Assam Rifles complex: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to inaugurate the Assam Rifles complex and lay the foundation stone for Laldenga Cultural Centre in Mizoram on April 1. The Aizawl Smart City Project officials stated that the proposed Rs 1.93 crore centre would be constructed on the northern side of Assam Rifles ground in the heart of the state capital.
Laldenga, the founder of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), led a cessationist movement for 20 years, from 1966 to 1986, and served as Mizoram's first chief minister after the region gained sovereignty in 1987.
Officials said that the Union Home Minister would inaugurate the Assam Rifles headquarters complex at Zokhawsang, about 15 km east of Aizawl. Assam Rifles, which has been guarding Mizoram's 510 km border with Myanmar, has two bases in Aizawl, one at Zodin and the other at Khatla. The battalion headquarters at Zodin is being shifted to Zokhawsang.
An Assam Rifles official said that they have repeatedly told the state government that relocation of the battalion headquarters from Zodin to Zokhawsang is not desirable until all pending issues and incomplete facilities are resolved and completed.
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Mizoram CM meets Shah in Delhi
"Chief Minister Zoramthanga met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his office today. Chief Minister expressed gratitude to the Hon'ble Union Home Minister on his promise to inaugurate Assam Rifles Bn Complex at Zokhawsang and lay the foundation stone for Laldenga Cultural Centre," Mizoram CMO tweeted.
Zoramthanga said that the aspiration of the MNF in particular and the people of Mizoram, in general, is coming to a reality and he thanked Shah.
Relocation of the Assam Rifles from the heart of Aizawl city has been one of the major commitments of the MNF since the early 1990s. The demand for shifting of the Assam Rifles was first raised by Laldenga in 1988 after the central paramilitary force killed seven civilians in a clash.
(With inputs from IANS)
