Pu Laldenga

Laldenga (11 June 1927 – 7 July 1990) was a Mizo separatist and politician from Mizoram in northeast India. He was the founder of the Mizo National Front, a social organisation turned political party. He was the first Chief Minister of Mizoram as a federated state, the office of which he held from 1986 to 1988.

Originally a Havildar in the Indian Army, Laldenga later worked as an Accounts Clerk in the Government of Assam. Disappointed by the government's indifference to the severe famine (called Mautam) in the Mizo district in the late 1950s, he rebelled against the government. As a leader of the Mizo National Front (MNF), he led a secessionist war seeking Mizo territory's independence from India. He was captured many times, and spent most of his time in exile in Bangladesh. The guerrilla movement lasted for sixteen years till the Mizo Accord was signed in 1986, by which he became the Chief Minister of the new state of Mizoram. He won the first Mizoram Legislative Assembly election under statehood in 1987, and continued as Chief Minister for another year. He died of lung cancer in 1990.

Early years

Laldenga, the fourth child of a cultivator Liantlira Ralte and Darchhungi Hnamte, was born on 11 June 1927 in village Pukpui in the Mizo district of Assam (now in the Lunglei district of Mizoram). He joined the Indian Army in 1944 and served up to Havildar. He resigned from the army and joined civil service as Accounts Supervisor under District Council office in Aizawl.

Secessionist movements Laldenga joined a voluntary organisation called Mizo Cultural Society, formed in 1955, as its Secretary.

On the night of 28 February 1966, the MNF launched a daring and ambitious attack on the district's major towns, resulting in the March 1966 Mizo National Front uprising. It declared independence and called on the Mizos to rise against India. The Indian government responded by sending troops and aircraft on bombing missions. Villagers were uprooted from the hills and sent without their consent to what were called Regrouped Villages built along the highways. For the next 20 years, violence continued in the Mizo hills with the fighters camping in Mizoram (India) and East Pakistan. With the fall of East Pakistan in 1971, Laldenga's men scattered to Myanmar while he moved to Pakistan. After secret meetings in Europe with Indian officials, he returned seeking a peaceful resolution of the problem.

During his guerrilla life, Laldenga was arrested on several occasions and spent 10 years in exile, mostly in Bangladesh and Pakistan. He returned to India for peace talks in 1976, but the terms of negotiations failed in 1982. MNF was officially outlawed in January, and he, with some relatives, were arrested. He was extradited by the Indian government in April.

Peace Accord and political career

When Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India in 1984, it encouraged a new wave of negotiation. Laldenga met him on 15 February 1985, and peace settlement was on its way. On 30 June 1986 the official document entitled Mizoram Accord, 1986, Memorandum of Settlement was then signed by Laldenga, R. D. Pradhan, Home Secretary, and Lalkhama, Chief secretary.

Laldenga became an interim Chief Minister, as the sitting Chief Minister Lalthanhawla stepped down to Deputy Chief Minister. Under the terms of the accord, Mizoram was granted statehood in February 1987. Laldenga and his party MNF won the first elections to the state legislature.

Previous insurgents who opposed the Mizo Accord and viewed it as a failure of Laldenga in a sovereign independent Mizoram formed the Mizo Liberation Army and cooperated with the Tripura National volunteers. The discovery of weapon caches and incriminating documents led to the arrests of six members of the People's Conference in Manipur and commanders in exile. The Mizoram Congress charged the MNF government with continuation of the insurgency and support for the MLA. Laldenga treated the spoilers of the peace accord with harsh punishments to distance his connection from the offshoot organization. The MLA was tied to the People's Conference under T. Sailo who was assumed to be responsible in a plot to discredit Laldenga's administration. However support began to wane as returnees from the insurgency became disillusioned with delays of the promise of rehabilitation.