National and Religious Identity of the Mizo with Special Reference to Mizoram Insurgency

This paper tries to highlight the important position played by nationalist and religious sentiments in shaping Mizo identity. Religious nationalism contributes to the relationship between nationalism to a particular religious belief, dogma or affiliation. The mingling of nationalist feeling with religion is not a new phenomenon. Much before the British had arrived in Lushai Hills, the seed of nationalist perception had already sprouted among the Mizo. British introduced a new king of beliefs ‘Christianity’ through the Missionaries that received great resistance from native people. When India was at the verse of independence Christianity acquired an indispensable component of Mizo culture and ethnic identity. The Mizo National Army rebelled against Indian Government to protect their cultural, traditional, language and religious beliefs which they considered a part and parcel of the Mizo identity. Even after experiencing peace for over 30 year, religious nationalism continues to gain ever increasing momentum among the Mizo.