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The Rediff Interview/ Zoramthanga

'I was in Pakistan many years ago. The people I dealt with are no longer there'

For twenty years the malaria-rampant jungles and forbidding hills of India's border with Burma were his lair. Inspired by Laldenga's clarion call for secession from India, he confronted its superior forces in scores of encounters, where his cunning, instinct and undeniable good luck saved him often from imminent annihilation.

It was only after an accord was signed between the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Laldenga in 1986 that Zoramthanga, currently Mizoram's chief minister, gave up the life of a guerilla. Ensconced now in the political portals of Aizawl, he has indeed come a long way from his underground days. Onkar Singh.

Is it true that you crossed the international border over a hundred times when you were underground and fighting the Indian armed forces in Mizoram?

Crossing the border was never a problem for me then. It is virtually impossible to man every single inch of the border. And if you know the terrain well one can go across any time. It becomes much easier to do so in uninhabited snow-bound areas like Kargil, Drass and Batalik.

In one single night you can go to the top of a hill, dig a trench and make a bunker. This is possible without anyone noticing you.

Did you, in your militant days, cross the Line of Control in Kashmir?

No, I never crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir. But I have crossed the border from Punjab many a time. In 1970, I along with many of my colleagues crossed over to Pakistan without any problem. For twenty years we kept crossing the border even though there were three divisions of the Indian army deployed in Mizoram during that time.

Since you have dealt with the Pakistanis a number of times during your 20 year period of insurgency, what according to you motivated them in this adventure -- rather, misadventure -- in Kargil?

When I was talking to them it was a different thing. Then we knew what they were talking and planning. But now it has been a long time. What they are trying to achieve, frankly speaking, I have no inkling whatsoever. Maybe their objectives are those that have been reported in the media. But they have been condemned by the world. Whatever their plans may have been they have not worked because of the officers and jawans of the Indian army.

I was in Pakistan many years ago. The people I dealt with are no longer there. A new government is in place. What they feel about the entire situation is difficult for me to divine.

Do you think that the government of India has handled the situation well? Or do you feel it could have done more?

Both on the diplomatic front as well as on defence front the Government of India has done a remarkable job. It is not an easy task to dislodge the enemy which is entrenched on mountaintops with the latest weapons. I must say that the Indian army has done a commendable job and proved that it is one of the best armies in the world.

They had a difficult task to accomplish and the officers and the jawans of the Indian Army laid down their lives to achieve it. Recapturing a high mountain peak like Tiger Hill takes a lot of courage and determination.

Not just me but the entire nation should salute the brave officers and jawans of the Indian army who pushed the enemy out of its positions against all odds and, what is more, showed commendable restraint in doing so. What they have done in Kargil and other sectors can never be described in words. I, Zoramthanga, salute the brave Indian soldiers.

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