Aizawl, June 30: The most successful peace pact of the Northeast, the Mizoram peace accord, appears to be wilting under the burden of expectations with a powerful association of former Mizo National Front (MNF) rebels today dismissing the 1986 agreement as a “failure”.
Today was the 17th anniversary of the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Centre and the MNF, which ended the two- decades-long armed struggle in the state.
The group, called the Peace Accord MNF Returnees Association, refused to acknowledge the accord, saying it is “yet to be fulfilled in its entirety”.
Refuting the government’s claim that Mizoram is the most peaceful state in the country, the association said the people know better. “Militants roam free in the heart of the city, killing our police, robbing our banks and abducting people for ransom. This is a clear indication of how peace has not prevailed in the state,” the association said in a press handout today.
The allegations coincided with a bomb blast that rocked the capital last night. The explosion took place in a football field at Vaivakawn in the western part of the town at 11 pm. However, no one was injured.
Opposing the government’s decision to declare June 30 as Thanksgiving Day, the association said it is a “black day since all our demands to implement the accord in full have been ignored”.
The association had observed a Black Day on this datelast year and buried a copy of the Memorandum of Settlement on August 14, saying it was an “instrument of betrayal”.
Accusing New Delhi of not keeping its word and dubbing it “untrustworthy”, the association accused the MNF and the government of not taking steps to fully implement the memorandum. “To make sure that the people of Mizoram are not betrayed again in the coming elections, we will reveal everything to you, what is good and what is bad,” the statement said.
In 1996, during the Congress reign, the MNF had organised a protest day on June 30. Biakdiki, widow of MNF founder Laldenga, had organised a sit-in at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, along with several other party MLAs, demanding fulfilment of the clauses in the accord.
Each former rebel is still to receive Rs 20,000 as rehabilitation funds.
