The Mizo Uprising: Assam Assembly Debates on the Mizo Movement, 1966-1971

From March 1, 1966 when the Mizo National Front declared independence, to June 30, 1986 when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the MNF and the Indian Government, the peace-loving Mizo people were caught in the midst of a devastating war. Records of this twenty-year period are rare, as the very keeping of written accounts was considered a crime against the government. The Mizo Hills was a district in India’s state of Assam and the Assam Legislative Assembly Debates from 1966 to 1972 are one of the few official records available of the period. Members of the Assembly bring to light significant events during the course of the insurgency, including India’s only aerial attack against its own citizens on March 5, 1966 and the re-settlement of eighty percent of the Mizo Hills’ population, reminiscent of South Vietnam’s Agrovilles. The book traces the twenty-year movement through these debates, supplementing them with notes on the course of events gleaned through extensive research leading up to the creation of the state of Mizoram in 1986. The Mizo Peace Accord remains one of the most successful accords in the world and Mizoram one of the most peaceful states in India.