Grouping of villages (Khawkhawm) was a counter insurgency measure adopted by the Union Government and carried out by the Indian Army under Operation Accomplishment during 1967 – 70 to contain and control insurgency by aiming to isolate civilians from insurgents. Villagers were given just a day’s notice to move bag and baggage to Grouping Centres leaving behind their ancestral homes and fields and were forced to settle in bigger villages along the main roads. Often the villages and fields were burnt down by the Army. Out of a total of 764 villages in Mizoram at that time about 516 villages were evacuated and regrouped into 110 Grouping Centres. To this day, the scar of those memories haunts the people and has left a deep psychological fear in the mindset of many.
To curb the movement of civilians, to keep MNF insurgents at bay and as a counter - insurgency measure the Army imposed night curfews throughout Mizoram for years together. No one was allowed on the streets and those who ventured out due to some pressing need were rounded up by the Army, questioned and at times even tortured. Curfew became a part of the way of life in Mizoram till peace finally dawned in 1986. Thus Mizoram suffered one of the longest spell of curfews imposed upon any territory in the world.
Peace Efforts and the Peace Accord
In the meantime, there were concerted efforts by church leaders, political leaders, non-governmental organizations especially the Young Mizo Association (YMA) and the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) and the civil society to bring lasting peace and normalcy to Mizoram and to convey the futility of violence and hostility. The first such attempt at brokering peace was initiated by the late Rev. Zairema who formed a ‘Peace Mission’ comprising of the Presbyterian and Baptist Church Committees to persuade MNF leaders to give up violence and to persuade the Union Government to accommodate important demands within the framework of the Indian Constitution. This effort however failed but nevertheless it started the most crucial process of dialogue and peace talks which finally culminated in the Memorandum of Settlement, better known as the Mizoram Peace Accord on 30th June 1986. The Peace Accord was signed by Laldenga on behalf of the MNF, Union Home Secretary R D Pradhan on behalf of the Government of India and by Chief Secretary Lalkhama on behalf of the Government of Mizoram.   The noble efforts of the Church, the NGOs and civil society in the peace process will forever be remembered by the people and this is something that can be emulated in other strife striven regions of our country.
The Memorandum of Settlement incorporated some important issues in its provisions. The MNF agreed to end underground insurgent activities, surrender all arms and weapons to the appropriate authority, come back to normal civil life and eschew violence within a stipulated time frame. It further agreed to delete its objective of “independence and secession of Mizoram from the Union of India” from its Constitution to confirm its faith in the Indian Constitution. The Union Government, on its part, agreed to rehabilitate underground MNF cadre with adequate compensation. It also agreed to upgrade the status of Mizoram from the existing Union Territory to a full-fledged state of the Indian Union. Further, the Union Government committed to establish a High Court and a University for the state. The socio- cultural autonomy of the Mizo people was duly recognised by the Union Government.
It may be worthwhile to mention that Lal Thanhawla who was the Chief Minister at the time stepped down so that Laldenga could be sworn in as the Chief Minister while he was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister as a part of the interim agreement in the coalition government of the  Congress and the MNF in August 1986. This may perhaps be the only parallel where a serving Chief Minister stepped down for the greater cause of peace and for the people. Soon after, the Parliament passed the Constitutional Amendment giving effect to Settlement. Consequent to this, the formal announcement conferring statehood was made by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 20th February 1987 at the Assam Rifles Ground in Aizawl and thus Mizoram became the 23rd state of India.
Mizoram – Post Peace Accord
With the signing of the Peace Accord, Mizoram started the process of rebuilding and started on the road to development. Development had stood still for almost twenty years and things cannot change overnight. Change takes time and needs patience. Initially the pace of development was slow as there were a lot of challenges to be overcome.  There have been a lot of positive visible changes in all spheres of life in the recent past. Infrastructure wise, Lengpui Airport connected Mizoram to the rest of India and people are now able to reach any metro city the same day itself, saving time and money. The World Bank funded Aizawl – Thenzawl - Lunglei Road has cut the distance between Aizawl and Lunglei, the second largest urban town by almost 50 kms.  Another World Bank Road project has been sanctioned recently.  Work on the Kolodyne Multi Modal Transport Project connecting the Sittwe Port in Burma to southern Mizoram has started. Once the Project is completed, Mizoram will have the potential to become the ‘Gateway to the North East’.
The Aizawl Municipal Council has started functioning and this has taken democracy one step further.  In the sphere of human resource development - Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing (RIPAN), College of Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry, Mizoram University (MZU) have come up. A National Institute of Technology (NIT), a Centre of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Sainik School will become operational soon. Recently the Civil Hospital Aizawl became the first Government Hospital in the entire North East to receive the coveted ISO Certification. In July 2010, the Education Reforms Commission of Mizoram, a body set up by the Government in March 2009 to study the education system in Mizoram and suggest changes submitted its Report. Mizoram is the only state that has set up such as Commission to evaluate and suggest qualitative changes in the education system. Given its position as the second most literate state in the country, this step can have the far reaching effects in the improvement of human resource development.
Development is always an ongoing process. Despite these examples, a lot more needs to be done in developing industries, improving the power generation as Mizoram which has the potential for hydroelectric power, generation of jobs, providing qualitative education, empowering women in the political arena, combating the AIDS and drug menace, curbing the prevalent common use of tobacco and tobacco products which has resulted in an alarmingly high number of cancer cases. The shifting pattern of cultivation which is non - productive and which has resulted in loss of forest cover thereby upsetting the ecological balance is set to be addressed by the New Land Use Policy (NLUP) launched last month by the government. Mizoram has a long standing boundary dispute with the neighbouring state of Assam towards the north which needs to be resolved and this has been a long standing demand of a number of NGOs and the people. There have been occasional incidents of armed activities perpetrated in the border areas by underground outfits such as the Chin National Army (CNA) from Myanmar, Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) from Manipur, Bru National Liberation Force (BNLF) from Tripura and Hmar People’s Convention – Democratic (HPC-D) from Assam and Manipur in the past and these need to be looked into.
Mizoram has come a long way and it still has a long way to go on the path to progress and development. With a strong willed political leadership combined with the enlightened and informed public and the positive support of the Church and NGOs, Mizoram can soon be a Model State.

Pratap Chhetri