Robert Sanglora Khawbung, IJSRR 2019, 8(2), 306-316

Research article Available online www.ijsrr.org ISSN: 2279–0543

International Journal of Scientific Research

and Reviews
Rethinking Secularization Process in Mizoram

Robert Sanglora Khawbung

Department of Political Science Mizoram University, Aizawl 796004

Email id : [email protected] Mobile #8974739234

ABSTRACT
The paper deals with the core issues relating to secular and its related terms like, secularism
and secularization process in Mizoram. It also focuses on the linkages between religion, social and
political system from its historical perspective to contemporary Mizo polity. The paper also
discussed in detail the impact of religion in close knit Mizo society and how the society perceives
and responses the socio-political issues from religious perspectives. In other words, the paper also
briefly discussed the effective role of Church for over some decades, in interpretation and
contextualization the social, political and economic issues from religious perspective and its
implication on state politics. Apart from the above stated issues, in the midst of dynamic Mizo
society, the paper deals with the difficulties of locating the normative notion of secularization and its
prospective in pervasive religious Mizo society. Lastly, the paper also discussed the contemporary
relations between religion and politics and attempt at reimaging the interlace between religion and
political process in Mizoram.
KEYWORDS: Secularization, Christian Missionaries, Church, Mizoram.

*Corresponding author:
Robert Sanglora Khawbung1*
Ph.D Scholar,
Department of Political
Science Mizoram University,

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 Robert Sanglora Khawbung, IJSRR 2019, 8(2), 306-316

Aizawl 796004
Email id : [email protected] Mobile #8974739234
INTRODUCTION
Despite, contemporary debate on variations of secularization process in a global scale.
Western normative concept and pattern of secularization process generally refers to three elements of
secularization, (1) an increasing structural differentiation of social spaces resulting in the separation
of religion from politics, economy, science, and so forth: (2) privatization of religion within its own
sphere; and (3) declining social significance of religion belief, commitment and institutions, all of
which have been taken, at least since Weber, to be essential to the development of modernity.
However, Talal Asad argued that if a legitimate de-privatization is carried out effectively, the
allegedly viable part of secularization thesis would be undermined.1Casanova argued that the
presence of secularist historical stadial consciousness was a crucial factor in the widespread
secularization that has accompanied the modernization of western European societies. European
societies tend to experience their own secularization, that is, the widespread decline of religious
beliefs and practices in their midst, as a quasi-natural consequence of their modernization. 2Precisely,
Western normative concept of secularization refers to a process, where religious influence and
sentimentin decision making process and practice became less important and decline from societyand
politics.However, considering the dominant role of religion in a contemporary non-Western society,
particular in the Christian dominated state of Mizoram, one finds a paradoxically process of relative
institutional differentiation, neither accompanied nor followed by the process religious decline and
irrelevant or insignificant religious values.3In other words, processes of secularization and
modernization in Mizo society have often been accompanied by increasing intensity of religious
activities.
Western secularization process can be understood as a product rational thinking and
modernization. However, in the context of Mizo society, since, the late nineteenth century, the
dominant role of the Christian missionaries and later Church related developmental activities had
been a crucial factor towards accelerate social change and modernization.The closed relationship of
Church and State as well as its dominant role society and politics has refuted thenormative concepts
of secularization. Thereby, one can hardly observe an institutional differentiation or clear cut
separation between secular and religious realms. Therefore, secularization in Mizo society can be
better comprehended from the context of development of Christianity rather than understood within
the Western normative concept of secularization.

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In other words, secularization process in Mizo society can be understood as a reverse bivalent
form. One way to understood secularization process in Mizo society was to view the pattern of
secularization process mainly on account of early Christian missionary activities and later Church
developmental activities toward modernization of Mizo society. The other way to understood
secularization process is to view on the basis of active role of Church in teaching and interpretation
of various contemporary socio-political and cultural issues, from Christian perspective, that
sharpened the differences between the sacred and profane realm. Thus, in contrast to Western
normative concept of secularization process, the reverse pattern of Christian centric secularization
process within Mizo society had tremendous impact upon theprospect and implication of
secularization process and secularism of Mizo society and politics.
Before the advent of British colonialism and Christianity, the traditional Mizo society, had its
own distinctivesocio-politicalculture and religious beliefs that were closely linked with their
everyday needs and world views.4The traditional narratives of Mizo religion can be described in
many dimensions. Some writers argued that Mizo were animists, that worshiped anything unusually
large, be it tree, rock or river, out of fear of the reprisals of unseen devils.Moreover, they also worshipped
some imaginary spirits whom they think can bring about blessings. Be that as it may, their fear of curses
from evil spirits outweighed their hope for blessings from the good spirits. However, some writers
ignore the presence ofany elements of theism in the Mizo religion, which should be classified as
primal rather than animism. 5 Thus, it can be established that in the traditional Mizo society, albeit,
concept of gods, good and evil spiritual realm, were known to the Mizo, the traditional Mizo society
religious can be characterized by a lack a proper established religion.
With the annexation of Lushai Hills after 1890 and the simultaneously advent of Christian
missionaries. In contrast to Christians in Southern part of India, who traced the origin of their church
to Apostle Thomasand its flourishing contact and commerce with the Roman Empire. However,
these were confined mostly with the Southern part of India. 6Churches in Northeast India, were
established by Christian missionaries and later growth under indigenous Mizo churches.
TheMizo exposure to Colonial government, Christianity and early development of churches
brought inevitable change in the traditional Mizo religion and world views. Unlike in various part of
India, the fringe tribes of Northeast India, being free form class ridden society, the advent of
Christianity did not lead to dehumanization and disempowerment of tribes. Christianity in Northeast
India, can be identified with social transformation that is fair, just and free of exploitation on the
basis of caste or class.7The cordial relationship with Colonial government and the consideration of
Christianity as an instrumental of empowerment rather than exploitation could perhaps be the main

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reason why the primitive Mizo were easily prone to Christianity. Gradually, the interlaced between
new religion with Mizo culture,served to be the strongest bond that defined the normative structure
of Mizo society.

CHRISTIANITY AND SECULARIZATION PROCESS IN MIZO SOCIETY

Since late 1890s, the consolidation of Lushia Hills by the British Colonialists and the advent
of Christianity has brought a tremendous socio-cultural and structural changes upon the traditional
Mizo society. C Nunthara, an imminent scholar summarized that annexation of Lushia Hills in early
1890s immediately affected the Mizo in three ways, first the nomadic character of the Mizo social
life rapidly came to an end as a result of restriction on territorial mobility of the chiefs. Second, the
Mizo came into contact with the neighbouring people channelized through the British code of
peaceful co-existence. Third, change in economy structure immediately giving rise to a small group
of privileged class.8However, the Colonial government as an agent of changewas limited and
concerned relatively with maintenance of law and order rather bringing change at social and cultural
level. Various savage, barbaric practices, such as headhunting, burying alive of infants together with
their dead mothers, the spearing to death of an eavesdropper, the slitting of the nose and/or ears by
the grieved husband of the paramour of his unfaithful wife, the killing of those believed to be magic
workers (Dawithiam) and the gang rape of reputedly loose woman by young men were prohibited
and were declared illegal, punishable with imprisonment and fines.Other measure taken by the
government was the introduction of Land Settlement in 1899-99 by Shakespear to cease disturbance
and clashes caused by migration. 9Thus, apart from Colonial Administrative measures, it was the
Christianity that brought social change and far reaching impact upon Mizo traditional socio-culture
and political structure.
S K Chaube, summarized that the role of Christianity relative to the process of changes
introduced by British administration, as under, the contribution of Administration can be summed up
under the following categories, such as establishment of law and order, improvement in
communication, introduction of money economy in the remote areas and as will be seen the creation
of vested interest. The task of acculturation, at the subjective level, was almost entirely left to the
church of various denominations.10
Infact, within a short span of development of Christianity, it not only changed the religious
faith of the people, but altered their whole outlook and way of life completely.Thereby, the sacrificial
system (inthawina) disappeared within a generation and began to worshipthe divine Father of Jesus

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Christ. Belief in paradise also continued, but the means of entering it which could be attained only by
the great and affluent was replaced by the belief that the costly scarifies of Jesus had made entrance
possible for all those who have faith in him. 11The traditional world view of the Mizo which may be
described as animistic, characterized by fear and superstition had been replaced by more rational
attitudesbrought by theChristian philosophy. Christianity through its religious teachings,modern
education and health service contributed to demise the traditional beliefs and culture. Christianity, by
portraying man as the master of his own body and soul, liberated theMizosfrom the
certainmisconception of religion. Thus it provides the groundwork for scientific perception of
the.Therefore, the attitudinal changes among the Mizo, to some extent reflected the rationalization of
decision making process of various socio-economic and political realm.
Thus, in brief, it was Christianity rather than the Colonialistthat had prepared the once fierce
tribe to confronts the new situation brought by inevitable socio-structural and cultural changes.
Therefore, in context of Mizo society, various secular activities such as school, medical, social
institutions, non-governmental organizations, brought by the Christian missions and later Church
have play a significant role not only in bringing socio-religion and cultural change but also redefined
the sacred and the profane realm and further accelerated the Christian centric secularization process
in the Mizosociety.

Christianity and Cultural Modernization of Mizo Society

Despite, it was the greatest trend among all the Christian missionaries to create a prototype of
their condition and culture to which they belonged in their own country. 12Christianity brought
cultural changes among the erstwhile Mizo society. However, cultural modernization does not
emerged on the brink of total abolition of Mizo indigenous culture, but rather emerged as a
confluence of both Christianity and Mizo culture. Many of the existing pre-Christian beliefs of Mizo
society were adopted or modified by missionaries to help the Mizo to understand fully Christian
concepts and beliefs, especially with reference to the concepts of health, healing and social services.
Thus, besides preaching Gospel, various types of education institutions and health services, became
an instrumental in transformation the erstwhile ignorant, backward and savage Mizo tribe into a
better society on the patterns of new Christian culture.
The early Mizo Christians were not in a position to differentiate substance from form and
therefore simply adopted Christianity in the western form. Believing western culture to be Christian
culture, they discarded most of their cultural heritage. In the process they discarded some elements
that were of great value and in no way incompatible with Christianity-such as the traditional tunes

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for their songs and the use of drum. 13But, in the later stage, remained itself limited to those cultural
traits such as dress, food habitsand ethical life styles. Therefore, it is significant to note that the
interaction between the new faith and the traditional culture, led to the development of new Mizo
indigenous socio-culture structure. As Yogendra Singh has observed, this form of westernisation
does not have its basis in the assimilation of values or cognitive categories but merely in the
imitation of external forms of culture.14 In fact, though the early Mizo Christians were against
selected traditional customs, values and beliefs, but retained those traditional cultural values which
were of not inconsistent with Christian.
The first revival movement of 1906 began to bring about change. It brought a new sense of
joy as a result of the experience of forgiveness of sin and the freedom to express that joy in dancing
and proclamation of the faith to others. It was also a turning point in the growth of the churches. The
emphasis on sin and repentance led the Mizo Christian to see things in a new light, sharpening the
difference between what they perceived to be the sacred and the profane. They became very
judgemental of their old ways. However, the third revival began to create in large numbers a new
type of spiritual song which superseded the earlier translated western hymns that had been sung in
the churches. They were an expression of the freedom from missionary control and the imposed
western forms that the Christians had first experienced in the second revival. The new freedom to
create their own forms of Christian life was manifested in many indigenous ways. One early
manifestation of this was the bringing back of the drum for use in Christian worship, a practice that
had earlier been banned by the missionaries. Another popular expression and most significant path
that developed was the readiness to do whatsoever my Lord the King shall command, in the same
way as the Tlawmngai person would do for his or her chief in the traditional set up. All these
developments contributed to the formation of unique indigenous Mizo Christianity. 15 Therefore,
cultural change within Mizo society does not actualised in total change of traditional cultural traits.
In fact, most of the traditional social values adopted were reconceptualised on the basis of Christian
principle, further substantiates the Mizo contemporary socio-cultural values and norm. In
contemporary Mizo society, the Church acts as an institution of social solidarity that articulates the
socio-cultural traits of Mizo society.

Christianity and Education

Prior to the advent of Colonialism and Christian missionaries, formal education was unknown
to the Mizo.16 Thetraditional institution of the Zawlbuk was only the mean of educating the male
youth. The Colonial government was indifference towards development of education. Various

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measures, such as Charter Act of 1813, (which gave the East India company the responsibility to
educate the Indian), the Wood’s Despatch of 1854, Education Commission of 1882, under President
Sir WW Hunter, was hardly effective in the Lushai Hills. 17It was only under the initiative of
Christian missions and later churches that educational institutions were established and education
reached among the fringe Mizo tribes.The primary object of the missionaries was to convert the
people to Christianity. The missionaries believed that through primary schools they could spread the
gospel among the masses in villages. During this time, there was hardly any difference between the
School and Church. Schools were used as Church, therefore going to School also meant attending
church and vice-versa.18Education was seen as a necessary access and instrument to preach
Christianity among the illiterate converts so as to enable them to read the Bible and provide the
convert with intelligent leadership.Therefore, during the early phase of education, it served both the
purpose of immediate evangelism and a long term objective of building indigenous Christian
community.19Thus, in Lushai Hills, early phase of education which was entirely left in the hands of
Christian missionaries and early churchesgave an advantage in imparting a Christian centric
education and secularization process among the Mizo.
Albeit, the educational system under the Missions was Christian oriented. However,
education system provided by the early Christian schools was not exclusively religious. Rochunga
Pudaite, an observer of Mission educational activities, summed up that the aimed of education under
the early Christian missionaries were equipped with religious instruction to the new converts. The
people were taught the three R’s in preparation for Bible reading, understanding of writing and
simple Arithmetic for their religious exercise. Primary emphasize was placed upon their ability to
read Bible.20Apart from religious instruction such as, Scripture, Christian doctrines, there were
various secular aspects of education taught in the mission schools, subjects such as Dictation,
Zirtirbu (Lushai Reader), an outline of World History-III, the Legend of Old Lushai (in English),
Aritmatic, English Grammer and Geography of India and Assam and simple Arithmetic, 21were also
included. Thus, the secular aspect of education was also provided, as the missionaries believed that it
would inevitably weaken the people’s faith in traditional beliefs.Rev. Zairema remarks, that the
advancement of modern education and medical work was one of the most effective means of
destroying the traditional world views and belief system, which was super-naturalistic. 22Thus,the
education pattern initiated by the Christian mission and later Church had a tremendous impact onnot
only in evangelical work but development of secularattitude among the Mizo.

Christianity and Structural Change of Mizo Society

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Colonialism and Christianity alsobrought drastic changes within social structure of Mizo society.
Prior to the formation of any modern institution in Mizoram, social and political life of Mizo
revolved around the institution of Chieftainship and Zawlbuk.The Zawlbuk system can be
characterised as atraditional way of life for the bachelors in every village and was considered as an
important institution to impart social values and discipline among the youth. 23However, gradually it
disappeared from Mizo society. McCall traced the extinction of Zawlbuk to the antipathy of the Lushai
church leaders. As the mission did not take a positive attitude either to preserve the institution or to
abolish it, the local church leaders and the local school teachers took an active lead in abolishing the
Zawlbuk in the villages, as some of the practices in the Zawlbuk were not strictly in conformity with
the Christian ideals. This led most of the Lushai church leaders to condemn the Zawlbuk.24In fact, the
abandonment of Zawlbuk was partially resulted on account of advancement changes and moreinclusive
democratic institutions, not solely on the account of antipathy by Church.
Considering the rapid changes in socio-cultural lives and abolition of traditional chieftainship
in Mizo society, people felt the need for an alternative institution that could meet and serve many of
their undercurrent socio-cultural needs under the changed situation. The Christian community in each
locality built their own chapel everywhere, in replacement for Zawlbuk and gather there regularly for
prayer and worship, listening to the sermons that cover exhortations to the standard of life expected of a
Christian.25Thus, the development Church and growth of schools, has a provided a new realm for
imparting social ethic and many youth has to left Zawlbuk to attend schools. In contemporary Mizo
society, the Mizo church and YMA became the principle institutionsto uphold the code of social
discipline and renders social service to the community. 26Thereby,it can be observed
thatChurch,YMA and schools have substituted the traditional institutions, not as a result of Christian
disapproval of it but rather as an inevitable consequence of socio-economic and political changes. In
other words, in the midst of changing socio-cultural milieu, theZawlbuk,could no longer meet the
changing socio-economic and political needs of the Mizos.
Apart from abolition of institutions of chieftainship, Zawlbuk and Bawisystem, Christianity
also play a pivotal role in promotion of gender equality. In a traditional Mizo society, despite women
were treated with love and care, and adorned in much the same manner as men are treated. Women
are not treated equally with men; their position is placed at a very insignificant position. 27However,
with the advancement of Christianity, the Gospel impart the notion of equality among the Mizo. The
Gospel with its message taught them that in the eyes of God, there was no distinction between man
and women, they were equal in every aspect.The educated women formed Mizo Hmeichche
Tangrual (women organization) on 16 July, 1946, with the main objective of promotion the causes of

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women in society. One instance of success of this organization was that the authorities allowed
woman to inherit property by formal deeds of will. 28Therefore, in a contemporary society, Mizo
womanby participating in every aspect of society proved that they are no less intelligent and less able
than their male counterpart.

Impact of Christianity on Intellectual Development

Christianity and later churches which became a centre of power and patronage of modern
education became the most significant factor for the emergence of intellectual in Mizo society.
Referring to Lushai Hills District, McCall traced the origin of new class, the intelligentsia, he
remarked that it was the churches and its various organizations for the most part, which led towards
black coatism. Black coated occupation became synonymous with progress. The result was the
creation of an oligarchy, the privilege, the salaried and therefore, the materially powerful. Most of
them are on mission’s payroll, church executives or in the employment of Government, in which
case they are probably, subject spiritually to the Lushai church. McCall further argued that
Christianity and oligarchy bred individualism, flourishing in the headquarters, towns and naturally
imbued with the thrill of seeking independence of the chiefs, and freedom from customary
communal discipline.29Thus, the new religion produced intelligentsia that in turn, made it possible
for the tribes to adjust and demystify the secular-religious realm created by the modernization and
secularisation process.

CONCLUSION
To sum up, in a tiny state of Mizoram, in contrast to normative secularization process, a
reversed secularization based on Christian centric and pattern of secularization initiated by early
Christian missionaries and Church has a tremendous impact upon the nature of relationship between
temporal and sacred. In fact, the interlaced of Mizo culture with Christianity, which resulted in the
development highly indigenised social system has become the normative socio-political and cultural
structure of the contemporary Mizo society. In a Mizo society, despite the assumption of decreasing
church activities inthe midst of rapid secularization of Mizo society, it can also be observed that the
increasing intensity of secularization process is also followed by increasing church activities.
Particularly, in the midst of deteriorating socio-political system, inroad of various social problems,
such as HIV/AIDS, corruption, drugs abuse, party politics, social disintegration and disparity within
Mizo society, Church has widened it role and become more active in addressing the contemporary
problems confronted by Mizo society.

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Therefore, to generalised the secularization thesis, as a trend towards institutional

differentiation between secular and religion, the exclusion of religion from public realm and the
demise of religion would be misnomer in Mizo society. This reversed pattern of secularization of
Mizo society on Christian centric and principles also do a tremendous impact upon the prospect and
development of secularism.Indeed, in Mizo society, secularism does not imply a separation of
religion from politics, but rather imply equality of all religion. Moreover, a majority of Mizo prefers
a close relationship and cooperation between state and church in various social, economic and
political aspects.30 Therefore, in context of Mizo society and politics, normative concept and practice
of secularization and secularism can hardly be located in Mizo society.

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majority of 58.41 % of the respondents preferred a close relationship and cooperation
between state and church in various socio-political and development aspects.

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