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Posted by Fayad in CURRENT EVENTS on January 5th, 2017
The roughly 3,500-member strong Veterans for Peace organization has started a campaign called “Veterans Challenge Islamophobia.”More than 300 veterans have signed onto the effort, some of whom have made visible appearances at Donald Trump rallies in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Brian Trautman of Albany is on VFP’s national board and is a campaign committee member. Currently an instructor at Berkshire Community College, Trautman served as an active-duty artilleryman in the Army for four years and became involved with peace movements during the lead-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003. Trautman spoke with WAMC’s Jim Levulis about the Veterans Challenge Islamophobia campaign.
Veterans for Peace held a campaign rally at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts
US Veterans At the Forefront of Fighting Islamophobia.They have protested at Trump Rallies.
Posted by admin in Independent Mizoram, India Will Die a Slow Death, Kashmir, Rajputstan, SECESSIONIST MOVEMENTS IN INDIA on January 5th, 2017
Insurgencies do not emerge in a vacuum. Their underlying root causes are invariably to be found in political, socio-economic or religious domains, their nature, and scope depending upon the nature of the grievances, motivations, and demands of the people.
India has had its share of insurgencies. In all, an estimated 30 armed insurgency movements are sweeping across the country, reflecting an acute sense of alienation on the part of the people involved. Broadly, these can be divided into movements for political rights – e.g. Assam, Kashmir and Khalistan (Punjab), movements for social and economic justice – e.g. Maoist (Naxalite) and north-eastern states, and religious grounds – e.g. Ladakh. These causes overlap at times.
Wikipedia lists 16 belligerent groups and 68 major organization as terrorist groups in India, which include: nine in the northeast (Seven Sisters), four in center & the east (including Maoist/Naxalites), seventeen in the west (Sikh separatist groups), and thirty-eight in the northwest (Kashmir).
By the very nature of its population mix, one that began evolving thousands of years ago with waves of migrants pouring in from adjoining lands at different periods in history, South Asia has never been a homogenous society. The multiplicity of races, ethnicities, tribes, religions, and languages led to the creation of hundreds of sovereign entities all over the subcontinent ruled by tribal and religious leaders and conquerors of all sorts. Like Europe over the centuries, the map of South Asia also kept changing owing to internecine warfare.
One must remember that India in its entire history until colonized by the British and united at gunpoint, was never a single nation, nor a united country. The numerous entities were in many cases territorially and population-wise much larger than several European countries, were independently ruled and qualified for nationhood by any modern standards.
During and after the colonial rule, such territorial entities were lumped together to form new administrative and political units – or states, without, in many cases, taking into account the preferences and aspirations of the people. For the people of these territories, which ranged from small fiefdoms to large princely states, and who had for centuries enjoyed independent existence, this administrative and political amalgam amounted to a loss of identity and freedom and being ruled by aliens. The new dispensation – democracy, in many cases brought no political or economic advantage.
To complicate matters, hundreds of religious and ethnic groups, some of which are fiercely sectarian and independent in nature, found themselves passionately defending their religions, ethnicities, languages and cultures, at times clashing fiercely with rival groups, challenging even the writ of the state in the process. As the time passes, it is becoming clear that keeping a conglomerate of nationalities and sub-nationalities together as one nation would be an impossibility, given the absence of a common thread that could weave them together.
Thus the artificial nature of the modern state created by the British colonialists and adopted by post-colonial India also triggers violent reactions in different hotspots.
India’s caste system, which tears apart its social fabric and divides people into potential warring groups, is unique to that country and has no place in the modern world. This sinister game has historically been played by the Brahmans in collaboration with the ruling class to their mutual benefit. The issue assumes more horrific dimensions when those who practice it among the Hindus insist that it is a divinely sanctioned concept and cannot be abrogated by humans. Even the anti-caste activist – Dr. Ambedkar, acknowledges that ‘to destroy caste, all the Hindu Shastras would have to be done away with’.
The system confers on the ‘higher’ castes the absolute right to plunder the wealth of those belonging to the ‘lower’ caste or Dalits (or the ‘untouchables’). For over four thousand years, the system has been driven by the intense hatred and by the yearning of the ‘higher’ castes to accept nothing less than abject subservience from the ‘lower’ castes. Ironically, its defenders have argued that it has kept a sense of order and peace among the people and has prevented society from disintegrating into chaos.
Although Dalits make up for the most part of the Indian population, they have remained deprived of the benefits of the current economic boom. This is because of the barricades that bar them from having access to education, job opportunities, and even state provided healthcare and food. They are forced into menial jobs, denied entry to temples, cremation grounds, and river bathing points and cannot even share a barber with the upper caste Hindu. Punishments are severe when these boundaries are transgressed. In Tamil Nadu, for instance, 45 special types of ‘untouchability’ practices are common.
Despite the fact that the Indian Constitution has abolished it, this caste based discrimination continues because it has infiltrated into the Indian polity, serves the vested interests of a powerful minority and gives it a hold over a helpless majority in the name of religion and ancient social customs. It has even been glorified by M.K. Gandhi who is reported to have said that ‘caste is an integral part of Hinduism and cannot be eradicated if Hinduism is to be preserved’.
The mentality of hate this creates in the lower castes in an age when the concepts of socialism, awareness about human rights and equality and dignity of man are spreading fast, this ‘helpless majority’ has begun to resort to violence to overthrow this yoke. The Maoist/ Naxalite uprising in eastern India is just one case in point.
Of India’s population of 1.1 billion, about 800 million – more than 60% – are poor, many living on the margins of life, lacking some or all of the basic necessities. Despite its emergence as Asia’s third-biggest economy, India has the highest illiteracy rate in the world – 70%, and the people lack adequate shelter, sanitation, clean water, nutrition, healthcare and job opportunities. The groups that are mostly left behind are minorities. There is a growing concern that unless this situation is addressed, the country will be torn apart by the despair and rage of the poor sooner or later.
The so-called nationalist philosophy – Hindutva, is actually a euphemistic effort to conceal communal beliefs and practices. Many Indian Marxist sociologists describe the Hindutva movement as fascist in a classical sense, in its ideology and class support, methods and programs, especially targeting the concept of homogenized majority and cultural hegemony. Others raise issues with regards to sometimes-vacillating attitudes of its adherents towards non-Hindus and secularism.
Defining Hindutva, “The struggle for India’s Soul” (World Policy Journal, fall 2002) states that India is “not only the [Hindu] fatherland but also …. their pun ya bhumi, their holy land”. To Hindu extremists, all others on this land are viewed as “aliens” who do not belong there.
Hindutva is identified as the guiding ideology of the Sangh Parivar, a family of Hindu nationalist organizations of which Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad are a part. Not part of Sangh Parivar, but closely associated with it, is Shiv Sena, a highly controversial political party of Maharashtra. The record of all these right-wing radical parties in pursuing discriminatory policies towards minorities, particularly the Muslims, and engaging in their frequent massacres is no secret. This record alone is enough to show the true colors of Hindutvavadis (followers of Hindutva) and what Hindutva stands for.
Explaining the mindset of Shiv Sena, sociologist Dipankar Gupta says: “A good Hindu for the Shiv Sena is not necessarily a person well versed in Hindu scriptures, but one who is ready and willing to go out and attack Muslims … To be a good Hindu is to hate Muslims and nothing else.” This is borne out by the 2002 indiscriminate killings of Muslims in Gujarat for which Shiv Sena was held responsible.
The adherents of Hindutva demonize those who do not subscribe to that philosophy or are opposed to its pre-eminence and dub them anti-state or terrorists just as the Hindu scriptures in earlier times branded such people as rakshasas. As always, these groups have been ‘red in tooth and claw’ in violently resolving all their social, religious and political differences and killing, raping, burning and lynching those who show the audacity to stand up to them for their rights.
In 1947, these groups preferred violent upheaval and vivisection of India to sharing power with the Muslims and killed more people in communal violence, including Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Dalits than ever before in recent history. Citing ‘ekta and akhandata’ (unity and integrity) of India, they have refused to allow self-rule to Sikhs (86%) in the Punjab, to Muslims (80%) in Kashmir, to Buddhists (90%) in Ladakh, to Christians in the North East of India and to the tribal population of central India.
It is this intolerance and bigotry that has generated alienation and hate among minorities, Dalits and people of other faiths – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists. It lays the ground for angry and rebellious reaction among those who are targeted.
Naxalites or Maoists: The Maoist Movement of Nepal, supported ironically by the Indian Government, came home to roost. Inspired by the Nepalese Maoist forest dwellers who took over and ruled their forests, the lowest of Indian forest dwellers of Naxalbari (West Bengal) – the ‘adivasis’, launched their own Maoist movement and took control of their forests too.
According to one of the legends that support India’s diabolical caste system, the Adivasis were punished by the gods for killing a Brahmin (member of the highest caste – the 5% which more or fewer rules and controls India). As a punishment, the Adivasis were expelled to live like animals in the forest and, like them, survive by preying on the weaker, owning nothing.
When huge mineral deposits were discovered in some of the forested areas, the authorities decided to relocate the Adivasis in 1967. They refused. Having no other title, they did not want to give up what they held and this set in motion a cycle of resistance and reprisals, including rapes and murders by the powerful vested interests.
It is now recognised that exploitation of billions of dollars worth of mineral wealth of the central and eastern Indian tribal area by the capitalists without giving a share to the poorest of the poor forest dwellers whose home it has been for ages, lay at the root of the Maoist insurgency, modelled after the teachings of the great Chinese revolutionary leader.
These Maoists now inhabit an area known as the ‘Red Corridor’ that stretches from West Bengal to Karnataka state in the southwest. They are active across 220 districts in 20 states – about 40% of India’s geographical area. They also threaten to extend operations in major urban centers, including New Delhi. Indian intelligence reports say that insurgents include 20,000 armed men and 50,000 regular or full-time organizers and mobilizers, with the numbers growing. In 2007 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged the growing influence of Maoist insurgency as “the most serious internal threat to India’s national security.”
The Seven Sisters: The seven states of northeastern India called the Seven Sisters are significantly different, ethnically and linguistically, from the rest of the country. These states are rocked by a large number of armed and violent rebellions, some seeking separate states, some fighting for autonomy and others demanding complete independence, keeping the entire region is a state of turmoil. These states include Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.
These states accuse New Delhi of apathy towards their issues. Illiteracy, poverty and lack of economic opportunities have fueled the natives’ demand for autonomy and independence. There also exist territorial disputes among states and tensions between natives and immigrants from other states which the governments have not attended to, accentuating the problems.
The Assam state has been the hotbed of active militancy for many years, ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) has been in the forefront of a liberation struggle since 1979, along with two dozen other militant groups, on the grounds of neglect and economic disparity. Over 10,000 people have lost their lives and thousand have been displaced during the last 25 years. The army has been unable to subdue the insurgents.
The divide between the tribals and nontribal settlers is the cause of the trouble in Meghalaya. The absence of effective governance gives rise to identity issues, mismanagement, and growing corruption. Like other states in the region, there is a demand for independence along tribal lines. The Achik National Volunteer Council has pursued since 1995 the formation of an Achik Land in the Caro Hills, whereas the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council seeks to free the state from Garo domination.
The Arunachal Dragon Force, also known as the East India Liberation Front, is a violent secessionist movement in the eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The ADF seeks to create an independent state resembling the pre-British Tea Country that would include area currently in Arunachal Pradesh as well as neighboring Assam.
Mizoram’s tensions have arisen largely due to the Assamese domination and the neglect of the Mizo people by India. In 1986, the main secessionist movement led by the Mizo National Front ended after a peace accord, bringing peace to the region. However, secessionist demands by some groups continue to insist on an independent Hmar State.
Nagaland was created in 1963 as the 16th state of Indian Union after carving it out of Assam. It happens to be the oldest of insurgencies of India (since 1947) and is believed to have inspired almost all others ethnic groups in the region, demanding full independence. The state is marked by a multiplicity of tribes, ethnicities, cultures and religion. It is home to around 400 tribes or sub-tribes and has witnessed conflicts, including infighting amongst various villages, tribes, and other warring factions, most of them seeking a separate homeland comprising Christian dominated areas of Nagaland and certain areas of Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh. The area is rich in oil reserves worth billions and government efforts to strike deals with the rebel groups have yielded no results. Thousands have died since the insurgency began.
The struggle for the independence of Manipur has been actively pursued by several insurgent groups since 1964, some of them with socialist leanings, arising out of neglect by the state and central governments of the issues and concerns of the people. For lack of education and economic opportunities, many people have been forced to join these separatists groups. The disturbed conditions have only added to the sufferings of the general population. The controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (or AFSPA) has been extensively criticized, as it gives wide and unrestricted powers to the army, which invariably leads to serious violations of human rights.
It was the ethnic tensions between the Bengali immigrants after the 1971 war and the native tribal population in Tripura and the building of a fence by the government along the Bangladesh border that led to a rebellion in the 1970s. Very active insurgency now goes on amid very harsh living conditions for thousands of homeless refugees. The National Liberation Front of Tripura and the All Tripura Tiger Force demand the expulsion of Bengali-speaking immigrants.
Tamil Nadu: In the wake of their defeat by the Sri Lankan military in the Jaffna peninsula, the Tamil LTTE freedom fighters took refuge in the adjoining Tamil Nadu state of India, where on account of common ethnicity, religion, language and culture they mixed easily and enjoyed mass support for their cause. Overtime LTTE regrouped and recruited volunteers from amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and the local population and began to amass weapons and explosives.
There is a strong anti-India and pro-secessionist sentiment in Tamil Nadu. Most people want independence from India despite sharing a common religion – Hinduism, with the rest of Hindu-dominated India. Their argument: religion is not a binding force that can override other considerations, such as language, culture, ethnicity, people’s aspirations and an identity that entitles them to an independent existence. They argue that if Nepal can have an independent existence as a Hindu state right next to India why can’t Tamil Nadu? And they argue that one religion does not necessarily translate into one nationality. If that were so, there would not have been so many Christian and Muslim states enjoying independent status. Tamils are inspired by the Maoist/Naxalite movement but their secessionist organizations have been shut down after being labeled as terrorists.
Khalistan Movement of the Sikhs: The Sikh community has long nurtured a grudge against the Hindu-dominated governments in New Delhi for having gone back on their word given at the time of partition in 1947, promising autonomy to their state of Punjab, renaming it Khalistan, which the Sikhs considered to be very important from their religious and political standpoint. Real as well as perceived discrimination and a feeling of betrayal by the central government of Indira Gandhi brought matters to the head and fearing a rebellion from the Sikh militant groups, she ordered a military crackdown on their most revered shrine – the Golden Temple, in 1981, where armed Sikhs put up stiff resistance. An estimated 3000 people, including a large number of pilgrims, died. This ended in a military victory but a political disaster for Indira Gandhi. Soon afterward in 1984, she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards and this, in turn, led to a general massacre of the Sikhs across India. Although the situation has returned to normal, the Sikh community has not forgiven the Hindus for this sacrilege and tensions continue. The demand for Khalistan is still alive and about 17 movements for a separate Sikh state remain active.
Another factor that has added to the existing tensions between the central government and the Sikhs is the diversion to the neighboring states of their most important natural resource – river water, which belonged only to Punjab under the prevalent national and international law. This deprived Punjab of billions of rupees annually. With 80% of the state population – the poor farming community, adversely affected, there has been a great deal of unrest. The military was used to suppress this unrest but there are fears that the issue could become the moot point of another Maoist uprising, this time in Punjab.
Kashmir: The Kashmir issue is as old as the history of India and Pakistan’s independence. It arose out of India’s forcible occupation of this predominantly Muslim state against the wishes of its people and in violation of the principle of partition of British India. A fierce struggle for independence continues unabated in the valley in which hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives at the hands of the central and state government’s security forces and have been displaced. There has been an international condemnation of human rights violations. India has defied the resolutions of the UN Security Council that have called for the demilitarization of the valley and holding of a plebiscite to determine the will of the people.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars and efforts at reaching a solution through negotiations have not been fruitful.
The Indian internal scene presents a very disturbing scenario, one that has prompted Suhas Chakma, Director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights in New Delhi, to say that ‘India is at war with itself’. Alan Hart, the British journalist, while speaking about insurgencies in India at LISA seminar in July this year, agreed with this characterization. There is a consensus that this situation seriously threatens India’s stability and consequently its democracy.
In a changing world, as the poor of India become more and more aware of the affluence of the relative few who reap the benefits of the country’s development boom, the rich-poor division assumes greater significance and cannot be ignored. “The insurgency in all of its manifestations and the counter-insurgency operations of the security forces in all of their manifestations are only the casing of the ticking time-bomb under India’s democracy. The explosive substance inside the casing is, in a word, POVERTY” said Alan Hart, and said it rightly.
It is also important to understand that newly undertaken unification of India has not yet taken firm roots and it would be a bad idea for it to try and trigger fragmentation among its neighbors. There is imminent danger of the Domino effect taking the whole of South Asia down.
Read his bio and more analyses and essays by
Axis of Logic Columnist, Shahid R. Siddiqi
Posted by admin in Khalistan-A Nation of Sikhs, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, SIKH GENOCIDE, SIKH HOLOCAUST 1984 on January 5th, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lm2f4TAIDI
The first task was the destruction of Major-General Shahbeg Singh’s outer defenses. Much of this had been completed in the preliminary firing when Major-General Brar had hoped to frighten Bhindrenwale into surrendering. These defences included the seventeen houses which the police had allowed Bhindanwale’s followers to occupy in the alleys surrounding the Golden Temple. Some of them were as far as 800 yards away from the complex. These outposts were all in wireless contact with Shahbeg Singh’s command post in the Akal Takht. The Temple view hotel outside the Temple complex had also been occupied. Next to it was Brahmbuta Akhara, a large bulding housing the headquarters of a Sikh sect. Then there were three main towers which had been fortified to make positions from which Bhindranwale’s men could fire into the Golden Temple complex. Because they stood well above the rest of the building, the towers were also excellent observation posts for watc hing the movement of troops in the narrow alleys surrounding the Temple. The tops of these towers were blasted off the by artillery fire. The use of artillery in the dense city of Amritsar prooved very costly, many innocent people living in close proximity of Golden Temple lost their lives. Then the commando operation was planned.
It was between 10 and 10:30 PM when commandos from 1st Battalion, the parachute regiment, wearing black denims were ordered to run down the steps under the clock tower on to the parikarma, or pavement, turn right and move as quickly as they could round the edge of the sacred tank to the Akal Takht. But as the paratroopers entered the main gateway to the Temple they were mown down. Most of the casualties were caused by Sikhs with light machine-guns who were hiding on either side of the steps leading down to the parikarma. The few commandos who did get down the steps were driven back by a barrage of fire from the building on the south side of the sacred pool. In the control room, in a house on the opposite side of the clock-tower, Major-general Brar was waiting anxiously with his two supporting officers to hear that the commandos had established positions inside the complex. When no report came through he was heard over the command network saying, “You bastards, why don’t you go in.”
The few commandos who survived regrouped in the square outside the Temple, and reported back to Major-General Brar. He reinforced them and ordered them to make another attempt to go in. This battalion had Sikh soldiers in its rank. The second commando attack managed to neutralise the machine-gun posts on either side of the steps and get down on to the parikarma. They were followed by the Guards who came under withering fire and were not able to make any progress radioed for permission to fire back at the buildings on the other side of the tank. That would have meant that the Golden Temple itself, which is in the middle of the tank, would have been in the line of fire. Brar refused permission. But then he started to get messages from the commander of Guards reporting heavy casualties. 
They had suffered almost 20 percent casualties without managing to turn the corner of parikarma to the western sides. Sikhs would also suddenly appear from man-holes in the parikarma the Guards were fighting from, lef off a burst of machine-gun fire or throw lethal grenades, and disappear into the passages which run under the Temple. These machine-gunners had been taught to fire at knee-level because Major-General Shahbeg Singh expected the army to crawl towards its objective, But the Guards and commandos were not crawling, and so many of them received severe leg injuries.
Brar, then decided on a change of plan. He ordered to occupy the roof tops of the clock towers as well as all the rooms along the parikarma. Army commandos rushed in from main clock tower entrance, their objective being to neutralize fire from Akal Takht in North. They ran into trouble as soon as they went down the steps, automatic gunfire hit them from both sides of stairs and more then 40 commandos lost their lives in less then five minutes, amazingly only two Bhindrenwale supporters were firing at them. Next batch of commandos were able to run down the stairs and turn right but here again, automatic gun fire from Akal Takht as well as old towers and water tank hit them. By this time Soldiers from Bihar regiment had cordoned off the whole Golden Temple complex, but not very effectively. Madras regiment was trying to enter through the Eastern gate and had reached many difficulties. While Kumaonis from North close to Langar were trying desperately without much success. So General Brar requested tanks to be brought in to Golden Temple, but he was give armored personnel carrier. Which was blown up by rocket launcher as soon as it had crossed Baba Deep Singh’s Samadh.
Brar again requested tanks and was allowed this time. According to Giani ji of Golden Temple, who was present at Golden Temple itself during all this time, as many as 13 tanks were brought into parikarmaand lined up on the eastern side, expensive marble was crushed and whole eastern parikarma broke. Brar ordered to blew up the Akal Takht and thus the highest seat of Sikh authority was brought down by Indian army. 
Bhaiji at basement of Akal Takht tells us that Bhindrenwale came to Guru Granth Sahib and after Ardas said “Those who want to be martyrs come with me” then he dashed outside in front of Akal Takht and was greeted with bullets, like about 40-50 of his group. Many were able to reach Sarovar . Next morning, Indian army was responsible for gutting down historical Sikh relic, some soldiers set fire to Sikh library and many historical manuscripts were lost as well as treasury Toshakhana was gutted. There were more then 140 bullets marks on Golden Temple itself, even though Indian army insisted that not a single bullet was fired towards Golden Temple.
Sikh pilgrims who were held up by Army in buildings in and around Guru Ram Das Sarai, Teja Singh Samundri Hall, etc. These innocent bystanders were not given any food or water for 4 days. Army soldiers asked them to drink water mixed with urine from small puddles on ground. One army soldier went berserk and fired on these innocent pilgrims killing 70. About 40 or so bodies of Sikh men with their hand tied up behind in execution style, were found in several rooms. A Journalist saw a whole truck filled with bodies of women and children. There is more then enough evidence that Army Soldiers were served alcohol as well as cigarettes inside Golden Temple complex.
Posted by admin in Independent Mizoram, SECESSIONIST MOVEMENTS IN INDIA on January 4th, 2017
Mizo National Front Emblem:: Pix – Wikipedia/
Introduction.
Mizoram, a tiny trans-Indo-Myanmar border state of India, located in the extreme north-east corner of India, bordering Myanmar in the East, state of Tripura in the west, Cachar District of Assam and Churachandpur District of Manipur in the North and Sylhet District of Bangladesh in the South, witnessed one of the most devastating underground movements in India for 20 years from 1966 to 1986. The movement was launched by the Mizo National Front under the charismatic leadership of Laldenga, demanding the sovereign state of Mizoram with a strong sense of will and determination to its goal of political independence from India.
The MNA (Mizo National Army) the armed wing of MNF, composed of those young Mizos with a high degree of morale for the cause they were for. The initial success of the movement in over-powering almost all security outposts in the District, except Assam Rifles Brigade Headquarters, Aizawl, could be attributed to the fighting zeal and high degree of morale of the MNA fighters to the cause of the Mizos and their independence.
The MNF, after realizing the futility of armed struggle for achieving political sovereignty, decided to have the negotiation with the Government of India in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which ultimately culminated into the signing of Peace Accord with Government of India in 1986 known as “The Mizo Peace Accord, 1986”. The Mizo Peace Accord 1986, eventually becomes the most successful peace accord ever been signed by the Government of India with any insurgent groups in the north-east, and elsewhere.
While the ‘Mautam‘ (famine) of the late 1950s and early 1960s and the apathy of government to the call of the people for relief supply was the immediate cause of the conflict, there are also a number of historical, political, economic, cultural, social and religious factors which are collectively responsible for the outbreak of violent uprising in Mizoram in 1966.
2. Historical and Political Factors:
Historically, the Mizos lived an independent political life, independent of any foreign power. Each village was ruled over by a sovereign village chief who exercised absolute and indivisible power. He was the final authority within the village in all aspects of village life, and was the chief administrator as well as the chief justice of the village, having the power to give the severest form of punishment, including death penalty to those who violate the unwritten customary laws and traditional practices. However, the British invaded the Mizo/Lushai country and took control of the entire hills on the 6th September 1895.
by AThough the British took over the administration of the whole Lushai/Mizo Hills, the chiefs were left with much power regarding customary and traditional practices were concerned. The Lushai Hills District was, then put under a superintendent who, in consultation with the village chief, administered the District. The entire District was put under the Chin Hills Regulation act of 1892 and Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873 and was included in the Excluded Areas along with Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
![[Mizo People]](https://flagspot.net/images/i/in_mizo.gif)
Sooner than expected, the time came for the British to hand over power to India.At this critical juncture, a critical question inevitably came up i.e. what should be the future status of the District (Mizo/Lushai Hills District), whether it should join Indian Union, Pakistan or Burma; choose to be a Crown Colony under the British or become an independent state.LL. Peter, the then Superintendent of the District called a joint meeting of representatives of different groups and organizations including political party (Mizo Union) Chiefs’ Union, Freedom party (those against the chiefs), Ex-Servicemen, MizoHmeichheTangrual Pawl (United Women Organization), Govt. employees etc. to decide the future of Mizo/Lushai Hills District on 14.8.1947. The meeting under the influence of Mizo Union unanimously passed the following three points of resolutions:-
In case, the Mizo Hills was merged with the Indian Union,
1. “Mizos would have the right to decide their own future i.e. right to secede from India after ten years”.
2. The traditional customary laws and practices should be preserved and protected.
3. Chin Hill Regulations Act, 1892 and Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873 should continue to be enforced in the District.
The Mizos interpreted these pre-conditions, though not a contractual agreement between the two parties (Mizos and India), as their rights. They asserted and re-asserted that they have the right to secede from the Indian Union which finally culminated into an armed rebellious movement for independent in 1966. The other factors responsible for the uprising was Assam Government’s language policy. Under a strong pressure from dominant Assamese, The Assamese language was made the official language of the state which was much resented to by non-Assamese speaking Districts. Khasis, Jaintias, Garos and the Mizos refused to accept the imposition of Assamese in their respective District and decided to demand a separate Hill State.
A new political party, APHLC (All Party Hill Leaders Conference) was formed to spearhead the demand for separate Hill State. In Mizoram, the Mizo Union, instead of joining hand with APHLC for separate Hill State, was in favour of a separate State for the Mizos. The MNF (Mizo National Front), on the other hand, was not interested in demanding either the separate Hills for the Khasis, Garos, and Mizos nor was it interested in a separate state for Mizos. It was in favour of demanding a separate independence sovereign state for the Mizos, not only outside Assam but also outside India.
The imposition of Assamese on the Mizos could, therefore, be seen as one of the contributing factors for the movement. The Mizos were not satisfied with the provision of Sixth Schedule of the constitution of India. They felt that the provision of Sixth schedule has not sufficiently protected their language, customs, traditions, religions etc. The imposition of Assamese language on the Mizos was much resented and there was growing apprehension that there would be a cultural invasion by the dominant Assamese speaking Hindus. The Mizos were also frustrated with the Assam Government’s lack of interest in various issues.
The Mizo Hills District was, then merged with the state of Assam and was given a special protection under the provision of Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. The nomenclature of the District was also changed to from Lushai Hills District to Mizo Hills District on 19th April 1954.Soon after Mizoram was merged with the Indian Union, discontentment and dissatisfaction, both on the policies of Assam Government and Central government, grew on various issues.
The conduct of public examination on Sunday and the visit of Central dignitaries on Sunday were interpreted as a deliberate attempt to restrict the freedom of worship for those who were involved in such examinations. To testify this, the MNF cited the visit of JL Nehru on Sunday, 3rd April 1953. The restriction of the entry of foreign missionaries into the District was also seen as an infringement on the religious right of the Mizos. The Mizos, in order to assert their ethnic and cultural identity under the dominant Assamese political set up, strived to have a separate state of their own.
However, it was realized by a section of Mizo leadership that the assertion of Mizo identity would not be possible within the state of Assam or even under the Indian Union, the insurgency was adopted as a better means for Mizo nation building. Another worth mentioning factor responsible for the Mizo uprising of 1966 was racial and ethnic distinctiveness of the Mizos.
The Mizos belong to Mongolian ethnic and racial group with Mongolian physical feature whereas people of mainland India are having Aryan and Dravidian racial background, with quite a distinct physical feature from the Mizos. The majority of Mizos, therefore, feel that their Mongolian background could not support them to be Indians. They maintained, it is the will of nature that they are not Indians, but Mizos. Nature destined them to be Mizos of Mongolian racial stock. This feeling of natural alienation from mainland India is also partly responsible for the demand for independence by the Mizos (MNF).
Historical factors, language policy of the government of Assam, their apprehension of religious interference by dominant Hindu Indians, fear of cultural invasion, lack of development, neglect of Mizo District by government of Assam, assertion of the people that they have the right to decide their own future etc. have their own role in influencing the Mizos to fight for separate independent state. However, Mautam (Famine) which struck Mizo Hills and lack of government’s response to the call of the people for assistance is the most immediate cause of insurgency in Mizoram.
Posted by Dr. Salman in Defenders of Pakistan, Pakistan Army on January 4th, 2017
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