The Mizo Accord
- Part 2 -

L Memo Singh *

Mizo National Front Office :: Pix - Wikipedia/Coolcolney

In the past, on four different occasions, Laldenga had either reneged on the agreement or left India in a huff because he could not get theChief Ministership of Mizoram, as a price for giving up insurgency and the demand for independence.The Home Secretary, keeping in view Laldenga's political bargain that was equally important for him and his unpalatable acts, as politely as he could told Laldenga that henceforth he would have to talk to the Home Secretary instead. The Home Secretary also hinted that some matters that Laldenga had discussed with Parthasarathy required looking into a fresh.

Laldenga's reaction was predictable. He was visibly upset. The Home Secretary could sense the anger building up within him. There was a reddish glow on his face and the veins on his forehead were throbbing. His two colleagues were looking intently at their leader. Controlling his anger he said, "Mr. Home Secretary, if you propose to reopen and go back on what has been agreed upon I shall return to the jungles and take up arms. There will be bloodshed again and you will be responsible for that."

Just then tea was served. Taking the opportunity in stirring sugar in his cup the Home Secretary thought of his reaction.

He did not forget the brief given to him by the Prime Minister himself : to engage Laldenga in talks and retrieve some of the ground that had already been conceded to him. He said,"Mr. Laldenga we are meeting for the first time. you don't know me. I don't know you." After a pause, "But, I do know that you are still the leader of an insurgency. Today you are in Delhi under some kind of guarantees regarding your person."

After the pose of a few second, the Home Secretary added, "If I have heard you right, you have threatened me. You have talked of bloodshed. You are in the room of the Union Home Secretary. If what I have understood is correct, I shall have to take action that the law requires me to take." Laldenga looked at his colleagues and turning his head looked intently at the Home Secretary. Almost eyeball to eyeball. The Joint Secretary, R. Vasudevan was anxiously looking at both of them. Then, instead of a volcanic eruption of temper, Laldenga broke into laughter and said, "Mr. Home Secretary, it seems I can do business with you. You appear to be a pretty straightforward person."

Laldenga must have known the trust that the Prime Minister reposed in the Home Secretary who had regarded Laldenga as a consummate actor and admitted that he had proved his charismatic leadership and how otherwise would hundreds of young Mizos spend the best years of their life in the underground, in one of the most inhospitable of jungles.

The talks of RD Pradhan, the Union Home Secretary with Laldenga thus started. The difficult task which the Home Secretary had on hand was that he had to 'withdraw' certain concessions already made by Parthasarathy and also obtain Laldenga's agreement on a couple of new points raised by the Prime Minister himself.

One important matter in these talks with Laldenga was the modalities for his armed men underground to come out, to lay down their arms and be helped to integrate in their beloved Mizo society. It was the exclusive preserve of the Home Ministry. The Home Secretary took full advantage of that to drag out the negotiations, till he had achieved the task that PM had entrusted to him.

During the subsequent long process Rajiv Gandhi kept his understanding with the Home Secretary. Despite several efforts on behalf of Laldenga to make direct overtures, the Prime Minister did not meet him. He did not want to come on the scene himself too soon. The only senior minister whom Laldenga could meet was S.B. Chavan, the Home Minister, who allowed the Home Secretary to full freedom to handle Laldenga. He came in only when the talks got bogged down. The Home Secretary also wanted to ensure that all major concessions were made by the Home Minister. It was his privilege.

As soon as Laldenga came to know that some matters settled between Parthasarathy and him were proposed to reopen, the crafty leader began to make his own moves. He started meeting opposition leaders, as probably advised by his counsel, Swaraj Kaushal, who later became the Governor of Mizoram during V.P. Singh's regime. In the beginning of October 1985, Laldenga even leaked to the press the full text of the agreement reached between him and Parthasarathy. He obviously wanted the world to know that Rajiv Gandhi was going back on what had been agreed. That was one way of putting pressure on the Government of India.

One day when Rajiv Gandhi met the Home Secretary, the Prime Minister asked him addressing as such, "Your good friend Laldenga."

The Home Secretary responded, "He's great. Our love affairs has just started. I must have some more time to allow our relationship to flowers !" laughingly Rajiv Gandhi said, "Take your own time. I will not accept anything that contains those objectionable portions."

Basically, there were three issues that rightly bothered the Prime Minister.

The first related to the assurance that with the signing of the accord all prosecutions against MNF members would be withdrawn, whatever may be the nature of the offence committed by them during the entire period of insurgency. They were to be granted pardon.

Secondly, no Act of Parliament in respect of ownership and transfer of land and its resources under the land in Mizoram shall apply, unless the State Assembly resolved that it should apply.

The third demand was for statehood, a separate High Court and a university.

On the first point, the Prime Minister's objection was consistent with the policy followed by the Home Ministry since independence. There was no question of granting pardon to those who had committed a heinous crime. The second objection arose from problems that had arisen in Nagaland, where under Art. 371(I) of the Constituency, no Act of Parliament in respect of "ownership and transfer of land and its resources," would automatically apply to Nagaland. There had been a series of problems because of the three words 'and its resources'.

ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas Commission) had not been able to carry out its exploration work smoothly; several other agencies of the Government of India were facing problems. Some central government officials had even been murdered. PM did not want a repeat of that in Mizoram. Nagaland issues were already before the Supreme Court.On the third issue there was no difficulty in principle.

Laldenga tried his best to stall the negotiations at the point they were 'concluded' with Parthasarathy. On the part of the Home Secretary, he took the line that unless he was ready to reopen those issues, there would be no agreement on any scheme for the MNF army to come out in the open.That was vital for him. In fact, at that stage, the negotiations were being closely monitored by the so called commander �in-Chief of the Mizo National Army, Tawnluia. He invariably accompanied Laldenga to his meetings with the Home Secretary.

Laldenga was becoming increasingly relaxed and friendly. Once he thanked the Home Secretary and with a good gesture the Home Secretary profusely told him, "Laldenga, in an interview with Surya magazine, you have said that you are the Government of India's guest. But it is a fact that we must look after you. That's our tradition."

To be continued ...