Author: TI on twitter
Ethnogenesis
However, there was no common “Mizo identity” among these tribes and they were warring with each other. Abducting each other and head hunting was the norm. Infact, the earliest known picture of any Mizo was that of a Lushai woman captured by a Southern tribe called Mara. When the Mizo tribes first encountered the Hindus of Assam,their feeling was of admiration. An early Mizo Christian Newspaper warned “Hindu customs,especially Assamese customs, are something the Mizo really appreciate. Mizos even say “If only we were born as Vai(plain Hindus)”. The missionaries sensed the danger of Mizos adopting Hindu culture and immediately sprung into action.
It were the Christian missionaries who first started inculcating “Mizo racial identity”. For example, the Baptist church wrote that “the ethnicities of Lushei,Kuki & Chin can be classified as one race. They are sturdy hill warriors unlike the effeminate Assamese and Bengali”. Soon enough, the traditional Mizo animist temples were converted to Churches. Even at this point, Churches were not built in Christian style. They were still the old thatched huts with the traditional drum hanging out. Drum had great significance in Pre Christian Mizo religion.
By early 20th century, Mizos began shedding their traditional costumes which they themselves referred to as “primitive”. They adopted western style, costume, religion & script. Bands of Mizos children raised up in Churches began touring all over India to sing Christian choirs.
The new Lushai tribe converts formed a “Young Lushai Association” in 1935. One of the stated aims of the association was to “remove every trace of pre Christian pagan culture among the tribes”. The Christian association stressed for “a common identity of all converted tribes”. Converted tribes began to increasingly use the common, now Christian, identity of “Mizo” as opposed to anything specific to any tribe. “Young Lushai Association” renamed itself “Young Mizo Association”. Lushai Hills were renamed as “Mizo Hills”. Thus the ethnogenesis of Mizos.
MNF
During the time of Independence, A group of Mizos formed “United Mizo Freedom Organisation”. They demanded that this region be merged in Burma as opposed to India. They claimed that they were ethnically closer to Burmese Chin than Hindus. When their demands of separate nationhood were ignored, Mizo separatists formed a terr0rist organization named Mizo National Front (MNF) in 1966. Their aim was to “kick India out of Mizoram through violent means if necessary”.
They began killing Assamese, Hindus & Army Men MNF then received funding and training from Pakistan’s ISI. Many of Mizo youth escaped to East Pakistan(Bangladesh) to receive military training.
The CM of Mizoram, @ZoramthangaCM was a member of this terrorist group MNF. He himself confessed it in a media conversation. When India defeated Pakistan in 1971, Mizo CM was hiding in Pakistan along with his comrades. He was involved with an MNF unit named “Joshua”. It was named after the Biblical commander Joshua who defeated, kiIIed Pagan Canaanites and ended their Pagan kingdom in Israel. Here, as Mizoram CM himself confesses in his interview, he was in Islamabad until 1975 as part of ISI training to MNF. When Indian army conquered Dhaka, he managed to escape narrowly. He calls it “James Bond type escape”
The MNF finally gave up militancy when they signed Mizoram peace Accord in 1986.
In return,
- 1)India gave statehood to Mizoram
-
- Special category status to Mizoram
- 3)Revoked all criminal cases on MNF members and lifted ban on MNF In addition, Mizoram was given special privilege. No Act of Indian Parliament would be legalised in Mizoram unless the state government approves it.
Then the MNF gave up militancy and became part of Indian democracy Also, Mizoram is accorded special and disproportionate share of Budget. These were the doles given out to MNF and they agreed to sign Mizo accord.
Caveat: Everything written in this thread is sourced from Government Archives, Newspapers, Books and Public interviews.