June 30, 2019 marked the 33rd anniversary of the
signing of the historic Mizo Accord
which went on to become one of the
most enduring peace accords in India.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga took to Twitter to greet
the people on the occasion. “Today
marks the 33rd year of the signing of
the historic Mizoram Peace Accord.
This time tested tranquility we enjoy
can only be attributed to God’s grace
and the commitment of Mizos to preserve it. Let Mizos count our blessings and ceaselessly pray so that peace
and harmony endure,” he tweeted.
As June 30 falls on a Sunday this
year, there is no celebration of the
anniversary, known in Mizo parlance
as Remna Ni or Peace Day. On Friday,
the State’s apex students’ body Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) organised a grand
function to celebrate the Day.
The Mizoram Government will
observe it in a special function on
Monday where the Chief Minister will
address the gathering.
Robert Romawia Royte, who is currently the Sports and Youth Services,
Tourism and Information and Communication Technology Minister of Mizoram, urged everyone to unite for continued peace and harmony. “Today is
the 33rd anniversary of signing of the
Mizo Peace Accord between Mizo National Front (MNF) and Government
of India which makes Mizoram the
most peaceful State. Let us all unite for
continued Peace and Harmony. Peace
Pays,” Royte tweeted on Sunday.
June 30 thirty-three years back was
a day of euphoria with the return of
much-needed peace in the land of the
Mizos. On that day, the four-page Mizoram Peace Accord was signed in
New Delhi under former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The then Union
Home Secretary RD Pradhan, MNF
chief Laldenga, who is no more, and
the former chief secretary of the Mizoram Government, Lalkhama, put
their initials on the document.
On February 28, 1966, Laldenga, a
former clerk in the District Council,
and his followers heralded an insurgency that lasted for long 20 years that
kept the Mizos under a wrap of fear
and anxiety.
There were many twists and ups
and downs in the secretive progress
of the peace talks between the Church
and Intelligence emissaries on the
one hand and Laldenga on the other.
In 1971, a Church elder, Zairema, pioneered a process to contact Laldenga, then living in exile with his followers in East Pakistan, with an olive
branch and arrange a meeting between the Centre and the MNF for
ushering in peace.
Next, the Intelligence agencies,
particularly the RAW and the Intelligence Bureau, came to the fore in
a mission to make Laldenga aware
that his rebellion would end in a futile exercise.
A senior RAW official, S Hasanwalia,
met Laldenga in Zurich in 1975, to sell
him the idea of peace talks.
From then
on, the peace bandwagon began to
move on along a distinctly neat course,
that culminated in the historic Peace
Accord in 1986.
A Presbyterian Church leader said,
“The peace accord of 1986 and the
subsequent urge to keep up the spirit of peace in Mizoram are now the
two important mosaics for the lasting peace in this tiny, serene and
green State.”
~ ZODIN SANGA (Assam Tribune)
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