James Dokhuma | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 10 March 2007 74) | (aged
Criminal charges | IPC Section 121 (Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India, state & etc.) |
Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment( he later got pardoned because of the Mizoram Peace Accord) |
Spouse | Chhuanthangpuii(married 1960–death) |
Children | 6 |
Awards | Academy Award(Mizo academy of Letters) |
Honours |
James Dokhuma (15 June 1932 to 10 March 2007) [1] was a Mizo poet, writer. [2] Who was awarded Padmashri for his contributions.
Dokhuma was born on 15 June 1932 in Sialsuk village. At the age of 15, he joined the Indian Army and served from 1947-1952. [1] [3] [4] [5] [6]
After serving in the army, he become a teacher in the Hualtu Middle School. [3] With the contribution of his book Ṭawng Un Hrilhfiahna, in 1971 the government of Mizoram bestowed the title "Father of Mizo Lexicography" [1] [3] [4] [7]
Dokhuma was a participant in the Mizo National Front and was jailed. Books such as Rinawmin contribute to a unique genre in Mizo literature known as Rambuai, which details the events of the Mizo Insurgency of 1966-1986. After the MNF uprising of 1966, Dokhuma joined the movement as the MNF block president of Tlungvel Circle. Other notable roles include Deputy Speaker and member of Parliament to the MNF underground movement. Dokhuma was captured and sent to Nowgong Special Jail before being transferred to Gauhati Central Jail and released in 1971. Due to his activities as an insurgent, Dokhuma's right arm was impaired. In a confrontation with the Indian army, his arm was hit by five bullets. In the post-accord Mizoram, Dokhuma settled as a preacher working for the Salvation Army Evangelical mission.
Dokhuma was a participant in the Mizo National Front and was jailed. Books such as Rinawmin contribute to a unique genre in Mizo literature known as Rambuai, which details the events of the Mizo Insurgency of 1966-1986. After the MNF uprising of 1966, Dokhuma joined the movement as the MNF block president of Tlungvel Circle. Other notable roles include Deputy Speaker and member of Parliament to the MNF underground movement. Dokhuma was captured and sent to Nowgong Special Jail before being transferred to Guwahati Central Jail and released in 1971. [7] [8] Due to his activities as an insurgent, Dokhuma's right arm was impaired. In a confrontation with the Indian army, his arm was hit by a bullet while two hit his torso and one hit his leg. [9] In the post-accord Mizoram, Dokhuma settled as a preacher working for the Salvation Army Evangelical mission. [10]
For his contributions he received Bhasha Samman, Padma shri and the Mizo Academy Awards. Dokhuma secured the Mizo Academy Award for Best Writer of the Year five times in 1984, 1986, 1988, 1991 and 1996. [2]
In February 2007 he had a sudden violent fit of shivers. According to tests results, his blood sugar completely destroyed his kidneys, eyes, lungs and heart. He also developed a urinary tract infection. He died on 27 March 2007. [1]
Hmar people are a scheduled tribe ethnic group from the states of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, and Meghalaya in Northeast India. They use the Hmar language as their primary language.
Mizoram is a region in India. Its folk music consists of vocals (singing) accompanied by traditional drums, gong and other native percussion instruments. There is also a long history of flute-playing which is now defunct. The drums are made from a hollow tree trunk with membrane made from cow hide and the gongs, made of brass, are very similar to those found in Myanmar.
The history of Mizoram encompasses the history of Mizoram which lies in the southernmost part of northeast India. It is a conglomerate history of several ethnic groups of Chin people who migrated from Chin State of Burma. But information of their patterns of westward migration are based on oral history and archaeological inferences, hence nothing definite can be said. The recorded history started relatively recently around the mid-19th century when the adjoining regions were occupied by the British monarchy. Following religious, political and cultural revolutions in the mid-20th century majority of the people agglomerated into a super tribe, Mizo. Hence the officially recognised settlement of the Mizos became Mizoram.
Mizo is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Mizoram, where it is the official language and lingua franca. It is the mother tongue of the Mizo people and some members of the Mizo diaspora. Other than Mizoram, it is also spoken in Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, and Assam states of India, Sagaing Region and Chin State in Myanmar, and Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It is mainly based on the Lusei dialect but it has also derived many words from its surrounding Mizo clans.
Laldenga was a Mizo separatist and politician from Mizoram in northeast India. He was the founder of the Mizo National Front, a social organisation turned political party. He was the first Chief Minister of Mizoram as a federated state, the office of which he held from 1986 to 1988.
The Mizo National Front uprising was a revolt against the government of India aimed at establishing a sovereign nation state for the Mizo people, which started on 28 February 1966. On 1 March 1966, the Mizo National Front (MNF) made a declaration of independence, after launching coordinated attacks on the Government offices and security forces post in different parts of the Mizo district in Assam. The government retaliated and recaptured all the places seized by the MNF by 25 March 1966.
Mizo literature is the literature written in Mizo ṭawng, the principal language of the Mizo peoples, which has both written and oral traditions. It has undergone a considerable change in the 20th century. The language developed mainly from the Lushai language, with significant influence from Pawi language, Paite language and Hmar language, especially at the literary level.
Mizo grammar is the grammar of the Mizo language, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by about a million people in Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Burma and Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It is a highly inflected language, with fairly complex noun phrase structure and word modifications. Nouns and pronouns are declined, and phrasal nouns also undergo an analogous declension.
William Williams was a Welsh Presbyterian missionary to Khasi Hills, northeast India, in the late 19th century. He was a son of a ship captain in Nanternis, a small village in Wales. Following his father's footstep he became a sailor for five years. Then he took a profession in carpentry for two years. After graduating in theology from East London Missionary Training Institute he became a pastor. Pursuing his ambition he became a missionary of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Foreign Mission to Khasi people in India from 1887 until his death. He died of typhoid in 1892.
Pialrâl is the ultimate heaven according to the folk myth of the Mizo tribes of Northeast India. The Mizo word literally means "beyond the world". Unlike most concepts of heaven, it is not the final resting place of the spirits of the good and the righteous, nor is there a role for god or any supernaturals; it is simply a reservation for extraordinary achievers during their lifetime to enjoy eternal bliss and luxury.
Zairema was a Presbyterian minister, and a pioneer in theology and literature among the Mizo people of northeast India. He was the first Mizo to obtain the degrees of BSc and BD. He died of cardiac problem on the morning of 17 December 2008 at his residence in Aizawl at the age of 91. He is best remembered as the "father of Mizoram Synod".
Frederick William Savidge was a pioneer English Christian missionary in northeast India. He and James Herbert Lorrain brought Protestantism to Mizoram, and some parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Together they were entirely responsible for the creation of written language in Mizo, beginning of literacy, origin of formal education and establishment of churches in Mizoram. They devised the original Mizo alphabets based on Roman script, prepared the first book and dictionary in Mizo, started the first school among the Mizos. Mizoram has become the most Christian populated state in India. As a professional educator Savidge was single-handedly responsible for introducing quality education in Mizoram. He is deservedly known as the Father of Mizo Education.
Edwin Rowlands was a Welsh Christian missionary in northeast India and Burma. He was a professional teacher, singer, composer, poet, translator and literary figure among the Mizo people. He was regarded as the most beloved of all British missionaries in Mizoram. He was more popularly known as Zosapthara. He made the major hymns in Mizo and Khumi which are still in use. He modified the original Mizo alphabet and his system became the standard in Mizo language. He created written language for Khumi people in Burma, and for Bhil people in Maharashtra. His literary works are the foundation of Mizo literature. He was the first administrator of education in Mizoram as Honorary Inspector of Schools. Despite objection from various corners he married Thangkungi, a Mizo girl.
The history of Christianity in Mizoram covers the origin and development of all forms of Christianity in Mizoram since the British occupation at the end of the 19th century until Indian Independance. Christianity arrived due to British intervention in tribal warfare, raids of British plantations. The ensuing punitive British military expedition was called the Lushai Expedition of 1871. The subsequent annexation of the erstwhile Lushai Hills to the British Empire opened the gateway for British Christian missions to evangelise the Mizo people.
Laltluangliana Khiangte is a Mizo academic, playwright and poet of Mizo literature. He was the principal of the Serampore College and a former professor at Pachhunga University College and the North Eastern Hill University. He is presently serving as the senior most professor at the Department of Mizo at Mizoram University. He is a recipient of the Pu Buanga Award, the highest literary award of the Mizo Academy of Letters. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for his contributions to Indian literature.
Lalzuia Colney is an Indian academic and writer of Mizo literature.
The culture of the Mizo people has been heavily influenced by Christianity during the colonial era of the British Raj and the rise of Mizo nationalism with the Mizo Insurgency of 1966-1986. Mizo culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Mizos in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Mizo culture has developed in plurality with historical settlements and migrations starting from Southern China to the Shan states of Burma, the Kabaw valley and the state of Mizoram under the British and Indian administrations.
The Mizoram Peace Accord, 1986 was an official agreement between the Government of India and the Mizo National Front (MNF) to end insurgency and violence in Mizoram, India, that started in 1966. The Mizo National Front was an organisation of Mizo secessionists led by Laldenga to fight for independence from India. The movement was basically due to lack of support from the government during the great famine in Mizoram in the late 1950s. Political insurgency and social unrest ensued in the next decades. After a number of negotiations, the document titled Mizoram Accord, 1986: Memorandum of Settlement was finally signed on 30 June 1986. It was signed by Laldenga for MNF, R.D. Pradhan, Home Secretary, Government of India, and Lalkhama, Chief Secretary, Government of Mizoram. It is remarked as the most and only successful peace agreement in India after its independence from British Empire in 1947.
The Mizo diaspora consists of Mizo people or people of Mizo descent residing outside Mizoram, their original land.
The Union Territory of Mizoram, spanning from 1972 to 1987, was formed as a response to the Mizo people's demand for greater autonomy. During this time period, reforms in administration and preservation of Mizo culture started.