Problems of Christian family in Mizo society

Abstract

Mizo is the name of a minority tribe living in the North-eastern comer state of India, called Mizoram. Formerly, Mizos were known by different names by outsiders such as ' Kuki,' 'Chin', and 'Lushai'. But all these names are said to be of foreign origin. Kuki is the name given to the Mizos by the Bengali to mean 'wild man'. The Bengalis used this word to designate all hill people. 'Chin' is used to call the Mizos living in Burma and the region where they are living is also called 'Chin Hills. Grierson said that 'Chin' in Burmese denotes all hill tribes living in the bordering region between Burma and Assam (of India). The term 'Lushai' is the English transliteration of the word Lusei which is the name of one of the clans of the Mizo tribe. The term 'Mizo' is not of recent origin but an original name by which the Mizos called themselves from time immemorial.3 Mizo means highlanders' and Mizoram means 'Mizo-land'. Mizoram was also known as "Lushai Hills" till 1954 when the Government of India accepted the demand of the "Mizo Union Party", the first political party in Mizoram, to change the name. The name Lushai Hills was, therefore, changed to 'Mizo Hills’ accordingly. When Mizo Hills attained the status of Union Territory the name was changed to Mizoram. It attained full-fledged statehood in 1987. Mizoram has an area of 21,087 sq.kms, with a population of only 689,756 (1991).4 It is one of the youngest states within the Indian Union sandwiched between Myanmar (then Burma) and Bangladesh (then E. Pakistan). Bordered with International boundary, the only outlet with the rest of India is the northern part of the laud. This tiny mountainous state has the uniqueness of being the only Christian state (approximately 98% of its total population are Christians), 5 and a near total literacy state (86%) in India. Mizos used to claim that they are honest, unselfish, self-giving and trustworthy. These virtues are the elements of what they called "Tlawmngaihna" which is the basic principle of Mizo life. Someone explains 'tlawmngaihna' as "a voluntary self-giving to others in times of need, to the extent of losing one's own life." I remember what one of my school teachers told me that it was enough to say "I am a Mizo" to explain any accusation for stealing, lying, mischief and untrustworthiness when he was in the Indian Army. Even the non-Mizos around them had been convinced that a Mizo could never be dishonest, never tell lies, never be selfish and never be untrustworthy. When the Gospel was preached to them, the Mizos were convinced by the self-giving nature of Christ and almost all the Mizos living in Mizoram became Christians within 50 years of the coming of the Gospel to the region. Hence, this basic principle of social life became the foundation of their religious life also. But now, when the churches in Mizoram celebrate the Gospel Centenary in 1994, those Mizo-Christian virtues seem to be diminishing in the social, personal and family life of the Mizo people. Corruption, robbery, favoritism and different kinds of social evils are being heard of among the Mizo Christians. Consequently, the church, the government and many different voluntary organizations are in full swing for social reformation The biggest and the most inclusive voluntary organization, 'the Young Mizo Association' (Y.M.A.) is the main front in this big task. It declared the year 1994 as the "Year of Social Reformation." In one of its surveys, the YMA collected opinions from its branches concerning the reasons for social evils in Mizo society. Responses are received from 256 out of 700 branches which shows that the problem of family disorders contributes the highest percent (i.e. 50% of the total respondents), the second problem being the problem the increasing number of uneducated young people and drop-outs from school having only 16.80% of the total respondents. 7If the families are really so responsible for social evils in Mizo society, the church itself is to be responsible because almost all the Mizo families are formed and belonged to the Church (most of the Mizo marriages are conducted by the Christian Church). So it is apparent that the Christian families in Mizo society have been facing a problem or problems in carrying out their duty to be the light of the world.