populations,small nations joined larger nations with or without their consent. Consequently,they became minorities. Most often these formerly small nations were refused their fundamental rights as human beings.
More numerous people attained power easily through democracy and they commonly practiced colonial methods of administration on their minorities. The more numerous people not only dominate the minorities in the field of development. They settled down in the minority areas where they took over the economy, land, introduced their own languages, laws, cultures, and traditions. Minorities or indigenous people were subjected to the whims of the majority people in the political, social, and economic developments.
Tensions arose between the majority and minority peoples because of the assimilation and the loss of minorities’language, culture and traditionaleconomy combined with the practice of racial discrimination by the majority people against the minorities. Attempts to change the situation by the minorities in taking arms usually worsened their condition, because the majority people ran the military, the police, and other agencies of the state.
Endless civil wars were fought resulting in the stalemate of the situation and the minorities suffering immensely under the oppression because of their armed resistance movements.
For the Zo people it was no different. The fragmentation of the Zo society was deepened and finalized by the British. The British divided the Zo country intotwo parts for administrative convenience, one to rule from Bengal at Calcutta and another from Rangoon, a Mon territory, which the British made into the capital of their colony in Burma.
At first they gave different names to the same people - Lushai, Kuki, and Chin. When the British left the Indian continent, the Zo people became a part of three countries: Burma, India, and (East) Pakistan. East Pakistan later became an independent Bangladesh.
The Zo people in India were at first administered under the state of Assam. The rest were grouped into several Indian states and districts. Zo people ended up in the state of Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Megalaya,and in the district of Cachar. India made Mizoram a union state in 1986 after the Mizo National Front (MNF) took up arms and demanded independence for the Zo people, a united Zoland or greater Mizoram. The MNF fought the war of independence for over twenty years, resulting in the recognition of the formerly Lushai district as a state of the Indian union. The people of the district decided to name their state Mizoram, the Land of the Zo People.
In Burma, the British divided Zo people.Some were in the Chin Hills district, some in Sagaing, Magwe, and Arakan Divisions. The people of the Chin Hills district agreed to join Burma under democracy, the right of self-determination and equality with the Burman and other non-Burman ethnic groups, which were ruled together with the Burman by the British, at the Panglong Conference in 1947. At independence from Britain in 1948, the Matupi, Mindat, and Paletwa districts were joined to the Chin Hills District and called the Chin Special Division.
In 1974, the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) made the Chin Special Division the Chin state of the Union of Burma, without preserving the rights or privileges of the people to decide their own matters as was agreed at Panglong in 1947. The Burma Socialist Program Party, a.k.a., the Burmese military, ruled the Zo people of the Chin State from their center in Rangoon. The people were not given the right to self-determination. Even their language
was not allowed in schools. In effect,it became a colony of the Burman military dictatorship. Under the terms dictated by the Burmese military, the Zo people of the Chin State are being forced to assimilate to Burman society.
They are forced to convert to Buddhism and their women are offered incentives to marry Burman soldiers to dilute their ethnicity.
The Origin of the nomenclatures: Chin,Kuki, and Lushai
Kuki
One must wonder why they were called different names. The British adopted the name Kuki from the Bengalis. Because the British gave the name "Kuki" in Manipur, they at one time called all the Zo people "Kuki" but Kuki was not accepted by all Zo people even in Manipur except the Thado. It is difficult to understand why the Thado insists on calling themselves “Kuki”. In Bengali Kuki means savages or eaters of raw meat and it also means cannibals.
Lushai
The British got the name "Lusei" from the Zo people, of the present Mizoram.Although Lusei is the name of a clan it was used to designate the speaker of theDuhlian dialect. At the time of the British invasion the people told the British that they called themselves "Lusei." The British corrupted Lusei to Lushai. The Lusei and related clans first settled down at Bochung when they moved from the Kale-Kabaw-Yaw-Myittha Valley to the Indo-Burma Ranges around the 14th century. For example the Sailo are called Lusei by the Sizang although Sailo's forefather was a Sizang. Those who call themselves Chawngthu are the descendents of the Thado. Whereas the Thado dialect speaking people adopted the nomenclature as Kuki, the Duhlian dialect speaking Chawngthu are Lusei to the Thado. The Thado call themselves Thado- Kuki. They said that they are first Thado and second Kuki. For themKuki stood for the whole Zo people.
That means that the Thado would like to replace Zo with Kuki although the Thado call themselves Zo, like other Zo people.
Chin
When the British came in contact with the Zo people bordering the Burman they adopted the Burmese name for the Zo people "Chin". It is an established fact that the Zo people and other Tibeto- Burman group of people such as the Zo people, Naga, Kachin, Lahu, etc originally came from somewhere in the Northwest China and Tibet. The Zo people in particular are the descendents of the Lolo tribe, who still dwell today in Northwest China. The Chinese call the Lolo tribes the "Chiang". Similarly the Shan people who were in contact with the Zo people in the Chindwin valley called the Zo people "Chiang". Even today the Shan call the Zo people "Chiang". The Burman, who came in contact with the Zo people from the seventh century onwards, followed the Chinese and the Shan in calling the Zo people "Chiang". However, the Burmese wrote Chiang as "Chan" in the inscriptions of the Pagan era. Professor Gordon Luce, a British scholar on Burma, interpreted this as the Burman calling the Zo people friends because "chan" means "friend" in Burmese. It is a
political interpretation. The word "Chan" was changed to "Chin" in the later period of Burmese dynasties in the Burmese inscriptions and "Chin" is how the Burmese call the Zo people today. When the British invaded the Zo country in 1890s, the British adopted the Burmese word and ever since the Zo people under their administration from Rangoon are called "Chin". Many Burmese people prefer to interpret Chin meaning basket. They feel good about it because it is somewhat derogatory. Today, after 100 years of using the name "Chin" Zo people in Burma easily identify themselves as Chin.
The degree of acceptance of the name "Chin" among the Zo people in Burma is quite different. Whereas the descendents of the Ciimnuai group in the Tedim subdivision rejected the name Chin although they use it, and prefer to call themselves "Zomi" meaning Zo people. According to Pu Keivom the Ciimnuai group are the “G” group because they do not have “R” in their dialects and used instead of R used G for example Galte. The “R” group calls it “Ralte”. Thus Pu Keivom divided the Zo people into two groups the G and the R group. The descendents of the Bochung group (Hualngo and Lusei) would rather call
themselves "Mizo" meaning Zo people. The Lailun descendents although use "Lai" widely as the name of the Zo people, they readily accepted "Chin". It is very popular among the members of the Chin National Front and its supporters to call the Chin Hills "Chinland". It is, however, not clear how far the Chinland extends. The people of the Zophei-Zotung area call themselves Zo. This is similar to a group in the Churachanpur-Tedim district, one clan of the descendents of Ciimnuai call themselves Zou. Whereas those who call their sub-clan Zo in the Tedim - Lamka area do not easily accept "Chin", while some intellectuals of people who call themselves Zo in Matupi-Thanthlang area are advocates of the name "Chin".
These people advocate the name “Chin” because they maintain that “Chin” is an internationally established and recognized nomenclature. They say that whereas “Chin” is listed in encyclopedias as the name of the indigenous people, names such as Zo or Mizo are not listed in encyclopedias. On the other hand those who call themselves Zomi or Mizo maintain that Zo is the generic name, and the people need to assert themselves now that they have educated people and are represented in international community. The adoption and promotion of “Chin” means clearly the people have an inferiority complex and have no self-confidence in themselves in order to let the international community recognize their
real generic name. They prefer this act of cowardliness with the believe that their name might not be placed in encyclopedia or accepted by others. On the other hand the people maintain that they regard themselves as brave soldiers in times of war.
Zo people's adoption of these nomenclatures Chin, Kuki, or Lushai further deepened the fragmentation of the Zo people. The communal war in Manipur, June 1997 to March 1998 was blamed on the nomenclature "Kuki". When the Thado, who adopted the name Kuki as their tribal name were driven out of their villages in the north and east of Manipur by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, they were desperate to have a land which they could call the Kuki Homeland. The Paites who are the majority people in Lamka district of Manipur, however refused to adopt the name "Kuki". For the Kuki to have a Kuki Homeland they must be a majority population in one area. Thus the communal war happened. Therefore the nomenclature is one of the most important factor in the fragmentation of
the Zo people.
The Origin of Lai, Pawi, Paite
Not only foreigners were giving names to the Zo people but also they give names to themselves or to one another. The people who settled at first at Lailun village call themselves Lai. For them Lai is equivalent to Zo by other Zo people. Although Zo appears in their traditional songs and traditions they like to be called Lai. (Now they promote Chin). But other people around them like the people who settled at Ciimnuai and Bochung call them Pawi, although the Lai people never call themselves Pawi. Among the Lai also the northern Lai people (Zahau and Falam) call the southern Lai, Pawi. Also the people living to the south of them, the Zo, call them Pawi. Pawi has a derogatory meaning. (Bochung is a village in the Hualngo area of the Falam district).
The Bochung people, call themselves in earlier times Lusei, from the name of their forefather. Thus any body who speaks the Duhlian dialect are called Lusei by other Zo people. Lusei is a clan name, and Lusei clan is relatively a small family. The Duhlian dialect is a dialect originally spoken by the Zahau and the Lusei clans. The Sailo chiefs modified the Lusei and Zahau dialect and forced their subjects to speak a common language the "Duhlian" dialect. Duhlian is a name given to the Sailo chiefs. The Sailo chiefs demanded high taxes from the people and thus the nameDuhlian. "Duh" means "want" and 'lian"
means "big" or in this case "a lot". Duhlian means the people who want a lot in other words “ greedy people”.
The people, who settled first at Ciimnuai are called Paite or Paihte by the Bochung and Lailun people, although they never called themselves "Paite". Like the word "Pawi" Paite or Paihte are derogatory. Today these people live in the Tedim district of the Chin State, Saikal district of Mizoram State, and Lamka district in Manipur. Zo people also call each other with names that relates their behavior or habitat. Sukte means "people going south", Sizang
"near a salt spring", Hmar and Mara "those who live in the north", and Kamhau meaning "people under the rule of Kamhau".
Recently Burmese administrators created such names as Tiddim-Chin, Falam-Chin or Asho-Chin to underline the Zo people as many different groups joined together only by their common denominator "Chin".The Burmese are applying the divide and rule policy of British colonialism, and the people of the Chin state adopt these names without considering the deep meaning of these words. One day these names will serve as the base for further
fragmentation of Zo society.
Tribal Politics
The use of tribal names as political party names could serve as a fragmentation factor of the society. The Paite National Council (PNC) from the Saikal area in Mizoram sent a member
to the Mizoram Legislative Assembly. Mizoram State is a melting pot of the Zo people. The population of Mizoram are the descendents of Ciimnuai, Lai, and Bochung. Other Zo people such as Sho or Mru (Myo) also settled in Mizoram. Will the PNC member in the Mizoram
Legislative Assembly be concerned only with the affairs of the Paite? The name suggests so. If each other clan groups formed a party such as the Hmar, Sailo, Zahau, Lai, Hualngo, Haokip, Mara, Chawngthu, Lakher, Khumi, Matu, etc. the Mizoram political landscape will look like a land divided into endless people.
One clan will be suspicious of the other. Every clan would fight for their benefit and there could be no progress, economic or otherwise. This applies also to the Zomi National Congress in the Tedim district, which competed in the 1990 general election. Would the ZNC member in Burmese Parliament concern with the people who designated themselves as "Zomi" only?
That is the problem in Manipur. The authorities recognized each tribal group. In Churachanpur or Lamka district the authorities recognized the Paite, Vaiphei, Hmar, Mizo, Thado or Kuki, and Zo, etc. as tribal groups. Other smaller tribal groups or clans sought
recognition thereby making themselves different from other groups so that they
could be recognized by the Indian government as tribal groups. In the Lamka district the Paite and the Thado or Kuki are the most numerous tribal groups. The Paite and the Kuki national parties therefore were elected to the Manipur Legislative Assembly year after
year. After becoming members in the Legislative Assembly any fund available for development projects in the district were given to the people who elected them. Whereas the Paite and the Kuki people generously benefited from grants from the central government, the smaller communities Vaiphei, Lusei, Hmar, etc. went empty handed. Because of this the Paite dominated the Lamka district that created animosity against the Paite by smaller communities. The Paite simply wrote directions in the hospital and
public places in Paite dialects although the Paite dialect had not been recognized as the common language. Even the name Lamka was a name recognized by all tribal groups, however the name was slowly changed to Churachanpur, the former name of the government quarter,because the smaller communities hate the dominance of the Paite group and refused to call by the Paite name. The Paite also used Zomi exclusively for
themselves and the word Zomi is identified to mean those who are called Paite.
Similarly the Thado, who adopted the Bengali name Kuki, always attempted the recognition of their dominance since India's independence. None of the other tribal groups adopted the name Kuki and refused the Thado dialect as the common language although the Thado consistently promote the Thado dialect to become the common language of the Zo people in Manipur. The communal war between the Paite and the Kuki was the outcome of
this pervasive tribal chauvinism of the Paite and Kuki groups. Not only the communal war between the Paite and the Kuki, the Naga took advantage of the fragmentation of the Zo people and they knew the Kuki position in the Zo community. Therefore the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) launched a civil war against the Kuki, driving the Kuki out of their habitat from the northern districts of Manipur rendering over 100 000 Kuki landless and homeless. It was understood that had the Kuki not adopted a foreign name and
had sought cooperation with other Zo groups, they would not have been harmed by NSCN.
Zo people's fragmentation goes back to Zo's ancient history. The migration of the Khumi people, also known as the Mru or Khami happened much earlier than the Lailun, Ciimnuai, or Bochung settlements. Although the Khumi (meaning village people) settled at first in the same general area as the settlement of later comers, the Zo people were pushing each other or they were wandering in search for cultivable land and pushed each other to the west,
north and south. Some people lost contact with their relatives. For example the Bawm in the Bandarban district were originally from Thanthlang area.
Language and Dialects
The Hmar of Manipur and Mizoram have very similar dialects to the Zahau and Laizo, thus they must have wandered off from the present Falam area. Cultural and linguistic scholars could easily follow the affinity of the Hmar dialect to the Lai dialect. At present the Hmar
people are taking advantage of their dialect as a distinct identity and are taking steps to split from the Mizo society of Mizoram. Similarly in the south some people of the Mara community is driving a move for Mara national identity. These moves might promote
ones' proud identity but deepen the fragmentation of the Zo society.
The Purum or Chote and Anal or Pakan, Aimol, Biate, Chiru, Darlong, Hallam, Hiroi-Lamgang, Hrangkhol, Kawlhren (Koireng), Kom, Sakechek of Manipur (Old Kukis) are Zo people linguistically and culturally according to many researchers. Likely they are closely
related linguistically to the Zo people because they can easily communicate with other Zo people in their dialects and the name for example Chote points towards a connection with other Zo people. There is a need to exactly group their dialects to the various dialects of Zo society. Their connection to other Zo people need to be studied although today the Chote and Anal are allied to the Naga because of the Naga political stability unlike the fragmented Zo society. It does not matter if the Anal and Chote prefer Naga society politically, still their
historic affinity needs to be found.
Another example: The Biate are in the Cachar Hills and Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. There are over 11,000 Biate in the area. The Biate dialect is closely related to the Bawm dialect spoken by the Zo group in Bangladesh and Tripura. The Bawm dialect is once again the same as the Lai dialect spoken in Haka and Thantlang in the Eastern Zoram or the Chin State. The Kom for example are also closely related to the Lai group in their dialect. Thus Hmar of Mizoram and Manipur are very close in their dialect to the Laizo of Falam. The Hallam dialect of Tripura and Chittagong Hill Tracts is similar to the dialects of Hmar, Kom, Biate, and Hrangkhol.
It must be concluded that the main reason for the fragmentation of the Zo society must be the diverse dialects the Zo people developed because of the difficult terrain of their country that hindered communication. According to the military dictatorship in Burma, the Zo people speak 54 different dialects in the Chin State alone. Of course this is exaggerated. The Burman listed ten dialects in the Tedim district. In reality all the dialects in the Tedim district are easily communicable. We may find five or six major dialects in the Chin State; the Paite, Laizo, Lai, Mara,Dai, and Khumi. In Falam district the Laizo dialect is understood by all. It
is intelligible as far as Matupi.Similarly the Lai dialect is easily understood by the people of Matupi, Haka, Thanthlang, Falam, and in the Lai district of Mizoram. The most commonly
used among the Zo people, however, is the Duhlian dialect, which is spoken almost by every one in Mizoram, Lamka district of Manipur, the Hualngo in Falam and Tedim district, and because of its affinity intelligible in the Falam, Haka, and Thanthlang districts. The
Duhlian dialect is the mother tongue of Hualngo of Falam district. In the town of Lamka the speakers of the Paite, Thado, Zo, Vaphei, Duhlian, Hmar, dialects communicate each other in their own dialects without ever speaking the other person's dialect. This is the evidence of the closeness of the Zo dialects.
The Ciimnuai descendents in the Tedim district, Saikal district, Lamka district, and Thado in hill districts of Manipur speaks a dialect commonly known as the Kamhau, Paite or Kuki dialect which is intelligible in the area mentioned.
Proposal of dialect names:
Duhlian the dialect of the Hualngo and Lusei, and spoken today in most of Mizoram.
Lai the dialect spoken by Thanthlang, Haka, Bawm, and Biate groups closely related to
Mara Laizo spoken in Falam very close to Hmar and Za Hau Zo or (Zopau) spoken by the Paite or the dialect spoken in the Tedim and Lamka district Cho the dialect of Muana, Dai, Upu in Kanpetlet and Mindat district
Khami the Mru or Khumi/Khami dialect
Asho spoken by Zo people in the plains of Burma and Arakan There are many more dialects spoken by the people. But these are the main dialects. If there is any suggestions and comments it would be good to discuss.
Geographical term for the habitat of the Zo people: Southern Indo-Burman Ranges and Valleys.
Common Name
The people I described above clearly need a common name and a common language. The names these people use among themselves are Asho, Cho, Zo (Mizo and Zomi), and Lai. They commonly used names given to them by their neighbors and adopted by the British such as Chin and Kuki. Lushai is now almost extinct.
Chin is widely used in Burma, and in India, Mizo is understood as the nomenclature for the people. Kuki is used strictly by the Thado, who perhaps number just one hundred thousand people.
The users of Zomi are perhaps one hundred and fifty people. The user of Mizo are about five hundred and fifty thousand people (the people of Mizoram and the Hualngo in the Chin State and in the Kale-Kabaw valley. In the Mindat and Kanpetlet area, although they call
themselves Sho, the use of Zo is common. Places and villages are named Zo. Chin
is used by about 400 thousand people but the Ciimnuai descendents prefer to be called Zomi and the Hualngo in Tedim and Falam district prefer Mizo. Because Zomi and Mizo have the same meaning Zo people, there is no need to discuss about it. One small suggestion: if they want to compromise they could say mi Zo and Zo mi instead of writing the word
together. In naming places instead of Mizoram Zoram might make the people closer together similar to peoples’ names. (The author does not know what the Mru or Khumi people prefer).
Thus the users of Zo (Zomi and Mizo) outnumber any other nomenclature. The genealogy of Zo people goes back to a man named Zo. Zo is the progenitor of the people known as Chin-Kuki-Lushai by the British. Some people suggest that Zo means highland. Knowing the history of the people Zo must have been an extra-ordinary important personality because of the adoption of his name by many Zo clans as their own. The name Zo has been corrupted by the people to Asho, Cho, or Yaw. Or is Zo the corruption of Cho, Asho, or Yaw? We can
never be sure. Because most of the people Chin-Kuki-Lushai use to call themselves Zo, I use it here as the name of the people.
For the indigenous people described here as the Indo-Burma-Bangladesh Indigenous
people to unite they desperately need to have a common name and a common language. They have the choices to choose from Chin, Kuki, Zo, Zomi, Mizom or Lai as their common name.
Common Language
The main obstacle to the unification of the Zo people or the people known as the Chin-Kuki-Lushai by the British is the absence of a common language. No doubt each clan or tribe speak a language that is very close grammatically as well in vocabulary. If one travels from the north of the Zo country of the Somra tracts to the south in Henzada area about fifty percent of the words are common throughout. However as one proceeds towards the south a few words differ from one dialect to the other which becomes unintelligible as one
reach about midway of the Zo country.
Thus the southernmost Zo and the Zopeople of the extreme north can no longer communicate with each other. On the other hand the dialects are so close together that after staying in one place for one or two months it is no more a big problem to communicate. One of the differences is the copy of foreign languages such as the Burmese or Bengalese or even English.
In the northern part of the Zo country there are three dialects that are prominent. The Lai dialect spoken by about two hundred thousand people, mostly in the Haka and Thantlang area.The Bawm and Pankhu of Chittagong Hills speak the Lai dialect. This is intelligible in the Mara (Matupi and Mara districts) and Falam area. The Muan, Dai, and Upu in the Mindat and Kanpetlet districts use dialects intelligible to one another. The dialect is closely related to other northern dialects.
The Duhlian dialect is used as the common language in Mizoram. It is also used by the Hualngos in the Tedim and Falam district and a section of the Lamka district in Manipur. The Duhlian dialect is used by over four hundred thousand people. The Paite, Hmar, Zahau
and Lai have semblance to the Duhlian. It is the most understood dialect among the Zo people.
The Paite dialect (there is no real name for the dialect) that is spoken by the Ciimnuai descendents is widely used in the Tedim district and Manipur including the Thado or Kuki. The users of the Paite dialect counts to some two hundred thousand people.
Will it be possible to make sense out of this analysis? Can the Zo people have a common name? Should they be called Chin in the east, Mizo in the central area, Zomi and Kuki in parts of Manipur? How about a common language? Should they not have a common language?
As for the common language they might have to adopt one of the existing dialects or create a common language out of the existing dialects using the common vocabulary.
In conclusion it must be said that it will be a challenge for political organizations in the Indo Burman ranges to discard names that are derogatory and to find a common name and common language that would be accepted by the majority of the people.
Unification?
There are a number of books written by Zo people who are well informed about their people. Zo People and Their Culture written by Sing Kho Khai gave in detail the culture and religion and the book attempted to trace the connection between the Zo people and other people mainly the Chinese. A Critical Study of Bible Translations Among the Zo People
in North East India by Khup Za Go is not only about Bible Translation but also about the fragmentation of Zo people especially within the context of Christianity. Each and every clan or dialect groups translated and printed in their tongue, meaning more and more people are less inclined to know their neighbors or kin. A very powerful article on the unification of Zo people was written by Mangkhoset Kipgenwas. Pu L.Keivom ‘s Zoram Khawvel or The World of the Mizo People (The World of thePeople of Zo People: Mizo means Zopeople) is an inspiring book to read for any one concerned about the Zo people.
In 1986 the Zo-Reunification Organization (ZORO) was formed to unite all Zo people. It is still in operation but not as successful. Another organization called the Frontier (Indo-Burma-Bangla ) Indigenous People was formed to promote the unification of Zo people. Instead of calling Frontier I suggest “Southern Indo Burma-Bangla Ranges and Valleys Indigenous People Organization. Wile the Zo people everywhere sense the necessity to unite a real movement in this direction has to be installed unless the fragmentation deepened further to an irreparable condition.
