Once a rebel, ex-Mizoram CM Zoramthanga finally collects his degree 60 yrs later

Sixty years after he graduated, former Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga on Thursday finally received the degree certificate he thought he might never see — a document held by Gauhati University since 1966, through his two decades underground as a Mizo insurgent and decades in active politics.

The 82-year-old, who has donned the CM’s chair three times since 1998, had passed his BA exam with a major in English in 1966 from Dhanamanjuri College in Manipur’s Imphal, which was at that time affiliated with Gauhati University.

University kept his degree carefully preserved

However, with the armed Mizo Uprising against the Indian state starting the same year, Zoramthanga, who had joined the Mizo National Front (MNF) a year earlier in 1965, joined the insurgency led by Laldenga and remained underground for two decades until 1986, when the rebel outfit signed the peace accord, laid down arms and transformed into a political party.

Also Read | Delhi HC to hear appeals on PM Modi's bachelor's degree records on September 29

In the interim, his degree certificate remained carefully preserved at Gauhati University. On Thursday, it was handed over to him in Guwahati by Gauhati University vice-chancellor Nani Gopal Mahanta.

“I went underground immediately after my graduation exams. Later I returned secretly and managed to get my marksheet, but the degree certificate remained. After we gave up arms and joined the mainstream, I tried getting the certificate. But by that time my college had turned into a deemed university and was no longer affiliated to Gauhati University,” Zoramthanga told HT.

How did Zoramthanga get the certificate?

It was only when he met a few professors from Gauhati University some years ago that the issue gained fresh traction. After the former CM produced his marksheet and admit cards, university officials were able to sift through their records and locate his degree certificate.

“I feel really elated and happy. I was very surprised and amazed that I got the certificate after a lapse of 60 years. It’s very unusual and extraordinary. I thank all the professors and the vice-chancellor and am grateful for this gesture as I had already lost all hope of ever getting it,” said Zoramthanga.

Also Read | India's graduate paradox: More degrees, fewer job-ready professionals

“He had passed the BA exam in second class in 1966 itself. But as he has joined a secessionist movement, he was not able to collect his certificate. The university had carefully kept the document, which was handed over to him on Thursday after a gap of 60 years,” director of Gauhati University Institute of North East India Studies (GUINEIS) Akhil Ranjan Dutta said.

A close associate of MNF founder Laldenga, Zoramthanga had spent many years incognito in Bangladesh and Myanmar and travelled to China and Europe while carrying out the organisation’s fight for independence.

He was also closely associated with the peace talks that led to the signing of the Mizo Accord in 1986. A minister in Laldenga’s government, Zoramthanga became head of the MNF after the party president’s death. He holds the post to date.

Earlier this year, Zoramthanga released his autobiography, ‘From Guerilla Fighter to Chief Minister’, where he documents his long journey from a student from an underprivileged background to becoming a rebel and then a politician for four decades.

On the occasion, he also delivered a special lecture titled ‘From Guerilla Fighter to a Peacemaker’, organised by the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, Gauhati University Institute of North East India Studies (GUINEIS) and the university’s Centre for South East Asian Studies (CSEAS).