AIZAWL: Mizoram Governor Vakkom Purushothaman on Saturday hailed Mizoram as a messenger of peace in India.
” This state of Northeast India is sending out an important message to the entire nation that peace is possible if people truly desire so; and that peace and development are co-related,” the Governor said after he officially closed the exhibition-cum-sale organised as part of celebration of the 25 years of peace in Mizoram at the New Secretariat Complex ground here on Saturday.
Though the Governor hailed Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla’s sacrificing his chief ministership to usher in permanent peace in Mizoram 25 years back, he stated that the most important contributors to peace in Mizoram are the Mizo people who aspired for progress and development.
” Peace did not come easy and the credit for this goes to the church leaders of Mizoram who persistently acted as a negotiator and our then Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi who showed flexibility for the sake of peace and did not stand on any prestige,” he said.
The Governor observed that the people of Mizoram are hard-working and talented, that he was impressed by the skilled craftsmanship and intrinsic beauty woven by the Mizos. “I am optimistic that handloom and handicraft of Mizoram will soon be in demand both at national and international markets. The soil of Mizoram is rich and I have no doubt that farmers would soon be able to reap the benefits of their products through outlets.”
” Mizoram is blessed with abundance of nature’s bounties. Tourism is an important service-oriented sector and a composite service provider, both public and private, which includes travel agents, tour operators, hotels, restaurants and shops,” he said.
The Governor also hoped that the opening up of border trade with Myanmar and Bangladesh, and the ‘Look East Policy’ of the government of India coupled with peaceful condition of the state, Mizoram would no more be a remote corner state of the country.
” I am confident that industrialization will substantially gain momentum in the near future. With the New Land Use Policy having been taken up very seriously, I am sure the food products of the State will considerably increase in the future,” he said. ”Let us cherish and nurture peace so that we not only continue to celebrate the Peace Accord but attain our rightful place as a ‘Model State’ for the rest of the country to emulate and prove that peace is possible because each individual has opted for peace,” the Governor said. (UNI)