1947-52: A District Council Within India In 1947, the present-day state of Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills District, named by the Britis...
1947-52: A District Council Within India
In 1947, the present-day state of Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills District, named by the British as an administrative unit. Lushai Hills was an excluded area as demarcated by the British in order to exclude it from direct purview. As a result, the Lals (chiefs) of various tribes – Lushai, Chin, Kuki, Hmar, Pawi, Lakher and others – continued to be the dominant force in society after the British.
After the Second World War, a new class of elites began to rise in society. They had money and education and “rose in revolt” against the rule of the chiefs. Mizoram’s first political party, the Mizo Union (MU), was formed in 1946 with the aim to abolish chieftainship. The name Mizo (Mi is Man, Zo is Hill) was chosen to reflect “the typical integrationist aspiration of the middle class”.
At its first general assembly in September 1946, the MU boycotted the failed district conference idea of the district’s British superintendent. Instead, they chose to join India while giving themselves the right to review the situation and reconsider independence after ten years. This created two factions within the MU. The founder president and second president, both seen to be influenced...
