A year of political change and famine for Mizoram

Congress, out of power for the past decade trounced ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) in the 40-member state assembly elections held on December two and became the only party to score an absolute majority since Mizoram became a state in 1987.

Led by three-time former chief minister Lal Thanhawla, Congress bagged 32 seats while MNF could manage to win only four with the help of its ally Mara Democratic Front (MDF).

Outgoing chief minister Zoramthanga lost from both the seats he contested. The third force known as the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), an alliance of Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC) and the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) also got only four seats.

The year began with fear of the impending repetition of ‘mautam’ or famine caused by gregarious bamboo flowering resulting in destruction of crops by millions of rodents as Dendrocalamus Hamiltoni, locally known as “phulrua” flowered during the last part of 2007.

Experts like James Lalsiamliana had warned last year that flowering of phulrua would proved wrong the predictions of village elders that 2007 would be the climax of the Mautam and 2008 would be ‘a vur kum’ or ‘year of harvest boom’.

Multitude of rats survived feeding on the fallen seeds of phulrua to again ravage the jhums or paddy fields all over the State.

The death of 38 children in and around Zawngling village in the southern tip of the state, bordering Arakan of Myanmar, during the last part of 2007 and beginning of 2008 shocked the state as some reports concluded that they died due to malnutrition and starvation due to Mautam famine.

Officials of the state health department, however, investigated the deaths and found that the children died due to meningitis which spread in an epidemic-like proportions in the area.

The death of four manual workers due to the collapse of a retaining wall which was under construction in Aizawl created quite a furore as the state Public Works Department had been under the scanner of the people for alleged sub-standard works. Public outcry forced the state government to constitute an inquiry committee on the disaster which found some engineers guilty of criminal negligence.

Though crime rate was on the wane in Mizoram, murder and crime against women especially rape cases were on the rise during the year as compared to the yesteryears.

The sensational and mysterious death of Rev. Chanchinmawia, a senior priest of the Presbyterian Church and President of the Mizoram People’s Forum (MPF), a church-sponsored organisation for political and electoral reforms, at his official church residence at Khatla locality in Aizawl on October one shook the very foundations of the church and the government.

A special team of state police investigating the case concluded that the the Pastor took his own life and his death was not a homicidal one.

Public and church pressures forced the state government to order a reinvestigation of the case by the CBI and the country’s premier investigating agency is yet to submit its report.

Being the last year of the second successive MNF government and the year when the Sixth Pay Commission was set to be implemented, series of agitations by the state government employees marked the whole year. – PTI