AIZAWL: Mizoram chief minister Lalduhoma on Friday claimed that he left his coveted job as Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to broker peace between the Indian government and the erstwhile underground Mizo National Front (MNF).
Lalduhoma joined the IPS in 1977 and left the coveted job to join politics in 1984.
Addressing the celebration of ‘Remna Ni,’ a Mizo parlance of the anniversary of the signing of the historic Mizoram peace accord, on Friday, the former IPS officer turned politician said that he resigned as IPS officer at the behest of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and former MNF president Laldenga to broker peace between the Indian government and the MNF. He said that he went to London to meet Laldenga after he left his job and spent five days there to discuss the demands of the MNF from the Union government in order to restore peace in Mizoram.
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“I resigned from Indian Police Service at the request of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Laldenga to bring peace in Mizoram. After I left my job I also met Laldenga in London and discussed and drafted various demands of the MNF from the Indian government with the MNF president,” the chief minister said.
The Remna Ni celebration was organised by state’s apex student body Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) on Friday as the actual day, which is June 30, falls on Sunday this year.
Lalduhoma expressed gratitude to the student organisation for their outstanding contribution to the peace pact between the MNF and the Indian government in 1986.
He also thanked other stakeholders, including all party leaders, churches and former state chief secretary Lalkhama, who was the signatory of the peace accord, for their invaluable efforts towards signing the Mizoram peace accord. Lalduhoma paid rich tributes to the Mizo martyrs, who laid down their lives for the cause of peace during the the insurgent movement.
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He called on all Zo ethnic people worldwide to stand united and live in one accord.
Lalduhoma said that the crisis faced by Zo ethnic people in Manipur, Myanmar and Bangladesh are a blessing in disguise to unite the Zo ethnic people living in different parts of the country and abroad.
Starting from 2018, the MZP organised statewide Remna Ni celebrations honouring individuals and organisations that played crucial role in signing the peace accord.
This time, the organisation felicitated four former legislators and politicians, who resigned as MLA in 1981 to advance the peace talks.
The Mizoram peace accord was signed between the Centre and the erstwhile underground MNF on June 30, 1986, ending two decades of insurgency.
The MNF was founded by former Mizoram chief minister late Laldenga to protest against the inaction of the Centre towards the famine situation in the Mizo areas of the Assam state in late 1950s.
After a major uprising through peaceful means, the group took up arms and became involved in underground activities between 1966 and 1986.
The MNF was outlawed by the Indian government in 1967.
In May 1971, a delegation of Mizo district council met with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and demanded a full-fledged state for the Mizo people.
Responding to the demands, the union government offered the proposal of turning Mizo Hills into a Union Territory, which took place in January 1972.
Mizoram became the 23rd state of India, a step above Union Territory, on February 20th, 1987.
After coming to overground in 1986, the MNF was converted into a political party and is now the main opposition party in the state.