The story of the Mizo National Front (MNF), once one of the most dreaded outfits in the Northeast, is a narrative of how a “most dreaded” rebel group has transformed itself into a political party owing allegiance to the Constitution of India.

“I can boast that the transformation of MNF from a rebel group to a political party of India is one of the most significant peace initiatives that India has witnessed in the post-Mahatma Gandhi period,” claims chief minister Zoramthanga, who also heads the MNF. Zoramthanga, chief minister for the past 10 years, was not just secretary to the legendary Laldenga who launched the movement for a sovereign Mizoram in 1966, but also remained Number 2 to him throughout the armed struggle till it came to a close in 1986.

The birth of the MNF is a fascinating tale. Mizoram, then the Lushai Hills district of Assam, in 1959-60 suffered from the worst natural calamity in recent history. It was Mautam, a famine induced by the widespread flowering of bamboo — a calamity, that people believe, returns every 50 years. The Assam government, however, did not respond well to the calamity, forcing the Mizos to set up a voluntary organisation called the Mizo National Famine Front (MNFF).

This Front rendered yeoman service in providing relief to the famine-stricken. Then it dropped the ‘Famine’ from its name and converted itself into a political party called MNF. But its charismatic president Laldenga, an ex-serviceman, did the unexpected. He declared an “independent sovereign” Mizoram as the MNF’s goal. That was on October 22, 1961. Five years later, on February 28, 1966, the MNF declared war against India, launching a simultaneous attack on government installations, including several posts of the Assam Rifles.

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