With a population
of over six lakhs and an area of 21,087
Sq.km Mizoram has a predominantly a
mountainous terrain. It is bound by the
Cachar district of Assam and State of
Manipur in the North, by Chin Hills in
Myanmar (Burma) in East and South and by the
State of Tripura and Bangladesh in the West.
With an international boundary length of
about 1000 kilometer with Bangladesh and
Burma, Mizoram has all along been of
strategic significance.
As an abode of a number of tribes with
majority belonging to wider Mizo group
primarily of Lushais, Mizoram was
administered as Lushai Hills district of
Assam Province since its annexation by the
British in the closing decade of nineteenth
century. It was renamed as district of Mizo
Hills within Assam State in 1954 and was
declared as Mizoram, when it got the status
of Union territory in 1972. It got full
fledged statehood in 1986.
The chronology of events since the advent of
British rule in this territory is a
narrative of compromise, confrontation and
pragmatic character of the Mizos. In the
process of the civilisational evolution they
gave up their head hunting and even accepted
a new faith of Christianity, which was the
beginning of their assimilation with a new
civilisational order. As victim of unholy
nexus between the forces of repressive
imperialism and religious exclusivism they
had to compromise with the situation.
However, in post colonial era, when they got
the opportunity to be an equal partner in
the wider space of civilisational evolution,
they confronted the Government for an
independent sovereign State. The much
publicized hype of fear against tribal
identity was in fact the political game
played by vested interests. Finally, they
understood the divisive and self-seeking
game of insurgents and accepted pragmatic
politics.
The advent of British rule in Mizo Hills was
the beginning of a new era for Mizo society,
which left a deep impact on its
socio-political evolution. The colonial
power introduced Inner Line Regulation and
restricted the entry of outsiders in this
area. The Christian Missionaries arrived
immediately after the British and focused
their whole enterprise to push the Mizo
society to the domain of an unknown
Christian tradition. With an army of priests
and fat moneybags they increased the
strength of Christian population in Lushai
Hills from.05 % in 1901 to 80.31 % in 1951.
The socio-religious transformation of Mizos
to a new tradition arrested their
integration in the wider civilisational mass
of India.
It was a historical irony that the Mizos
like their other tribal counter parts played
politics of tribal extremism by raising the
unknown concept of tribal nationalism and
ethnic identity, which was introduced among
them by the alien forces. They failed to
understand the game of Church, which caused
the first loss to their indigenous ethnic
identity. “The irony of the whole missionary
enterprise is that the Church which strongly
advocated the sustenance of the ethnic
identity of the Mizos actually destroyed it
once for all”(Making of Mizoram – Vol. II by
Suhas Chatterjee, M D Publications, New
Delhi, 1994, Page 209). The Church even
destroyed some of the positive aspects of
their egalitarian identity like ‘Bachelors
Dormitories’, which used to impart informal
education on community living; selfless
obligation to society and trade crafts.
N.E.Perry in his monograph of Lushai customs
and ceremonies observed: “the missionaries
were destroying some of the excellent
customs of the Lushais” (Mizoram by Animesh
Ray, 1993, Page141). Factually, the
Christian Missionaries kept them isolated in
a mental sanctuary, sowed the seed of
separatism and debarred them from democratic
aspiration and rightful partnership in the
national rebuilding programs of India for
long years.
Traditionally, Mizos were under the rule of
their respective chieftains. The institution
of chieftainship was based on the individual
strength and possession. Loyalty to the
chiefs and economic self-sufficiency kept
them contended even in isolation. The
British however, allowed the institution of
chieftainship to continue with a view to
keep the Mizos under control through it. The
Church on the other hand by providing
primary education, salaried jobs of priests,
teachers and medical attendants to the
converts robbed of their traditional
moorings and culture and emerged as a centre
of power and patronage. A.G.Maccall while
referring to Lushai Hills wrote: “Local
educational practice soon gave rise to the
belief that education and Christianity was
pass-port to salaried job, relief from
wearisome toil of cultivating hard land.
Black coated occupations became synonymous
to progress. Christianity led towards black-coatism”
(Government and Politics in Mizoram by
R.N.Prasad, 1987, page70).
Inspired with the formation of Young Burmese
Association, the half educated Mizo youths
also formed Young Lushai Association in 1934
(In 1954 it was renamed as Young Mizo
Association). Even though it was a Church
sponsored socio-cultural organization, the
British power took extra precaution to
ensure that it does not have any link with
the political developments in India. They
therefore, excluded Lushai Hill from the
legislative jurisdiction of Assam under
India Act 1935.
Second World War provided the Mizo youths in
British Army an opportunity to interact with
the people of different culture in course of
their postings beyond Mizoram. After the end
of War they retuned to their native place
with new civilisational experience and
political ideas. The Mizo students, who were
studying in the bordering towns of Silchar
and Sylhet, too had seen the upsurge of
freedom movement. These developments created
a new political awakening in the emerging
middle class in Lushai Hills, which started
talking against the desirability of the
institution of chieftainship.
With freedom knocking the door of India, the
Mizos were found divided over the merger of
Lushai Hills with Indian Union. Those under
the influence of the Church and chieftains
pleaded that they would lose ethno-cultural
identity due to civilisational pull of the
larger mass of non-tribal population of
mainland India if their territory were
merged with Indian Union. Some of them
preferred merger with Myanmar (Burma). The
group led by chieftains initiated a debate
on feasibility of introducing Crown Colony
Scheme. But the ‘commoners’ with an
aspiration to free their society from the
traditional control of the chieftains formed
a first political organization named as Mizo
Union (MU) in April 1946 and adopted a
resolution in support of the merger of
Lushai Hills with Indian Union. “In its
first General Assembly on September 24,
1946, at Kulikawn, Aizawal, the party
resolved that in the event of India
attaining independence, the Lushai Hills
must be included within the province of
Assam” (Mizoram: Politics of Regionalism and
National Integration by Lalchungnunga, 1994,
page 73, Reliance Publishing House, New
Delhi).
In reaction against the formation of Mizo
Union, the chieftains encouraged the
formation of United Mizo Freedom
Organization (UMFO) in July 1947 to oppose
the merger. But this new party failed to
convince the Mizo masses and Lusai Hills
became a part of Assam under Indian Union
after Independence. “Independence of India
was enthusiastically welcomed by the Mizo
Unionists” (Mizoram: Politics of Regionalism
and National Integration).
In absence of any unit of Indian National
Congress (INC) in Lushai Hills formation of
integrationist pro-Congress Mizo Union was
the beginning of political renaissance in
Mizo society. “It appears to us that the INC
also did not bother to form its unit in
Mizoram for a long time because the
integrationist pro-Congress Mizo Union Party
was there” (Mizoram: Politics of Regionalism
and National Integration by Lalchungnunga,
1994, page 73, Reliance Publishing House,
New Delhi).
At no point of time after the end of
colonial rule Indian people living in plains
made any attempt to sideline their
counterparts living in hills and forest.
Incorporation of sixth schedule in Indian
Constitution mandated the tribal people the
rights to self- govern. The institution of
District Council provided them
administrative, judicial, legislative and
taxation powers to preserve their
ethno-cultural identity within the federal
character of Indian Union. With the
exception of Nagas, who demanded sovereignty
from the very day of India’s independence,
the tribal inhabitants of the British period
districts of Khasis and Jayantiya Hills,
Garo Hills, Mikir Hills, North Cachar Hills
and Lushai Hills accepted the institution of
the District Council in their respective
areas and joined the mainstream politics of
the country. But despite such honest
intention of the Government the forces
detrimental to the national interest raised
the bogey of tribal identity and sowed the
seed of divisive politics. Jawaharlal
Nehru’s speech in Kohima on March 30, 1953
that “the works of the missionaries were not
clean of politics”(Government and Politics
in Mizoram by R.N.Prasad, 1987, Page 71)
also suggests that in addition to
evangelical works, the Christian
Missionaries were also involved in local
politics.
Although, the Mizos were under the push and
pull of the chieftains and Church leaders,
who had deeply penetrated the
tribal-non-tribal antipathy and politics of
secessionism among them, the Mizo Union as
an associate of the Indian National Congress
actively worked for their democratization.
It put pressure on Government of Assam for
abolition of the institution of
chieftainship. The power of the chieftains
had already declined with the advent of
British rule. The institution got a final
blow after the enactment of ‘The Lushai
Hills (Acquisition of Chief’s rights) Act
1954. The enraged chieftains under the
patronage of divisive forces however, raised
the bogey of imaginary danger to the
ethno-cultural identity of Mizos and pushed
them away from the path of national
integration.
The disastrous famine of 1959-60 caused
great frustration in Mizo Hills and thereby
accelerated the politics of negativism. Poor
handling of famine and inadequate relief
measure followed by imposition of Assamese
as official language in the State forced the
Mizo Union to disassociate itself from the
Assam Congress Legislature Party. Its
volunteers however came forward in a big way
to extend relief to the people to save them
from the calamity. But the Government of
Assam in stead of extending helping hand to
a tested nationalist Mizo Union patronized
Laldenga, an ex-serviceman, who had formed
Mizo National Famine Front in 1960 to launch
relief operations. The Congress Party opened
its unit in Mizoram only in August 1961.
Mizo National Famine Front was converted
into a political party known as Mizo
National Front (MNF) in October 1961 with
Laldenga as its president. The objective of
the party was to achieve Independence of
Mizo Hills as a sovereign State. It
mobilized the support of the anti-Mizo Union
forces like Chieftains, Church leaders,
zealous youths and some ex-servicemen from
the disbanded 2ND Assam Regiment.
With the politics of aggressive tribalism,
the MNF emerged as a force to challenge the
Mizo Union. Criticizing the Mizo Union for
its alleged connivance with the Government
for integration of Mizo society in the
larger masses of non-tribal India, it
contested Assembly bye-elections as well as
Village Council elections in 1963 and won
two and 145 seats respectively. The MNF at
the same time also developed contact with
Pakistan.
Although, secret visits of MNF leader
Laldenga and others to Pakistan were known
to the Government, the latter did not take
up the issue seriously. The Congress Chief
Minister of Assam B. P. Chaliha rather used
the MNF to weaken the integrationist Mizo
Union., which demanded separate statehood
for Mizo Hills. The Government in fact
ignored the anti-national activities of the
MNF leaders ever since its formation.
Laldenga was arrested while he was returning
from his secret political mission in
Pakistan. But he wrote a letter to Chief
Minister Chaliha and assured him that he
would join the mainstream politics under
Indian constitution. Chaliha got trapped in
the Machiavellian politics of Laldenga and
released him from jail. Getting a heroic
welcome from his people on his release,
Laldenga reorganized MNF volunteers, sent
them for training in Pakistan, procured huge
quantity of arms from the same country and
finally raised an armed revolt on February
28, 1966 for secession of Mizo Hills from
Indian Union.
“The disbandment of the Mizo dominated
Second Battalion of Assam Regiment in 1964,
the presence of a larger number of
discontented ex-Chiefs and unemployed
youths, the readiness of the Pakistan
Government to help the MNF, Chaliha’s (Chief
Minister of Assam) patronage of the MNF in
order to weaken the Mizo Union, the growing
number of juvenile delinquents and the
Assamese language issue”(Mizoram: Politics
of Regionalism and National Integration by
Lalchungnunga, 1994 – Quoting Dr. V.V.Rao-
Century of Tribal Politics in North East
India, 1976, Page 83) collectively prompted
the secessionist armed revolt.
The Mizo National Army of the MNF launched
armed attack on various Government
establishments, killed some of the Assam
Rifles personnel and kidnapped SDO Lungleg
as well as a couple of Intelligence Bureau
officials. Laldenga declared independence
for Mizo Hills on March 1. The rebellion
shocked the whole country and seriously
affected the civil life with large scale
continuous disturbances throughout the
district for days that followed. The
Government invoked Assam Disturbed Areas Act
and ordered Army deployment to control the
situation.
The security forces, with wide range of
powers under the Assam Disturbed Areas Act
and Defense of India Rule took stiff and
effective measures by adopting the policy of
stick and carrot and restored normalcy. But
it was handicapped to find out the rebels
taking shelter in isolated and scattered
villages. The army operation might have left
an inedible experience in the memory of the
Mizos but Regrouping of Progressive and
Protected Villages Scheme for rehabilitation
with sincere and honest efforts of the same
army was a grand success and left an
indelible imprint on their confidence in
Indian establishment. This was the reason as
to how they could face the challenge of the
rebels for twenty years.
The insurgents established their provisional
government with headquarter in Chittagong
Hill Tract of East Pakistan and continued
sporadic violence in Mizo Hills. But the
Indo-Pak War followed by fall of Dhaka and
emergence of Bangladesh was a major setback
for them as the new regime did not allow its
territory as their sanctuary. This led to
surrender of a sizeable number of rebels
before the security forces.
The Mizo Hills got the status of Union
Territory in January 1972 followed by its
first 30-member Legislative Assembly
election in April. Of the 27 elected
members, Mizo Union won in 21 constituencies
followed by Congress with six seats. Three
nominated members also joined the Mizo Union
Parliamentary Party, which formed the
Government with Chhunga as Chief Minister.
After a lull for some times, the MNF revived
its activities with support from Pakistan
and China and made further violent attacks
in 1973. This led to a discussion between
the leaders of the Mizo Union and Congress
for the merger of the two parties to meet
the challenge of the MNF unitedly. Merger of
Mizo Union, a most popular party in Mizo
Hills with the top mainstream party the
Congress in January 1974 was a reflection of
the pragmatic mindset of the Mizo elite. But
the merger failed to bring desired result as
the MNF launched a campaign against the
merger on the plea that it was a surrender
of the regional and ethnic identity of the
Mizos. With new recruitment, arms build-up
and the swelling strength of rebels, the MNF
cadres ran a parallel government from its
base in the mountainous region of Burma.
Revolt for secession from India was nothing
but a legacy of intra-ethnic war in the
crags of hills and dense forest carried
forward by the tribal people. But the
gradual decline in the glamour of such
romantic adventurism brought them to
negotiate for peace. Tired of the hard life
and pressure from security forces, the
rebels were in favor of peace negotiation.
Laldenga too being away from Mizoram for
twelve years wanted to return to India and
accordingly signed an agreement in January
1976 for solution of Mizoram problem within
the Constitution of India. He also gave
assurance that the rebels would surrender
all the arms before the security forces
within a month. After this peace accord, the
Chief Minister Ch.Chhunga urged the Mizo
people: “It is a great privilege to be an
Indian. There is in India room for all
diverse races, speaking different languages,
following different religions and having
different culture. (Government and Politics
in Mizoram by R.N.Prasad, 1987, page 322).
Laldenga backed out from the agreement due
to major difference within the MNF and
resumed violence by re-organizing the MNF
cadres. The insurgents however, failed to
stop the ensuing Assembly election in 1978.
Political parties like Congress, Peoples
Conference of Brigadier Sailo, Mizoram
Janata, Mizoram Democratic Front, break away
faction of Mizo Union and some Independents
contested the elections, which were
peaceful. With Peoples Conference securing
comfortable majority Brigadier Sailo became
the Chief Minister. Sailo wanted to isolate
Laldenga and initiate fresh negotiation with
the anti-Laldenga faction of the MNF. But
personal ambition of the MLAs irrespective
of their political affiliations created a
political crisis and Mizoram was brought
under President Rule. After midterm poll in
April 1979 Peoples Conference again secured
majority and new ministry headed by Sailo
took over in May. Laldenga signed another
agreement in July 1980, which too failed to
bring desired result.
Participation of the Mizos in elections
since Independence was a reflection of their
love for democracy and peace. In 1984
election too they elected a Congress
Government in Mizoram but welcomed the peace
initiative by insurgent leader Laldenga even
though he was gradually losing the sympathy
of the masses. Laldenga too could understand
the mind of his community members. In
October 1984 he said: “I have come back as
Indian to solve our (Mizoram) problem and
take my place as an Indian in Indian
politics” (Mizoram by Animesh Ray, 1993,
Page193).
With Congress winning the Mizoram Assembly
election in 1984 peace talks with Laldenga
were resumed. However, due to assassination
of Indira Gandhi in October, the talks
remained inconclusive. It was revived in
March 1986 at the instance of Rajiva Gandhi
and the Accord was signed on June 30.
Laldenga became the interim Chief Minister.
His party MNF secured majority in midterm
poll held after Mizoram was formally
elevated to the status of full fledged State
in February 1987. He was again formally
elected as Chief Minister.
Laldenga had carried forward the burden of
separatist revolt for a long period of
twenty years (1966-86) on his shoulders and
tried to inspire the concept of Mizo
nationalism among his people. People had a
lot of expectations from him. But his short
tenure (February 1987-September 1988) of
flamboyant misrule with financial scandals,
corrupt ministers and legislators,
suppression of protest, cajolement of
bureaucracy and rebuffing of media engulfed
the Mizo people in the economic darkness and
anarchy of unprecedented dimension.
Realizing the self-centric and authoritarian
politics of insurgent leader, they
rediscovered the meaning of democracy and
threw him out of power in the midterm
Assembly election in 1988. They rejected his
politics of negativism and joined the
democratic process for resurgence of Mizoram
as a partner of resurgent India. Taking
lesson from the darkest chapter of their
post-colonial history, they negated the
philosophy of separatism and are now proud
of being equal partner in national movement
for socio-economic resurgence.
Meeting the challenge of disastrous politics
of secessionism Mizoram survived as a
democracy and is now one of the most stable
States in the country.
The post-colonial history of Mizoram is a
lesson for the Government as well as for the
tribal people of the rest of northeast
States. Insurgency in Mizo Hills was in fact
an outcome of the apathetic attitude of
Assam Government towards its hill people.
Its casual approach in relief operation
during the great famine of 1959-60 and
erroneous policy of imposing Assamese as
official language on them widened the gap of
mistrust between the Government and the
people residing in hills and forest. The
forces of vested interest exploited the
situation by inciting the people with the
imaginary danger to their ethnic identity
and sowed the seed of secessionism.
Integration of the hearts and minds of the
hill people of northeast with rest of the
countrymen is yet to complete full circle
but enjoying equal opportunity in sharing
political power they are marching faster in
a positive direction. One may consider the
election of a Mizo as a Member of Lok Sabha
on BJP ticket from the State of Karnataka,
P.A.Sangma, a Garo from Meghalaya as former
Speaker of Lok Sabha and Lyngdoh, a Khasi
from Meghalaya as former Chairman of the
Election Commission of the country as
isolated examples but the dynamics of change
in the region suggest that the tribal people
of India’s isolated corner are now geared to
fast socio-economic transformation by
joining the mainstream politics of the
country. Mizoram is a classic example in
this regard as after suffering from the
trauma of twenty-year (1966-86) insurgency
its people are now moving closer to the
socio-economic progress and prosperity. If
the insurgency in some of the other
northeastern States is still surviving as a
dominant political feature, it is only an
effective tool to derive as much political
concessions at a particular point of time
and nothing more.
*** The author can be reached at
ramashray60@rediffmail.com
*** The
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