Aizawl: Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), which had struggled for the independence for Mizoram, on Saturday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the formation of the state.
At the main function held here, former chief minister and party president Zoramthanga said that the MNF was formed on October 22, 1961 by a few Mizo leaders at the house of the late founder president Laldenga.
“The MNF came into existence with the objective of the survival of Mizoram and the Mizo people,” Zoramthanga said, adding that the peace accord was signed in 1986 with the Indian government with the same objective.
The MNF Golden Jubilee celebrations commenced on Friday evening with camp fires being lit in all the villages by the party units and the Golden Jubilee memorial stone was unveiled by Zoramthanga this morning.
The MNF, formed in 1961 during the devastating Mautam famine after rechristening the Mizo National Famine Front (MNFF), declared independence from the Indian Union on March one, 1966 throwing Mizoram into a struggle for the next 20 years.
After the Mizo accord was signed on June 30, 1986 with the Centre, the erstwhile underground MNF became a regional party again and won the first election to the 40-member state assembly (after Mizoram attained statehood on February 20, 1987).
The MNF government led by Laldenga was toppled in August 1988 and the party lost two consecutive state assembly polls in 1989 and 1993 before returning to power in 1998 and 2003.
However, the MNF government was voted out of power in 2008 with the Congress storming back to power with a thumping majority in the December 2, 2008 assembly polls. (PTI)