On 5 March 1966 two Indian fighter planes flew over Aizawl, the principal town of Mizoram, and dropped incendiary devices on its people. It was the lowest possible point in the relations between the Mizo people and the central government. It was also the point at which the Presbyterian Church began to take an active role in politics.
“In 1966 we church people were not aware of the political events,” says L N Ralte who was the headmaster of the Presbyterian High School at the time. “Our commitment was with the church."
Feeding off anger at the inadequate response of the government to the Mautam famine in the 1960s, the Mizo National Front (MNF) led a sustained protest which ended in them declaring independence from India on 28 February 1966. From that day the people of Aizawl began to hear the sounds of gunfire and bomb blasts.
L N Ralte at his home in AizawlHe went to consult the moderator of the Mizoram Synod Rev Alwyn Roberts, saying, “Brother, see what we have become. Our people are in fright. There is no organisation that can stand for the people. We need to do something.”
They hastily decided that a standing committee of the synod be convened the next day with as many members as they could gather. The next task was to find a driver so he could spread the word. The only person who was available was an expert driver, but a drunkard.
“Normally nobody would take him as a driver,” Ralte explains. “But under that situation, there was nothing to drink. So I got him.”
On the way to the northern part of the town, they came across a man who was besides himself, perhaps suffering with schizophrenia, Ralte recalls. “He was standing at the crossroads and he called me by name to ask where I was going and insisted that he came too."
The man travelled the whole way waving his arms and shouting from the window in Hindi and Mizo andEnglish: “We are sacred people! Nobody can touch us!” In that manner they went around the church and informed every member of the standing committee.
The emergency committee meeting decided first to publish an appeal declaring that violence is not in accordance with the teaching of Christ. “We should desist.” And they decided to start what became the Aizawl Citizen Committee. They selected members from all denominations of the Christian church and also some from the public offices.
At the first meeting Ralte was elected President of the Aizawl Citizen Committee. “The tasks assigned to me and the secretary were to protect the women, children and the general public from the MNF and from the army excesses,” he recalls. “So it was like a nightmare.”The affairs of the world are in the hand of God
He approached the army heads, the heads of the administration of the district, people from the Assam state government and from Delhi. He had a copy of the defence of India rules. The rules outlined how the army should conduct itself in the case of internal disturbance.
“Once the army chief came to know that I had this book, everybody had to go according to the rules,” he says. Within four months life was more or less manageable.
Next came the challenge of resolving the dispute. They organised a Christian Peace Committee with the Baptist Church. When they started the Christian Peace committee Ralte never believed it could be possible to have the MNF and the Indian government people to talk across the table because the enmity was so bitter.
The only hope they had was the confidence that the affairs of the world are in the hand of God. So when they met the president of the MNF, they were surprised to find him receptive and willing to negotiate.
“He himself was a Presbyterian church man,” Ralte recalls. He laid down conditions for the Government of India to come to talk across the table. In May 1967 they met the prime minister, the home minister and the defence minister. But they said the MNF must be crushed. “So we were completely disappointed,” he says. “But we were not downhearted. We said to ourselves, things may change, let’s watch.”
Settlement
The watching and persuading and negotiating lasted for 20 years until on 30 June 1986 the MNF and the Union Government signed a peace accord that paved the way to the formation of Mizoram State the following year. The churches’ political involvement at such a fundamental level has a profound effect on the church and on the state. But this is due to organisation rather than a spontaneous response.
“The Mizo spirituality is so spiritual that at times it looks as if it lost its relevance in everyday life,” Ralte says. “In comparison the moral life was not very conspicuous.”
Worried that Christianity would lose its social and political relevance and vitality, the church established the Social Front, to Christianise politics, economics, day-to-day life and work ethics. The Mizo people claim to be 70 per cent Christian and indwelt by the revival spirit of God, but the church is asking how this strong profession of faith translates into the issues of everyday life.
Today the biggest challenge is endemic corruption in business and politics – it is not easy to prosper in Mizoram without engaging in the system of backhanders. Current secretary of the Social Front Robert Halliday suggests that Mizos typically compartmentalise different aspects of their life.
Mizos can worship devotedly on a Sunday and still be swayed by underhand practices in their business life without appreciating the contradiction. Still with around half of the total population of the state associated with the church, and with well respected leaders, the Presbyterian Church is well positioned to make its voice heard. This is a key factor in the state elections.
The Presbyterian Church is campaigning for its people to vote and support candidates of moral integrity. Whichever direction the political leaders turn in Mizoram, they will be accompanied by the support and challenge of the church.