United Mizo Freedom Organisation
United Mizo Freedom Organisation | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | UMFO |
| Founder | Lalbiakthanga[1] |
| Founded | July 5, 1947 |
| Dissolved | 1955 |
| Split from | Mizo Union |
| Merged into | Eastern Indian Tribal Union |
| Ideology | Unification of the Lushai Hills with Burma |
United Mizo Freedom Organisation (UMFO), was a political party in the Lushai Hills (today the Indian state of Mizoram). UMFO was founded on 20 July 1947,[2] as a split from the Mizo Union.[3] At the time of Indian independence, UMFO was the second largest political force in the area.
History
[edit]The Mizo Union was formed on the onset of Indian Independence to decide the political direction of the Mizo people. However, the party became contested with class divisions of common people against the autocracy of chieftainship. The elites and chiefs formed a right wing of the Mizo Union, which opposed a union with India, opting for independence. The issue became polarized closer towards independence. One of the members of the Mizo Union right wing wanted to join the Mizo areas of Burma and form a separate province in Burma. This led to the formation of the United Mizo Freedom Organisation, which was founded under Lalbiakthanga, an ex-Burmese Mizo military officer from Burma, on 5 July 1947.[1]
The party struggled with popular support. Public opinion supported the abolishment of chieftainship while the UMFO actively supported perpetuation of the institution. Due to this the party became known as Zalen Pawl which refers to the UMFO as the 'party of the privileged'.[1]
In the 1952 Assam Legislative Assembly election (which the Lushai Hills at that time was part of), UMFO put up three candidates, none of whom were elected. In total, the party received 9070 votes (23.76% of the votes in those three constituencies).[4]
The UMFO had little bearing in opposing the union with India and abolishing chieftainship. In 1954, the India Tribal Union was established and articulated the demand for a hill state separate from Assam. The UMFO supported this notion early on, while the Mizo Union did not. The Mizo Union due to corruption and unpopular initiatives on land reform. The UMFO seized this with advances in Aizawl East and Lunglei constituencies. The skepticism of rejection of increased Mizo autonomy under the States Reorganization Act changed the political climate for the UMFO. The EITU won 10 of the 15 seats contested in the Assam Legislative Assembly.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Nag, Sajal (April 2016). The Uprising: Colonial State, Christian Missionaries and Anti-Slavery Movement in North-East India (1908-1954). New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-946089-2.
{{cite book}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ S.K. Chaube (1999). Hill Politics in North-east India. Orient Longman. ISBN 9788125016953.
- ^ Venkataraghavan Subha Srinivasan (27 October 2021). "The birth of Mizoram: This book details the history of how each of India's states was formed". Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1951 : To the Legislative Assembly of Assam" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
- ^ Holt, Benjamin (2022). "Building the state and conceiving the nation: the origins of seperatist insurgency in the Mizo Hills, 1945-61". Contemporary South Asia. 20 (3): 313–330. doi:10.1080/09584935.2022.2072475. Retrieved 3 October 2024.