Mizoram: Political history

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

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Myanmar: refugees

CM of Chin state takes shelter in Mizoram

H C Vanlalruata , June 15, 2021: The Times of India


The chief minister of Myanmar’s Chin state, Salai Lian Luai, was among the Myanmarese nationals who took shelter in Mizoram, highplaced sources in the state government said on Monday.

According to sources, Luai entered Mizoram late last week and was given shelter in a safe place inside the state. The lawyer-turned-politician was appointed as chief minister of the Chin state on April 2016. He held the post till date due to the military coup in Myanmar as the government could not be formed by National League for Democracy (NLD) which won a landslide victory in 2020 general elections due to the military coup d’etat on February 1, even as U Soe Htet was tipped to become the chief minister replacing the former.

Luai was detained by the Myanmar Armed Forces but was later released. He is among the 24 Myanmar legislators, elected in the 2020 general elections, and over 16,000 people who fled the country after military crackdown on anti-coup protesters and took shelter in Mizoram, the sources said.

2023

April

H C Vanlalruata, April 19, 2023: The Times of India


Aizawl : Mizoram has become the refuge of a fresh batch of 800-odd Myanmarese civilians fleeing the ravages of civil war in their country, including aerial bombing of villages by the military junta over the past few days, village committees engaged in sheltering refugees reported.

TLalrindika, secretary of the Farkawn Village Committee on Myammar Refugees, said his hamlet had sheltered 820 new refugees since the conflict in the neighbouring country escalated. A leader of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) in adjoining Vaphai said around 30 people had en-tered his village from Myanmar’s Chin state. “We currently have 1,812 refugees in Farkawn. These people are from Halkha, Thantlang, Tlangpui, Farrawn and Tlanglo in the neighbouring country,” Lalrindika said. 


The trigger for the renew-ed influx was the Myanmarese army, referred to as Tatmadaw, going hard at ethnic insurgent outfits and local civilian resistance groups in the Chin state. 
Sources said frequent ambush of Tatmadaw patrol teams by the militia, mainlythe Chin Defense Force, and retaliation by the junta through firing and bombardment on settlements had led people to flee their homes across towns and villages.


US-funded Radio Free Asia reported that 40 houses were gutted in Hniarlawnthar hamlet within Halkha town, the headquarters of the Chin state, on Saturday, forcing many people to seek shelter elsewhere. Halkha town was bombarded by Myanmar warplanes on April 12 and 13.

In Mizoram, the YMA central committee and the Zo Reunification Organisation (ZoRO) have provided materials for the construction of makeshift shelters for the refugees in the border areas.

Sept: Mizoram rebuffs Centre on refugee biometrics

Mizoram rebuffs Centre on refugee biometrics. The Times of India/ 29 Sept 2023


Citing violation of human rights, Mizoram has refused to go ahead with capture of biometrics of illegal immigrants after the Centre extended the deadline for the exercise in the state and Manipur till March 31 next year. The earlier deadline was September 30.

Mizoram had given refuge to Myanmarese nationals who had crossed over to the state in 2021 following the military coup in their country.

Sources said the MHA, acknowledging the hardship of Manipur government staff in free movement and accessing parts of the state on account of the violence, considered the request to allow more time. TNN

Rev. Chanchinmawia’s murder/ 2007

2018: ex- CM Zoramthanga files libel case

Rahul Karmakar, May 19, 2018: The Hindu

Former Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has filed a criminal case against a Congress leader for alleging he had a hand in the death of a pastor 10 years ago.

Thansanga, an Aizawl-based Congress leader, had in the party’s Mizo language bulletin published a report on the “mysterious death” of Reverend Chanchinmawia in October 2007. The reverend was the moderator of Mizoram Presbyterian Synod and pastor of Aizawl’s Khatla Presbyterian Church.

“The bulletin came out a few days ago and went viral after the piece of news alleging my involvement in the church leader’s death was uploaded on social media. I filed a case on Thursday because it is a baseless allegation made to tarnish my reputation,” Mr. Zoramthanga told The Hindu.

In his complaint filed with chief judicial magistrate H. Lalduhsanga, the former Chief Minister said he had been accused of being the mastermind in the pastor’s murder. “I have also filed a criminal case against the editor and publisher of the bulletin,” Mr. Zoramthanga said.

Rev. Chanchinmawia was on October 1, 2007 found dead in his official residence with multiple injuries on his head and chest. The Mizo National Front, of which Mr. Zoramthanga is the president, was in power then.

The Mizoram police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) could not find any evidence to support the homicide angle and had concluded the pastor had committed suicide.

The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2008. The CBI too found no evidence of foul play but trashed the SIT’s suicide theory.

Rev Chanchinmawia, members of the Presbyterian Church said, was a very vocal campaigner for socio-political reforms in Mizoram.

Women

2023: three women elected as MLA

Dec 5, 2023: The Times of India


Aizawl : Three women became Mizoram MLAs, the first time more than one has won in the state’s assembly elections, reports HC Vanlalruata.


Lalrinpuii and Baryl Vanneihsangi are from the victorious Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), and Pravo Chakma from the outgoing Mizo National Front (MNF). Lalrinpuii won from Lunglei East, Vanneihsangi from Aizawl South-3 and Pravo from West Tuipui.


The first woman to be elected to the legislature — Mizoram was elevated to a Union territory in 1972 with a 30-member legislature — was L Thanmawii of People’s Conference (PC), led by former CM T Sailo in 1978. The second was PC’s K Thansiami in 1984, followed by Lalhlimpuii of MNF. Lalhlimpuii was inducted as the first woman minister of the state in 1987 in the government headed by CM Laldenga.


Another woman legislator, Vanlalawmpuii Chawngthu, was elected in a 2014 by-election. Chawngthu was inducted as a junior minister in the erstwhile Congress government headed by Lal Thanhawla in 2017.

1966

Man Aman Singh Chhina, August 17, 2023: The Indian Express

What were the circumstances under which Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft were used in a counter insurgency role? What was the military situation in Mizoram in early 1966?

What was happening in Mizoram in 1966?

In the first two months of 1966, a separatist movement led by Mizo National Front (MNF) was gathering steam in the area now known as Mizoram, and then referred to as the Mizo Hills. The Centre had decided to station another Assam Rifles battalion in the Hills, in addition to the one Assam Rifles battalion and a few BSF companies already present. Incensed at this, the MNF leadership decided to launch ‘Operation Jericho’ to take control of Aizawl, the biggest town in the region, and then the entire Mizo hills. They overran Aizawl in a few days’ time in late February.

In an article on the Mizo Rebellion published in a journal of Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), Ali Ahmad, research fellow at Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), said that Operation Jericho had been described by a military writer as a “masterstroke” with “near complete military preparation”, amounting to an “expression of confidence and clinical planning not witnessed hitherto fore in the Indian subcontinent.”

It has been explained that “the military precision was a result of the fact that a large number of volunteers who joined in the armed struggle were either ex-servicemen or personnel of the Assam Regiment battalions dismissed for lack of discipline.”

What was the government’s response?

The Army operations on the ground to clear rebel-held positions was led by Brig (later Maj Gen) Rustom Zal Kabraji, who was commanding the 61 Mountain Brigade, located at Agartala. Maj Gen Kabraji, an officer of the Corps of Signals, was the first Signals officer to command a mountain brigade. His brigade was moved to Mizo Hills at a time when the rebels had entered Aizawl.

The Mizo rebels had besieged the HQs of 1 Assam Rifles, where the Deputy Commissioner had taken refuge, and released all prisoners from the local jail. There was widespread looting of arms and cash from the government treasury. Proclamations of “independence” were made and a demand raised for the Assam Rifles to surrender. 
In response, attempts were made to re-supply the Assam Rifles battalion with helicopters, but these were shot at by the Mizo rebels.

Brig Kabraji led the operations on the ground in the face of stiff resistance from the rebels, taking several days to reach Aizawl. Other battalions advanced on other axes of operations.

How was the IAF involved?

As the Army struggled to dislodge the rebels, the Air Force was called in. The air attack helped the Army regain control of vast areas that had been declared “independent”. By the end of the month, aided by the air operations, Brig Kabraji’s Brigade had regained control of Mizoram.

Anchit Gupta, who specialises in research on IAF operations, put out a series of posts about the Mizo hills operations. He said that two IAF Squadrons, 29 Squadron and 14 Squadron, were primarily involved in the air ops. The 29 Squadron flew the Toofani (French origin Dassault Ouragan) based at Bagdogra, while the 14 Squadron flew Hunters out of Jorhat.

According to Gupta, on March 2, 1966, as the MNF reached Assam Rifles HQ, it captured Army installations at Launglei and Chanphai. The IAF’s initial role was to re-supply the army installations, for which Dakotas and Caribou transport aircraft were pressed in from Guwahati and Jorhat.

In one such mission, flown by the AOC-in-C Eastern Air Command, Air Vice Marshal YV Malse, the Dakota received 21 bullet holes before it landed at Kumbhigram airbase near Silchar. According to Gupta, this was the event that necessitated the offensive air operations.

The actual missions started on March 5, with 30 mm cannons and T-10 rockets used against targets provided by the Army. Gupta further said that by March 7, the rebels had started to burn forests, making it difficult to spot targets. But the Toofani aircraft continued their offensive action. On March 8, the Mizo supply line at Demagiri was destroyed, much to the help of the Assam Rifles unit in the region. By March 11, the Army came up with a better marking system of lobbing smoke grenades at the targets, which the pilots then destroyed. Gupta says that March 12 was the last mission against Dimagiri, and on March 17, the squadron was ordered to return to base.

Flt lt ( later Air Chief Marshal) SK Sareen later received a Vayu Sena Medal for gallantry in 1970, with his citation including a reference to the Mizo ops. Group Captain (later Air Vice Marshal) Jasper Bouche, senior staff officer in the Eastern Air Command responsible for planning the operations, received an Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), with his citation also referring to his role in the Mizo ops. Flight lieutenant (later Air Commodore) Rajendra Narain Pande received a Shaurya Chakra foor flying helicopters under fire in the Mizo operations.

The Brigade Commander who ‘saved’ Mizoram in 1966: Brig (later Maj Gen) Rustom Zal Kabraji

Man Aman Singh Chhina, Aug 12, 2023: The Indian Express


Brig Kabraji’s brigade was moved to Mizoram at a time when the Mizo rebels had carried out several successful attacks Assam Rifles and BSF positions in the state. Thousands of armed Mizo rebels had carried out simultaneous attacks on the positions of Assam Rifles and BSF and finally entered Aizawl where there was widespread looting or arms and ammunition and cash from the government treasury.

The Mizo rebels besieged the HQs of 1 Assam Rifles where the Deputy Commissioner had taken refuge and they released all prisoners from the local jail. Proclamations of independence were made and a demand was made for the Assam Rifles to surrender. Attempts were made to re-supply the Assam Rifles battalion with helicopters but these were shot at by the Mizo rebels.

The 61 Mountain Brigade, which was located at Agartala, was tasked to move to Aizawl to restore the situation and force the Mizo rebels to vacate it. Brig Kabraji led the operations on ground in the face of considerable opposition from the rebels taking several days to reach Aizawl. The Assam Rifles garrison in Aizawl was relived by troops of 8 Sikh aided by 2 Para. Two other battalions-2/11 Gorkha Rifles and 3 Bihar-advanced on other axis of operations to clear the area of the rebels.

The bombing of the Mizo rebels positions around Aizawl took place when the Army found it difficult to dislodge them from their positions and the advance of 8 Sikh and 2 Para was held up. Consequently, the air attack helped the Army regain control of the vast areas which had fallen into rebel hands and had been declared independent. By month end Brig Kabraji’s Brigade has regained control of Mizoram.

Maj Gen Kabraji went on to command a Division and served as GOC 6 Mountain Division. He was then only the second General Officer from the Corps of Signals to command a fighting division.

As per his career details shared by his son, Zubin Kabraji, Maj Gen Kabraji attended the staff college at Quetta and commanded 1 Armoured Division Signal Regiment. He also served as GSO 1 of 19 Infantry Division in Baramulla, J&K, and as Deputy Commandant and then Commandant of the School of Signals in Mhow. He also served as Chief Directing Staff Coordination at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and Chief Signal Officer, Eastern Command.

He retired from the army on in June 1970 as Chief of Staff, Southern Command, Pune. At that time he was also Honorary ADC to the President of India.

Maj Gen Kabraji was a very keen Radio Ham (VU 2 BK) and actively pursued the hobby right till the very end. He was instrumental along with Brig PS Gill to lead one of the first all army Ham Expedition to Bhutan in 1962, enabling world Radio Amateurs to contact Bhutan for the very first time.

2018

Dec: Mizo ministers take oath amid Christian rituals

In a 1st, Mizo ministers to take oath amid Christian rituals, December 14, 2018: The Times of India


A Tale Of Two Swearing-Ins: After Voters Show Their Faith, Netas Reveal Theirs

Mizo National Front is set to take oath in a predominantly Christian ceremony on Saturday, making it a first for a government in Mizoram.

Apart from readings of Biblical verses, religious hymns like Handel’s famed ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ will be sung to mark the occasion. “We are doing it for the first time,” Lalruatkima, a newly-elected MNF legislator, said on Thursday, adding, “Singing of gospel and reading of verses from the Bible will follow the national anthem.”

Two-time chief minister Zoramthanga (illustrated), who is also the head of MNF, and his team of ministers will take the oath of office at Raj Bhavan Friday noon.

MNF is known for its close association with the Church and its strong opposition to the dilution of prohibitions laws by the outgoing Congress government in the 97% Christian border state. The Lal Thanhawla regime had allowed manufacture of local wine and restricted sale of IMFL while MNF has always supported complete prohibition.

The 40-member assembly will now have 26 MLAs from MNF, eight from Zoram People’s Movement and five from Congress. It will also have its first BJP MLA, Buddha Dhan Chakma, a Buddhist who contested from Tuichawng.

2019

Govt. of India, state govt. honour former secessionists

August 10, 2019: The Times of India

Former Mizoram secessionists honoured by govt for valour

Aizawl:

Fifty-three years after a movement was launched in present-day Mizoram to seek independence from India, Mizo ‘soldiers’ of a former militant outfit were honoured at a government programme.

A total of 138 ‘soldiers’ of the erstwhile Mizo National Army were awarded for their valour at the event. Sixty-one of them were awarded posthumously.

Titled as ‘Meet the Heroes: Peace Pays’, the event was organised to “commemorate Mizo Hnam Sipai, Mizo soldiers, who during the fight for independence, journeyed to China to undergo training and procure weapons”.

The programme was organised by the tourism department of Mizoram government, led by Mizo National Front. The development assumes significance as the celebration by the Mizoram Government was held in partnership with the ministry of tribal affairs and North Eastern Council of the ministry of DoNER.

Speaking as the chief guest, Mizoram CM Zoramthanga said, “The Mizo National Army, who were once considered as lawless elements by the country, are now being honoured. It is significant that even this programme is being sponsored by the Indian government. Their names are no longer spoken in hushed tones.”

Song, drama performances and speeches from representatives of the delegates from China also marked the programme. PTI

2023

A verdict for change

F Lalramhluni, Dec 5, 2023: The Times of India


Mizoram’s electorate has given a landslide victory to Lalduhoma’s Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), which has secured 27 of the 40 seats in the state assembly. Unlike previous elections in Mizoram, this was not a bi-polar contest. Hitherto no other party other than Congress and Mizo National Front (MNF) has formed governments in the state. Which is why perhaps ZPM was seen as an alternative by the Mizo electorate. Its emphatic victory has relegated MNF to 10 seats, BJP to 2 and Congress to just 1. Out of the council of 12 ministers in the outgoing MNF government, 10 including CM Zoramthanga, have lost. All 11 constituencies of the capital Aizawl have been won by ZPM.


Vote for change | This increased popularity of ZPM in both urban and rural areas is because of its commitment to “a new system” that aims to do away with the many shortcomings of past governments, especially with regard to the cash distribution policy for economic development and promises of corruption-free government. ZPM positioned itself as the only party that can break the mould and devise novel policies for the socioeconomic development of the state, while projecting Congress and MNF as part of well-entrenched interests.


ZPM’s winning formula | The yearning for change among the Mizo electorate can be gauged by the fact that they supported a newly created party that did not even have organised primary membership till last year. Thus, there were multiple factors driving the ZPM victory – a strong anti-incumbency wave against the MNF government, the early announcement of candidates by ZPM in July that gave it plenty of time for house-to-house campaigning, and well-prepared workers and candidates that ensured the party was able to win over the swing voters. Tellingly, 9newly elected members are those who were contesting the assembly polls for the very first time.


MNF’s shortcomings | In 2018, ZPM, then still a loose coalition of regional parties, made its debut securing 8 seats. This makes ZPM’s victory this time all the more stunning because Mizoram has a peculiar tradition where governments tend to change after two terms. The incumbent MNF was banking on the continuation of this trend. However, it faced criticism from both opponents and neutral voters due to unmet promises and the economic difficulties afflicting the state. The unfulfilled promises include the commitment to give every recipient of the state’s Social and Economic Development Programme (SEDP) a total of ₹3 lakh.


Internal issues vs Mizo nationalism| MNF, which identifies itself as the guardian of Mizo nationalism, genuinely believes that Mizo is a concept that transcends state and national boundaries. Due to their common ancestry, refugees from Myanmar fleeing the military coup there and seeking safety in Mizoram are welcomed with open arms against the directions of New Delhi. Further, MNF’s support for fellow Zo-ethnic brethren from Manipur throughout the ongoing ethnic conflict there has been significant. MNF was essentially trying to leverage Mizo nationalist sentiments to win over supporters in this election. However, internal issues such as lack of development, corruption and nepotism, as well as the alcohol issue – many accused the MNF government of poor implementation of the Prohibition Act, thereby leading to increase in substance abuse – undid the party’s campaign.


Congress’s mishit | Meanwhile, Congress tried to make a comeback by advocating its Tang Puihna (helping those who are willing to perform) platform. Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state on October 16 captured significant attention when he declared this election was a “do-or-die” situation. Congress hoped this pitch would resonate with the apprehensions of the Mizo-Christian community that its religious and cultural identity is in danger. However, ZPM’s pitch of Kalphung Thar: Mipui Sawrkar (a new system and people’s government) won the day.


Church’s powerful presence | Mizoram is the only state in the Northeast where BJP hasn’t made much of a dent. More than 10 Union ministers had come to campaign, mostly in the Autonomous District Council areas and western Mizoram, dominated by ethnic minorities like Maras, Brus and Chakmas. With the promise of direct funds to ADCs, the party is performing better. But getting votes beyond ADC areas has proved challenging, given the Mizo electorate’s negative perceptions about Hindutva ideology.


For, the Church continues to play a very significant role in Mizo life, as exemplified by the outcry that led to vote counting day being shifted from last Sunday to yesterday. But it remains to be seen if ZPM can fix the state’s finances and fulfil the aspirations of the Mizo people.


The writer is assistant professor, Faith College, Aizawl

See also

Mizoram: From ancient times to 1946 <>Mizoram 1870-1926: Christianity and literacy <>Mizoram: A brief chronology (1946-1997) <>Mizoram: A brief chronology, 1997- onwards <>Mizoram: Political history <> Mizoram: Parliamentary elections

Mizo religion, culture, beliefs, songs, oral literature

Mizoram: cinema

Miss Mizoram

Myanmar- India relations

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