Brief History and Significance of Mizoram State Day

      -in commemoration of the 34th Mizoram State Day (20th February 2021)

Till today, our (Mizo) history of origin is still shrouded in mystery. Even our historians, who have spent decades trying to discover our point of origin are still undivided and in disagreement regarding the matter. However, amidst all such mysteries and uncertainties surrounding the origin of the Mizo race, one fact always stood out even against the test of time. And that fact is that ‘there is a Mizo nation.’ The reason being that there are Mizo i.e. us, and we have our own land i.e. Mizoram. Our identity and the land, which we can rightfully claim as our own, are not gifts which we received out of nowhere. Rather, they are born out of and stamped by our blood and sweat of the hardships that we endure down the years. Thus, today, let us all remember our fallen heroes of the yesteryears, who have toiled hard and persevered to give us what we have today.

 In the days of our ancestors, there was no such thing as a coherent ‘Mizo race,’ nor was there ‘Mizoram (land of the Mizo)’ like we proclaim today. Identity, loyalty and affinity were identified and confined to their own respective chiefs and clans. A person under the rule of the Sailo chief or a person belonging to Sailo tribe/clan would identify himself/herself as a Sailo and his/her loyalty would lie with their chief and none else. However, when the Britishers annexed the Lushai hills, along with all its chiefs and the land, which they proclaimed to be theirs under a single administration after the second Chin-Lushai Expedition of 1891, all the different tribes and clans of the Mizo hills came under the rule of a single administrator, towards whom they have to render their services and loyalties, irrespective of their clan or tribe. It was from that period, when they came under the rule of a foreign and unknown ruler that our ancestors came to realize the true meaning, nature and importance of ‘being a Mizo.’ Hence, a ‘Mizo nation’ was born and with it, a spirit of ‘Mizo nationalism,’ comprehensive of all zo ethnic tribes and clans came into existence. From that point on, our identity came to be ‘Mizo’ and our land became no longer a Sailo land or a Fanai land, but ‘Mizoram.’ 

 When the Britishers left India and India became an independent nation, the Mizo, once again came under the administration of another government i.e. the Indian Government. At the same time, the spirit of Mizo nationalism never waned nor waver in the hearts of the Mizo. It was this very nationalistic sentiment and zeal, coupled with the resurgent feeling of the need to uphold, protect and preserve the Mizo social and moral values that led to the launching of the Independence Movement in 1966.

 However, as the saying goes, all wars are at the end settled at the negotiating tables. During the 20 years of hardships endured by the Mizo people in their fight for independence, the Mizo nation slowly and steadily shaped and moulded its socio-economic and political future. As a result, the erstwhile Lushai Hills District was elevated to the status of Autonomous District Council under the state of Assam in 1952, then to the status of Union Territory in 1972, and ultimately to statehood, when Mizoram was inaugurated to be the 23rd state of the Indian Union. It is for this very reason that since 1987, 20th February came to be observed as the Mizoram State Day till date.

 Dear friends, today is not meant to be politicized or be used as a political hard ball to be thrown against one another, nor should it be considered as a day of despair or failure for not being able to carve out an independent nation out of the Indian Union. The famous American lawyer and Judge, Judge Billings Learned Hand had aptly stated, “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it.” True freedom and liberty lies within each and every one of us, and within the ambit of our great Indian Constitution, this Mizo nation is free to do what it desires and we are also free to protect and preserve our interests. We find proof of it from the very fact that we, the Mizo people and Mizoram had been accorded the same level of autonomy to administer our own welfare and advancement i.e. statehood, with our much demographically larger and socio-economically well-off counterparts in the Indian Union. So long as the fire of freedom and liberty burns within us, no nation or race, powerful as they may, could not diminish the fire that burns within us. This great Mizo nation had endured and survived generations of subjugation at the hands of formidable adversaries and rulers and today, we are not just a tiny portion of the vast Indian mainland. Although, we may be small in number, we are an integral part of this great country, and we have the same liberty and freedom to administer ourselves like all the other states of the Indian Union. Hence, let us all be reminded that this day, the Mizoram State Day, the very day when we gained the liberty and freedom to administer ourselves as a full-fledged state is no ordinary day, but a special day, an auspicious and memorable occasion for the Mizo people and the Mizo nation.

 Long live Mizoram and Mizo nation….