Mizoram - the land of over eighty religious sects

Aizawl, Apri 22 : Mizoram has witnessed countless “revival movements” since times immemorial, resulting in the widespread diversity within Christianity, the dominant religion being adhered to by the majority of people in the State.

While one of the sects moved eastwards in fear of a “rock” which was believed to “roll down from the east”, some migrated to Israel, and even to Bangladesh to be pushed back by the Shanti Bahini.

Church historians have observed that revival movements have contributed immensely to the growth of Christianity in Mizoram compared to other Christian-dominated States in India and the North-east.

The fact that it took barely 50 years for the entire Mizo community to embrace Christianity, then a totally alien religion, has been attributed to the revival movements.

“The phenomenal success of Gospel preaching in Mizoram was brought about through the revival movements,” Reverend Lalsawma of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church said.

The first European missionaries arrived at Aizawl (then Aijal) in 1894, and 12 years later, revival movements effecting mass conversions started.

Wave upon wave of revival swept the land until the entire Mizo community abandoned its old religion, animism, for the new religion, Christianity before the end of World War II.

However, the revival outgrowth has its negative side too. Every revival wave generated a tendency towards spiritual excesses resulting into deviations from the central teaching and guidance of the Church, Rev Lalsawma said.

The history of Christianity in Mizoram clearly testifies to this truth. Now, besides the different major Christian denominations such as the Presbyterian (the largest in the state), Baptist, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist, Methodist and Pentecostal, Mizoram is home to as many as 80 religious sects, including Zionist groups, who have converted from Christianity to Judaism.

According to church historians, the first deviation came with the second wave of revival starting from 1913, with the teaching of Tlira who was seriously affected by a revival. Since then, different types of sects sprouted and faded into oblivion.

Among others, one Lalzawna in the early 1980s had a vision that a huge rock would roll from the east to punish people for their sins. Ironically, Lalzawna and his huge following moved eastward to settle near Champhai in eastern Mizoram in fear of the “rock”. Another sect which was very popular during the same period was Vanawia Pawl, whose doctrine was based upon divine writings on the arm of Laldiheli, wife of the sect leader Vanawia. Members of this sect lived in a jungle shorn of any clothes.

A “writing” on the arm of the godmother instructed them to migrate to Bangladesh. However, they were pushed back by Bangladesh’s underground group Shanti Bahini.

Another sect follows the teachings of Ziona (Indian Polygamist), who has been compared to Solomon, the great king of ancient Israel, with 39 wives. At present, he has 94 children - and with his grandchildren numbering to over 200 - the family is undisputedly the largest joint family in India.

Besides his own family, Ziona has a huge following of about 400 families. They live in a village built by them, about 100 kms from Aizawl. The sect is popularly known as Chana Pawl, after Ziona’s late father Chana. Interestingly, this industrious group manufactures wooden furniture and aluminium utensils.

A notable deviation brought about by Christianity in Mizoram is the resurgence of Judaism, which began as early as in the 1950s. Now, there are several Jewish groups among the Mizos who believe that they are descendants of one of the 12 lost tribes of the Biblical Israel. Among these groups is Bnei Manashe, which means “children of Manashe”. A large number of Bnei Manashe members have now returned to the Promised Land after conversion to Judaism.

However, some of the religious sects do not allow their children to attend school, causing an obstacle to universalizing of the elementary school system through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) initiated recently. While a number of religious sects have faded out after flourishing for a few years, a good number of them survive till today. They, however, represent only a small fraction of Mizoram’s population 95 per cent of whom are Christians. Whereas Christianity has brought about positive changes in the Mizo society, it has also produced some negative impact, among them the excesses indulged in by these religious sects. However, they have largely failed to impact the larger section of the society.

“The true teachings of the Gospel are the only ones that survive in the end,” Dr P C Biaksiama, a renowned Christian scholar, concluded.

UNI

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