Mizoram Statehood Day – 20 February

Mizoram Statehood Day is celebrated on 20 February along with Arunachal Pradesh Statehood Day. The 53rd amendment of the Indian Constitution created the State of Mizoram on 20 February 1987, as India’s 23rd state.

Mizoram Statehood Day is a state holiday this regional holiday commemorates the day in 1987 when Mizoram gained its statehood. All educational institutions and government offices will be closed on State Day.

History

Mizoram is one of the states of Northeast India, with Aizawl as its capital. The name is derived from Mi (people), Zo (hill), and Ram (land), and thus Mizoram implies “land of the hill people“. The state is bounded by Myanmar to the east and south, and Bangladesh to the west. It also shares the border with three states among the Seven Sister States of old Assam that is Tripura to the northwest, Assam to the north, and Manipur to the northeast.

There were several tribal wars in Mizoram between the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 19th century, Mizoram is referred to as the Lushai (Looshai) Hills. In 1871-1872 and 1889-1890, the British undertook two expeditions in response to tribal raids. The Lushai Hills were allocated to Bengal (Assam), and the eastern region of China, also inhabited by Zomi, was allocated to Burma.

After the independence of India, Mizoram continued to be part of Assam like several other northeastern states. In 1946, Mizoram’s first political party was formed. The name of this party was Mizo Common People. In 1966 the Mizos resorted to the use of armed struggle to put forth their demands to set up a homeland.

Mizoram was previously part of Assam until 1972 when it was carved out as a Union Territory. Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur were incorporated as full-fledged states of the Indian Union on 21 January 1972 and Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were also made Union Territories on that day. It was in 1986 that peace was established and Mizoram joined the mainstream with the Indian Union.

The Mizoram Peace Accord was signed between the Mizo National Front and the Union Government on June 30, 1986, and eight months after the signing of the Mizo Peace Accord, Mizoram attained statehood on February 20, 1987. It became the 23rd state of India, a step above Union Territory, on 20 February 1987.

Suggested Read: Formation Dates of Indian States

Facts about Mizoram

After India gained independence from colonial rule, the region was granted autonomous status in 1952, where Mizo people formulated their own laws and delivered judicial decisions.
The 1960s saw an increasing call for Mizoram to end its status as a part of Assam and seek its own statehood.
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The state was a part of Assam until the year 1972. In 1972 the state was made a Union Territory.
The 1972 bifurcation of Assam in which its hill districts went separate ways is partly a result of rivalry between Assamese and Bengali speakers.
The inhabitants of Mizoram are known by the generic name of Mizo, which literally means people (mi) of the hills (zo). They were the tribal groups of the Tibeto-Burmese race.
It attained statehood on February 20, 1987, following the 53rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution 1986.
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