Zo nationalism

Zo nationalism^[1][2][3] is an ethnic nationalist movement among the Zo people^[4][5][6] – a broad umbrella of interrelated tribes broadly comprising Zomi,^[7] Mizo^[8] Chin,^[9] and Kuki, whose traditional homelands span Northeast India (Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura states), Western Myanmar (Chin State) and Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts).^[10] These Zo tribes share a common Tibeto-Burman linguistic and cultural ancestry. As one study notes: "a majority of the Zo population lives in Manipur and Mizoram in Northeast India, Bangladesh, and Chin State of Myanmar".^[11] Major Zo subgroups include the Chin of Myanmar, the Mizos (Lushai) of Mizoram, the Zomi of Manipur and Chin State, the various Kuki clans of Manipur and Bangladesh, and numerous clans (Hmar, Gangte, Zou, Paite, etc.)^[12][13]

Although divided by modern frontiers, the Zo people have many common traits: for example, most Zo were traditional animists who were converted to Protestant Christianity by 19th-century missionaries.^[11] Many families today still emphasize a shared ancestry. Anthropologists even note that some Chittagong-Hill tribes in Bangladesh (e.g. Bawm, Pangkhu, Khumi, Mro-Khimi) are "descendants of the Mizo–Chin–Kuki (Zo) groups"^[14] underlining that these communities are culturally and linguistically closer to the Zo of India and Myanmar than to neighboring people.^[7][15]

Because the Zo people straddle the borders of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, Zo nationalism^[16] advocates an emotional (if not territorial) unity of this cross-border community. Zo activists often use the term Zogam or Zoram ("Zo land") to describe the idea of a contiguous homeland. Historically, British administrators alternated between notions of uniting the Chin and Lushai hills and deliberate "divide-and-rule" policies.^[17] For example, colonial records show a late-19th-century Chin-Lushai conference (1892) that envisioned joint administration of the hill peoples, and Zo leaders today cite this as a precedent.^[18] In practice, however, the British mostly kept the Chin Hills (in Burma) and Lushai Hills (in India) as separate provinces. Indeed, historians observe that until 1947 "the Zo people never had social and political unity"; as one scholar comments, colonial rule was marked by the convenient segregation of these "rebellious tribes".^[19] After decolonization (India and Burma in 1947–48, Bangladesh in 1971), the Zo communities found themselves scattered across three countries with no autonomous Zo-majority region. As another commentary notes, the Zo "straddle domestic and international borders, which were erected rather arbitrarily by the British".^[19] Thus Zo nationalists see modern national boundaries – and state policies – as disruptive inheritances of the colonial era. This is driven by organisations such as the Zomi Re-Unification Organisation (ZRO) in India, and Zomi National Congress (ZNC) in Myanmar.^[20][21]

Background

The Zo people are a conglomerate of several warring tribes before and during the British rule in India and Myanmar.^[7] British entered the Zo people's territory in 1888^[22] and began colonial administration in 1890. In 1892, the British called the Chin-Lushai conference for the Chin and the Lushai, both hill tribes.^[23] The British favoured uniting the Chin and Lushai into one administration, but the Lushai rejected the plan. The Lushai hill tribe then took a new name, Mizo, a poetic word for the Zomi.^[24] By then, they were variously identified, but sometimes contradictorily, by the major tibes Chin, Kuki, Mizo and Zomi.^[25][26]

The first politically literate Zo people was Than Pet Mang from Chin State. An officer in the Burma Rifles, then part of the British Army, he learned administrative system from the British officers.^[27] In 1942, he was impressed by a nationalistic speech of a Buddhist monk and resigned from the army. He returned to his native village, adopted a new name after the village and his father as Vum Thu Muang,^[28] and founded the Chin National Union in 1933.^[29]

Although of the same Tibeto-Burman ethnicity, the Zo people never had social and political unity until the British rule ended in India in 1947 and in Myanmar (then Burma) in 1948;^[10] Bangladesh became a independent nation (from Pakistan, which in turn had split from India) in 1971.^[30] For the British Empire, administrative segregation was convenient to keep the rebellious tribes away from each other for maintaining law and order.^[7][31] Independent sovereignty of these regions meant that the different Zo tribes had settled in and fell under different administrative jurisdictions in three countries.^[32][33][34] In 1944 the various groups, such as Sukte Independence Army were raised in Burma. In 1947 modern Burma was assembled from five countries, including Chin, Kachin, federated Shan state, Karen state and Burma according to the Panglong agreement. This agreement outlined each state's right to be self-administered after ten years from the date of agreement. However, the union of Burma was politically collapsing and the agreement fell apart.^[35][36]

In 1960, the Chin Liberation Army was founded by Tun Kho Pum Baite to re-unify the Chin people while the Mizo National Front (MNF) strove for Mizo independence. MNF ended with the Mizoram state's creation by the Indian government. This movement did not cover all of Zogam. The Zomi Revolutionary Army was then created. Now the hill people (Zomi) re-unification group is the Zomi Revolutionary Army.^[37]

The 8888 uprising took place in 1988. Students were protesting against the Burmese government. Zomi students were involved and founded the Chin National Army (CNA).^[38] The CNA continued its campaign against the Burmese government for about six months, until it was destroyed and many corpses were recovered from their camps. Some members went into hiding, while others founded small armed groups. The CNA was rejected by the Zomi National Congress. After a few months, the CNA asked for a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government.^[39][40]

Ethnic identity and cultural cohesion

The Zo tribes share many cultural bonds. Religiously, most Zo today are Protestant Christians. British missionaries converted large numbers of Chin/Kuki/Mizo tribes from animism by the mid-20th century. As one review notes, this formed "a close-knit Christian community" across Zo hills.^[41][42] Churches and mission schools became meeting-places for tribal members from different groups. In fact, Christian networks helped spread nationalist ideas: oral histories record that insurgent leaders and activists composed new "patriotic" and "nationalist" songs (called hnam hla, or "song of the land") during the Mizo uprising, and these were taught communally at church gatherings.^[43] Roluahpuia describes how such songs of hope and suffering ("rambuai lha") circulated by word of mouth, providing news and solidarity under wartime censorship.^[44] In short, the Zo learned to "sing through their rambuai years" – singing together helped reinforce a common identity even when written materials were banned.^[44][45]

Language is another important tie. All Zo groups speak languages from the Kuki-Chin branch of Tibeto-Burman. These dozens of related dialects (Mizo, Falam Chin, Hakha Chin, Thadou, Paite, etc.) are often mutually intelligible. Zo leaders periodically propose linguistic unity: for example, in 2008 Zomi delegates to the United Nations even urged creating one standardized "central Zomi dialect" out of the roughly 46 dialects in use.^[46] In practice, most communities continue to use their own tongue (Mizoram now promotes the Mizo ṭawng as a state lingua franca). Nonetheless, the shared linguistic stock – combined with the strong presence of English or local languages – creates a sense that all these tribes are branches of one ethnic tree. Politically, some Zo subgroups have rejected imposed labels (for instance, many Paite-led tribes in Manipur have rejected the colonial-era term "Kuki" as pejorative, preferring the term "Zo/Zomi" instead).^[47] The aspirational term “Zo” itself means "highlander" or "people of the north," and it is used by Mizo speakers as Zohnahthlak ("descendants of Zo").^[48][49] In any case, most Zo activists emphasize culture, religion, and language over rigid bloodline: they note that all Zo groups agree they are of the same ethnic stock,^[50] even if each maintains its clan and village ties.^[51][52]

Historical development

Colonial era and partition

Zo history in the colonial period involves shifting British strategies in the Chin-Lushai hills. Initially the British consolidated scattered tribal lands into frontier districts (the Chin Hills and the Lushai Hills) and directly administered them under separate colonial governments. This separation was partly intentional: the British viewed these highland tribes as "rebellious," and it suited colonial control to treat the Chin (Burma) and Lushai (Assam/India) hills differently.^[19] British officers occasionally debated merging them, but in practice the two regions developed under distinct bureaucracies and missionary societies. Notably, in 1953 – just before Burma’s independence – the main Baptist church associations of the Chin Hills (Tedim, Falam, Hakha) voluntarily renamed themselves the Zomi Baptist Convention, formally adopting "Zomi" (‘Zo people’) as a collective national name.^[53][54] This was a cultural gesture toward unity, but no corresponding political unit was formed.^[55]

When the British left, the Zo peoples were immediately split among new states.^[56] In 1947 India gained independence and later Mizoram was carved out of Assam; in 1948 Burma (Myanmar) became independent with Chin State; and in 1971 Bangladesh emerged.^[57][58] Thus the Zo were "left without any independent sovereign entity" – one historian notes that different Zo tribes "had settled in and fell under different administrative jurisdictions in three countries" after decolonization.^[59][60] This partition of their population is a constant reference point for Zo nationalists. Modern commentators emphasize that the Zo were not given a single homeland by these events, leading to the feeling that arbitrary borders cut through one people.^[19]

Post-independence movements

In each country, Zo political movements arose to defend their interests – sometimes independently, sometimes in parallel.^[61] In India’s northeast, the Mizo people (Lushai Hills) were initially part of Assam. A key early party was the Mizo Union (founded in 1946), which cooperated with India’s Congress Party to end hereditary chieftainship in 1950. But as economic grievances mounted, a more radical group emerged: the Mizo National Front (MNF). Formed on 22 October 1961 by Laldenga and others, the MNF demanded the creation of an independent homeland for all Mizos. The MNF’s 1961 manifesto explicitly declared its goal "to unify all the Mizos under a single administration".^[62] After diplomatic efforts failed, the MNF turned to insurgency: on 28 February 1966 it staged a major uprising and declared Mizoram’s independence. The Indian government responded with military force (even bombing the Aizawl villages), and a full-scale counterinsurgency ensued. Over the next two decades the MNF controlled parts of the hills and negotiated with New Delhi. By 1986, after protracted talks, the Mizoram Peace Accord was signed. This ended the rebellion, and Mizoram was granted full statehood (India’s 23rd state) on 20 February 1987. In short, the Mizo insurgency (1966–1986) – often called the Mizo War of Independence – lasted roughly twenty years^[63] before producing Mizoram’s separate statehood.

Across the border in Burma, Chin political activism also grew after World War II. In 1960 the Chin Liberation Army^[64] was founded by Tun Kho Pum Baite with the goal of unifying all Chin tribes.^[65] Baite later aligned with the MNF^[66] in India actually worrying both the Burmese and the Indian government.^[67][68] In 1988, amid Burma’s nationwide 8888 pro-democracy uprising, Burmese Zo (Chin/Paites) students established the Chin National Army (CNA) to fight for Chin autonomy.^[69][70][39] Baite had then also first proposed a United Zogam (Zo Country), separated from Myanmar and India.^[71][72] That short-lived CNA insurgency though lasted about six months before government forces crushed it. Some of its members later formed smaller guerrilla groups or joined the Chin National Front (CNF), which had been founded that same year (1988) and was already fighting for greater Chin rights.^[73] The CNF survived through the 1990s, eventually agreeing to ceasefire deals with the military regime by 2015.^[73]

In India’s Manipur state, various Zo (Kuki-Chin) tribes also formed parties.^[74][75] Notably, T. Gougin^[76] founded a "United Zomi Organisation" in 1961 and the Zomi National Congress (ZNC)^[77] in 1972,^[78][79] aiming to advance Zomi interests in Manipur. Decades later, ethnic tensions in Churachandpur district (where many Thadou-Kuki and Paite live) led to new militancy. A group calling itself the Zomi Re-unification Organisation (sometimes called ZRO) was formed in April 1993 in Myanmar’s Kachin State (Phapian), with the aim of uniting Kuki-Zo peoples across borders.^[80][81] As separate armed wing, the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), was established in Manipur in 1997^[82] to pursue this agenda. The ZRA explicitly identifies as a Zomi nationalist militant group. It remains active in parts of Manipur, allied at times with other insurgents (e.g. NSCN-IM).^[83][84]

Meanwhile in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), the smaller Kuki-Chin tribes (Bawm, Khumi, Pangkhua, etc.) had largely been overshadowed by larger Chakma and Marma ethnic movements. Some Bawm activists in the 2010s drew on Zo ideas.^[85] The most prominent is the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), founded by Nathan Bom (Bawm) around 2017.^[86][87] The KNF declared the goal of carving out a separate "Kuki-Chin State" from parts of Rangamati and Bandarban districts.^[88][89] It even fielded an armed wing (Kuki-Chin National Army).^[90] The group’s ideology explicitly cited Zo/Kuki identity, but it has been banned by the Bangladeshi government as a militant organization.^[91][92] In short, while Zo nationalism in Bangladesh has surfaced, it has remained a fringe phenomenon, overtaken by the official discourse of indigenous (Jumma) rights.^[93][94]

Political organizations and parties

Over time the Zo nationalist idea has been carried by various parties and NGOs:

• Mizo National Front (MNF) – The MNF began as an armed independence movement in the 1960s.^[95] After the 1986 peace accord, the MNF became a mainstream regional party in Mizoram. Today it governs or leads Mizoram at times.^[96] The MNF often embraces Zo rhetoric: its leaders have publicly affirmed that the party "fights for Zo nationalism,^[97] unity and freedom of the Zo" wherever they live^[98] (for example, MNF officials joined tribal unity events in neighboring Manipur^[99]).
• Zo Reunification Organization (ZORO) – Founded on 20 May 1988 in Aizawl, Mizoram,^[100][101] ZORO is a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to uniting Zo peoples. It grew out of an international "World Zo Convention" held in Champhai (Mizoram) on 18–19 May 1988, which was convened by Zomi leaders from India and Myanmar.^[102][103] At that convention delegates adopted “Zo” as the collective ethnonym for the tribes tracing their origin to an ancestral land (Chhinlung),^[104] and set up ZORO with Mizoram politician Brigadier T. Sailo as its first chairman.^[105] ZORO’s mission is to preserve Zo culture and push for political unity across borders.^[106][107] It has engaged internationally – participating in UN indigenous rights forums (the Working Group on Indigenous Populations since 1999 and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since 2004)^[108][109] – and it lobbies governments about Zo concerns.^[110][111]
• Zomi National Congress (ZNC) – A small party founded in Manipur in 1972^[75] the ZNC was part of the early Zomi movement in India. It helped convene the 1988 Champhai convention and has allied with ZORO’s efforts.^[112] (In Mizoram’s politics, an ally was the People’s Conference party of Brig. Sailo, which had earlier cooperated with Zomi activists.) Today the ZNC^[20] remains active in Manipur and Myanmar (as the Zomi Congress for Democracy)^[113][114] as a regional party under names like Zomi Party or Chin Union.^[115][116]
• Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) – As noted, the ZRA^[117] is a militant insurgent group formed in 1997 from the Zomi Re-unification Organization’s Manipur wing. It openly advocates Zomi nationalism as its ideology.^[118] At times the ZRA has clashed with Indian security forces, and it maintains bases in Manipur and refugee camps in Myanmar.^[119] (Although it took up arms in India, it also sees itself aligned with Chin groups in Myanmar.)^{[82][120][121]}
• Chin National Army and Chin National Front– In Myanmar, the major Chin resistance force has been the Chin National Front (CNF), with its armed wing the Chin National Army (CNA).^[122] The CNF, formed in 1988, fought low-intensity guerrilla war before settling for ceasefires in the 1990s^[73] Some Chin nationalist parties operate legally in Myanmar’s exile community (e.g. Chin National Party).^[123][124]
• Kuki-Chin National Front: In Bangladesh, the outlawed KNF (2017–present) is the only overtly Zo-identified group with an armed wing;^[91] most CHT indigenous politics are dominated by the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), which historically represents the Chakma and other tribes.^{[125][126][127]}
• Zoram People's Movement (ZPM): It is a regional political party in Mizoram,^[128] India, that aligns closely with the ethos of Zo nationalism^[129]—the movement advocating unity, identity, and self-determination for the Zo people, who are spread across Mizoram, Manipur, Chin State (Myanmar), and parts of Bangladesh.^[130][131] Founded in 2017 and led by Lalduhoma, ZPM champions clean governance, youth empowerment, and protection of Zo cultural and political identity.^[132][133] Though primarily active in Mizoram, ZPM^[134] reflects broader pan-Zo nationalist sentiments^[134] by promoting policies that prioritize Zo heritage, economic self-reliance (such as through agricultural MSPs), and secular, inclusive governance.^[135][136]

Key events and conflict

Significant events in the Zo nationalist saga include:

• 1966–1986: Mizo insurgency and statehood. The MNF rebellion began on 28 February 1966 and continued for about twenty years.^[137][138] As one analyst notes, the “Mizo War of Independence” spanned "nearly 20 years".^[63] During this conflict the MNF declared Mizoram independent and Indian forces conducted major operations (including the 1966 bombing of Aizawl).^[139][140] Ultimately, negotiations led to the 1986 Mizoram Peace Accord, and by 1987 Mizoram became the 23rd state of India.^[141][142] This settlement ended the MNF’s armed struggle – though MNF leaders (like Laldenga) later joined the Indian political system.^[68][143]
• 1988: World Zo Convention and Chin uprising in Myanmar. In May 1988, Zo leaders from Mizoram and Manipur convened in Champhai, Mizoram, for the first World Zo Convention.^[144] They formally adopted "Zo" as the common ethnonym and resolved to continue pursuing reunification.^[145][146] This convention directly led to the founding of the Zo Reunification Organization (ZORO) in Mizoram on 20 May 1988.^[147] Later that year, the nationwide 8-8-88 pro-democracy uprising in Burma briefly revitalized Chin/Zo nationalism. Zomi student activists in Burma formed the Chin National Army (CNA) to fight the junta.^[148][121] Although the CNA was defeated within months, it marked a moment of united Zo resistance on the Burmese side.^[149][150]
• 1997: Formation of the Zomi Revolutionary Army. In India’s Manipur, growing ethnic strife led to the rise of the ZRA (and its parent ZRO).^[151] In April 1993 a Zomi Re-unification Organisation (ZRO) was founded in Myanmar by Chin and Paite leaders.^[152] Four years later, in 1997, the ZRA was established in Manipur as its armed wing.^[153] The ZRA’s goal was explicitly to safeguard Zomi unity in the Manipur hills. Though a minor player compared to larger insurgencies, the ZRA underscored that Zo nationalism had become militarized in both India and Myanmar.^[154]
• 2000s–2020s: International advocacy and renewed conflicts. Beginning around 2000, Zo activists took their case to international platforms.^[155] For example, ZORO representatives delivered statements at UN forums (the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues) highlighting Zo concerns.^{[156][157][158]} In 2008, a ZORO speaker at the UNPFII described the Zomi people as "scattered, depressed and suffering" under cross-border restrictions^[159] He noted many Zo had fled Myanmar for the United States and proposed creating unified Zo institutions (like a university and a single Zo dialect)^[46] Meanwhile, regional upheavals have affected Zo unity. Since the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, Chin insurgents have made significant gains in northern Chin State.^[73] In late 2023, various Chin/Zomi armed groups and community leaders convened a "Chinland Conference" to draft a new regional constitution and set up a Chinland Council (a provisional government) in exile.^[160] This suggests a renewed push for an autonomous Chin (Zo) state parallel to Myanmar’s national politics.^[161] In India’s Northeast, the 2023 ethnic clashes in Manipur (between Kuki and Meitei communities) have also stirred Zo sentiments. Mizoram’s politicians, both in the ruling Mizo National Front and the opposition Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), have openly opposed pushing back any Kuki-Zo refugees to Manipur. Indeed, Mizoram has taken in over 35,000 Chin refugees from Myanmar and around 12,000 Kuki-Zo displaced from Manipur since 2021^[162] Both former CM Zoramthanga (MNF) and current CM Lalduhoma (ZPM) have vowed to continue sheltering these Zo kin.^[163][164] By contrast, the government of Bangladesh has reacted strongly to any hint of Zo separatism: the KNF was banned and security forces have cracked down on its cells, fearing any threat from CHT unity.^{[165][166][167]}

These events show that Zo nationalism today remains mostly an ideal and cultural phenomenon rather than a mass separatist uprising.^[168] The creation of Mizoram as an Indian state (1987) was the movement’s single greatest political achievement, and most other efforts have had limited success.^[169] Nevertheless, the idea of Zo unity endures in various forms: it is invoked in Mizoram’s local politics, kept alive by transnational advocacy, and remembered in the songs and stories of Zo peoples. As one leader put it in 2023, the long-term "vision" of Zo nationalism is to see "all the Zo people… under one administrative unit"^[170] – even if for now this remains a distant aspiration.^[171][172]

Culture, religion, and language

Zo culture and religion provide crucial cohesion for the movement. Since nearly all Zo became Christian in the past two centuries, church life unites tribes.^[173] Worship services, Sunday schools, and youth fellowships are major social networks that cut across clan lines. In these settings, pan-Zo messages can spread. For example, the old Mizo hymn "Zalehlawm" (meaning "song of justice/land") and later Zo reinterpretations of national anthems have been used by activists. As noted, singing in church was a key way Mizo insurgents sustained morale.^[174] Christian schools taught literacy, helping students from Mizoram and Chin State to share ideas. Many Zomi student groups formed cross-border ties through church-organized conferences.^[175] In turn, Zo identity has also affected religion: some Zo theologians emphasize a special providence for the Zo people, and there are even syncretic claims of ancient Israelite descent among a few groups^[7] (though this is a minority view).^[176]

Language and oral tradition also matter. Because the Zo lacked an early unified script or press, nationalist ideas were often spread by mouth and ear. Besides songs, folklore and oral histories have been retold to emphasize a common past.^[177] After India’s independence, tribal leaders composed new jal (traditional chants) in honor of fallen heroes and martyrs, and Zomi history was preserved in village elders’ stories. Some elders of Mizoram’s Young Lushai Association in the 1950s spoke of a legendary migration from a place called "Chhinlung" or "Shinlung";^[178][179] this myth has been used by modern Zomi nationalists as the cradle of all Zo tribes.^[180][181] Although critics say such ethnonational myths are constructed, proponents argue they give the Zo a shared narrative and pride. Today there is no single "Zo language"^[182] – the Mizo language functions as a regional lingua franca, and many students of Kuki-Chin origin learn it in school.^[183] Still, awareness that one family underlies all the Zo tongues reinforces the idea that they form one people.^[184][185]

Diaspora and international advocacy

Outside the Zo homelands, diaspora communities and international forums have carried the Zo message. In the United States,^[186][187] United Kingdom,^[188][189] and elsewhere, thousands of Chin/Zomi have resettled as refugees or migrants. Zomi associations exist in cities like Aizawl (Mizoram), Pune and Bangalore (India), and New York/California (USA), often tied to churches. These diaspora networks exchange information and campaign for Zo rights.^[190] The United Nations has been a notable venue: as mentioned, ZORO delegates have briefed UN bodies multiple times.^[191] In 2008 ZORO’s spokesman Chhunthang Sangchia told the UN Permanent Forum that Zo people were "scattered" and needed institutional support (a university, a standardized language).^[159][192]

ZORO also reports to the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations.^[122] Similarly, Chin community organizations in countries like India and Thailand lobby for international awareness of Chin/Zomi issues.^[193] While no major foreign government publicly backs Zo nationalism, advocacy work has kept Zo grievances on the global map of indigenous rights.^{[194][195][196]}