A press release issued by MTC president LN Thangpu Mate asserted that organising Mate tribal (community) prayer by Chethang alone was not acceptable.
It should be organised by the Mate Tribal Council.
It further alleged that head of Mate (Songza) people L Lhunjamang Mate who came to attend the meeting was abducted while he and his companion were having their lunch at Pallel Bazar and they were detained unlawfully.
Though the programme was titled Mate Tribal Prayer, it contained programmes pertaining to Chethang Insung Kiloikhom (CIK) and Mate Insung Kiloikhom (MIK)'s assembly.
The MTC could not accept the programme organised by MIK for the MIK had been merged into Gangte and further to Mizo.
Hence, MIK cannot represent the Mate people, it asserted.