YMA gives 5.1L to Mizo families affected by CHT blaze

Aizawl: The central committee of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) on Friday handed over Rs 5.11 lakh to 18 families of Mahmuam village at the Sajek range in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts whose homes were completely gutted by fire on Feb 24, according to a press statement issued by the YMA central committee.

Those affected by fire are ethnic Mizos who not only lost their homes but also all their properties in the inferno.

YMA president Lalhmachhuana handed over the money as humanitarian aid through leaders of the YMA unit of the Sajek range in Aizawl. The aid was collected from the units of YMA's Aizawl city units.

The fire that broke out on Feb 24 gutted over 60 homes, including 18 belonging to ethnic Mizos. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Ethnic Mizos in Chittagong Hill Tracts have been facing hardships due to crackdown by the Bangladesh army on the pretext of flushing out Kuki-Chin National Army militants fighting for autonomy in their inhabited areas. As a result over 2,000 ethnic Mizos have taken shelter in Lawngtlai district bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar since Nov 2022.