The Accords continues....

Efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the Mizo problem started in

1971. It was the Church that took the initiative. It held talks with

Intelligence officials on the one hand and Laldenga on the other. A Church

elder contacted Laldenga, who was living in exile with his men in the

Chittagong Hills, and set the process of negotiation moving. The Church

representatives then held talks with officials of Research and Analysis Wing

(RAW) and Intelligence Bureau (IB). Both these agencies conveyed the

message to Laldenga that the insurgency was a futile exercise and that it

would be crushed.

The first meeting between a senior functionary of RAW and Laldenga

took place in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1975. Laldenga was asked to abjure

violence and hold peace talks with the Government.

In fact, the Government of India’s policy on the Mizo rebellion was to

draw the Mizos into the mainstream while dealing sternly with the rebels.

Accordingly, as far back as in 1968, the Government declared amnesty for

the insurgents. Responding to this offer, 1,524 MNF cadres surrendered

before the security forces. Many of these insurgents were later inducted

into the paramilitary forces. Amnesties were offered at different times.

However, these amnesties did not help much in the termination of

insurgency, which continued taking a large toll on lives. The peace process

that began in 1971 had suffered many setbacks. Laldenga could not have

acted unilaterally. In 1974, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Indira

Gandhi expressing his willingness to discuss the Mizo issue within the

framework of the Indian Constitution. It is not known why no agreement

could be reached then. The insurgency lingered on for another decade.

Chapter 2 Concluded!