The Mizo Supremacy Ideology

By Lalremlien Neitham*

Adolf Hitler was indoctrinated with Germanic mysticism, which preaches the coming of an Aryan super race.  Hitler belonged to a core group of secret society supported by many other such societies who helped him in developing his doctrine about the Aryan Super Race.

One such society was the world-wide secret society, called the Brotherhood of Death Society, whose symbol is the skull with two crossed bones. The German Brotherhood of Death Society is the Thule Society (founded on August 17, 1918). The Thule believed in the notion of Aryan super race and it preached the coming of a German “Messiah” who would lead Germany to glory and a new Aryan civilization. Adolf Hitler joined this society in 1919 and later was elected as their leader. The doctrines of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NAZI) during the Third German Reich (Nazi dictatorship from 1933-1945) includes the totalitarian principle of government, state control of all industry, Aryan racial superiority, and supremacy of the Führer. The Nazi later established a national police force Schutzstaffe (SS) which inducted members
to establish an “Aryan Super Race”.

K. L. Rochama, President of the Former Legislators Association of Mizoram (FLAM) in his article “Mizo are a Super Race” [Newslink, 6th June 2005] recalled his statement at the Pastoral Conference of Bishops in Shillong in the year 2003, where he proclaimed that the “Mizos are a Super Race”. He also wrote that “FLAM believes that realisation of their being a superior race will serve as a wake-up call.”

To take this man (Hitler) as an example – the re-incarnation of evil itself – to boost one’s moral
is indeed frightening. And to even highlight this man’s name to boost our people’s moral is a shame.

Right thinking people worldwide would label such leaning towards Hitler’s ways as “Neo-Nazi”. And if you ask any Germans today of what they feel about this man who declared them a “Super Race”, they would hang their head in shame, even just by hearing his name. To talk about this man is a taboo itself. Their country still suffers the brunt of humiliation and shame which Hitler brought to them by his evil deeds against humanity till today.

To quote K.L. Rochama again, what he meant by a “wake-up call” is baffling indeed. To make Mizoram a better place to live in for generations to come? It would be interesting to see how the “Super Race” proclamation will really work out in waking up the snoring “Super Race” Mizos in order to make “Mizoram a better place to live in”. And do our present conditions really necessitate the claim? Is it that the Mizos have lost all hopes in their government, churches, and social institutions and most importantly – in their own self that they are now only in wait for a ‘wake-up call’ such as this to boost their morale?

And sorry, I just can’t help myself asking as to what might be the actual reason behind the proclaimed statement. Could this be some sort of a publicity stunt by former legislators to hang on to their past glories or inglorious or the manifestation of the proverbial fulfillment of Dr. Johnson’s famous pronouncement that “patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel?” Is this a new-found wisdom that plagued those out of power?

The claim also raises eyebrows on the different aspects on which their claim for the status of a “Special Race” was based. One cannot resist in asking tongue in cheek question like – We really are a “Super Race”? The claim though facetious is interesting and invites for the need to probe into the inner recess of a Mizo mind.

It is a pity that the author did not provide us a proper definition on “Super Race” on the basis of
which he courageously stakes the claim of a “Super Status” for the Mizos. What are the attributes of being a Super Race?  Would they be those who have an extra-ordinary power to achieve extra-ordinary things, have absolute control over almost everything and dictate terms to others that they would not dare to refuse? Theoretically, their supremacy would be such that there would be none
to challenge them. Simply put, one may need to have the power of the comical Superman to be awarded the “Super Race” status. Do Mizos have all these qualities in them that would make them claim the Super Race status? I have my doubt!

To believe in “Super Race” also means believing in something that is extra-ordinary and super natural. Not to talk about God, but that of the existence of a more advanced life other than what we have here on Earth, of aliens and their advance technology, of extra-terrestrial life with their extra-ordinary powers! I have an enthusiastic interest in UFO and aliens, and I somehow seem to believe that there has to be something out there. And that we are not the only one in this vast Universe!

Our history of origin being nebulous, can there be a possibility that we might be the offspring of an extra-terrestrial being when the alien made a visit here on Earth and mated with a female human being? I have my doubt again!

If we are to go the theological way, it is said that all humans are equal in the eyes of God. And that there is no division of races status from God. If that is so, I have my doubt again on how the Mizos can be specially regarded as a “Super Race”. With our world’s advance progresses on science and technology, there are possibilities now and in the near future of cloning human beings and breeding them as a “Super Race” by genetic engineering techniques.

But it will still take years to breed a perfectly ‘error-free’ human, not to mention an extra-ordinary
human being with extra-ordinary power. Does Mizos have that technology and ability to produce such “Super Race”? A big NO!

Here are some simple brief facts among the many that unqualified Mizos from being declared a “Super Race”:

1)      Mizoram is surviving on the largesse of the Central Government of India.
2)      ‘Mizo’ language is not listed in the 8th Scheduled List of the Constitution of India.
3)      Mizoram has no resource to support itself and it can hardly stand on its own legs for more than a month from its own produce and revenue earnings.  It is a heavily deficit State with its begging bowl.
4)      52,000 families are under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) in Mizoram.
5)      Even a few weeks’ economic blockade of Silchar–Aizawl road will bring Mizoram to its knees.
6)      The lifestyle that we lead today is not completely ours, but adopted from the lifestyle of others.

Being honest, hard-working, self-sacrificing, et al does not make one a super human being. A super human being can however be measured in terms of how much power one has to bring changes to the lives of others and their surrounding. If power is to be the qualification needed for elevating one’s status to that of a ‘Super Race’, it is still a far cry for the Mizos to be declared as such. It might even take thousand of years for the Mizos to be put into that esteemed position.

The impact of such foolhardy claim will be disastrous for the Mizos in the long run. When one believes that he is part of a super race, it automatically postulates that the other races are inferior to his, and this weird pretension can only draw ridicule from others. This Mizo supremacy ideology can only make us a laughing stock.

We are proud of being a Mizo but we are definitely not a super race. No race on Earth is a super race. We will be prouder when we can support ourselves and walk with our heads held high in the comity of nations. It is not necessary to become a super race to achieve a goal of sufficiency and self-reliance.

*The article isted 23rd June 2005, New Delhi.