On March 7, Mizoram celebrated its biggest festival, Chapchar Kut, with grand festivities. With a larger budget, increased social media promotion, and a focus on local textiles and art, this year’s celebration was the biggest. One of the major highlights was the ‘Cheraw Kanpui,’ organized by the Central Young Mizo Association (YMA), where a large group of youth showcased the most majestic of Mizo dances—the bamboo dance—filling the Lammual AR ground. The YMA is the largest and most influential non-profit, secular, and nongovernmental organization representing the Mizo people.
The Central Young Mizo Association has come a long way since it was established in 1935 by Welsh missionaries and Mizo church leaders. With Christianity taking over the traditional lifestyles of the Mizo tribe, it was found that there was a necessity to form an organization that would uphold the traditions and customs of the people. When the YMA was formed, it resulted from a decision to set up an organisation to unite all Mizo people. As per the latest data on the association’s website, there are 805 YMA branches with a population of 4,04,722. The Chief parent organisation is known as Central Young Mizo Association while its branches are called Young Mizo Association.
Like any other organization, the YMA has garnered praise and criticism in its journey of almost 90 years. The YMA has led statewide movements, a notable one in the past decade being the movement to oust SB Shashank from his post as Chief Electoral Officer of Mizoram in 2018. Over forty thousand Mizo youth took to the streets demanding his removal, and Shashank was replaced as per the NGOs demand. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Mizoram, he did not hold an audience with the public but held a closed-door meeting with the NGOs including the YMA.
Despite its prominent role, the YMA has often faced more criticism than praise in certain areas. One notable point of contention is its involvement in funeral arrangements, particularly the decision of whether or not a person should be buried in a particular locality. While this responsibility typically falls to the YMA, issues arise when the deceased is viewed negatively or has had conflicts with the organization. For example, if the person had a dispute with the YMA or went against its established norms, they may be denied a funeral process organized by the YMA.
Taking a recent example, on February 18, 2025, a government officer, Daniel Sailo passed away. He had been residing in and had built a house in the Ainawn locality of Aizawl. However, due to a dispute with the YMA the previous year over the disposal of soil during his house construction, his burial was not permitted in the locality. As a result, his body was taken to his mother’s locality, Ramhlun, for the funeral. During the service, his mother expressed her gratitude to those who had united to support the funeral despite the circumstances. She said she was thankful that her son would be buried nearby, but that her heart broke knowing that he could not spend his final moments in the house he had built with so much love.
In 2022, criticism was also raised in two separate incidents. One, was the demand of the NGOs led by the YMA to remove Chief Secretary Renu Sharma from her post because she is a non-Mizo. The larger public was not in favor of the NGO and their request was widely condemned across social media platforms as racist and impractical.
Another incident was the death of 53-year-old Lalthafela who was allegedly denied a place in the community graveyard by the YMA and other NGOs because his sister sold alcohol.
While the causes of Lalthafela’s death in the village of Thingdawl on May 8, 2022, were not particularly shocking, the events that followed his death created a social media storm in the state.
Lalthafela was a studious boy who excelled in his studies as a child. However, around 1986, when he was appearing for his board exams, he started losing his mental capabilities. With time, became mentally unsound. He had even enrolled in a prestigious college in Aizawl, Pachhunga University College but could not complete his studies.
Nghinglovi, his sister who looked after him till his death told East Mojo, “He was very intelligent, but he became mentally unstable. He would utter gibberish and laugh in the middle of his sentences. He still tried to be useful by carrying water and doing small things he could do.”
Nghinglovi and her brother lost their parents around twelve years ago. She had gotten married but returned to her village in 1993 when her husband passed away. Since the death of their parents, Lalthafela has been under her care. Nghinglovi started selling liquor to support her brother. “It was not my first choice to sell liquor. I used to carry wood to earn a living but I needed to find a livelihood where I could support my brother while being at home with him after my parents passed away. We were still poor but I could provide us with something,” she said.
At 53 years old, Lalthafela was afflicted with Typhoid which slowly took his eyesight and then his life. He breathed his last on the morning of May 8. In the state of Mizoram, it is the custom that the state’s apex NGO, Young Mizo Association(YMA) looks after the burying and ceremonial rituals. A funeral ceremony is held in the deceased’s home after which the deceased is buried in the community graveyard with his or her coffin and graveyard prepared by volunteer members of the YMA.
But the same was not the case for Lalthafela. According to Nghinglovi, there were restrictions in their village, where alcohol sellers were prohibited from burial rituals in the community graveyard. Due to this, her close friends and relatives dug a grave just next to her home and buried her brother there. The news spread like wildfire through social media shocking many. It raised many questions on how people whose livelihoods are outside of the community’s interest are treated and if Lalthafela would be treated as he was if he was from a higher class of the community. The incident following his death has been narrated in different terms by his family and by the community NGO leaders.
“Because of the community guidelines, I decided I would bury my brother near my home so my friends and relatives dug a grave for him. Those who came for the funeral were YMA members but there were no leader representatives who came to our house. I do not blame anyone as we have been involved in a livelihood against the community,” said Nghinglove while she expressed how much she missed her brother and worried about a future without him.
As per a notification letter released by the Thingdawl Joint NGOs of which the YMA is a member, those involved in alcohol sales will be denied NREGA(National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) benefits and other benefits accessible through developmental projects. It was also stated that they would not be allowed a place in the burial ground.
However, the Village Council President, TC Lalthangzova told EastMojo, “We were not planning to enact those rules as yet. We came up with it, hoping that the alcohol vendors would leave their business and find a new means of livelihood.”
“Our rules have been effective, even after we announced this rule, six people have already left the alcohol business and there are more people who are giving it up. We have called together the alcohol vendors from our village on three occasions since last year to let them know why selling alcohol is not good for society and told them that we are ready to help them as long as they are ready to give up the profession,” he said.
The sale or prohibition of alcohol has been the most debated political agenda of the two major parties: the Congress party and the Mizo National Front party in the largely Christian state of Mizoram. These two parties have formed governments in Mizoram since it became a full-fledged state in 1987. More recently, on March 10, 2025, the ZPM party introduced a bill in the assembly that amended the Alcohol Prohibition Act to include the sale of locally made wine and beer which was met with much opposition from other party MLAs.
Francis Sailo, an entrepreneur from Mizoram believes the people of the state have developed a ‘demonized’ view of alcohol, “There is a reason why we have demonized alcohol in the state of Mizoram. In our early history, people knew how to use alcohol for good purposes such as our Kut (festivals). People did not sell alcohol, they just made it on their own in their homes for which they needed surplus rice. It symbolised luxury because surplus rice was not available in every home. But when the British introduced Christianity, the new converts started demonising the use of alcohol and we are suffering from its effects.”
Sailo also commented on Lalthafela’s death in Thingdawl saying, “Nobody is above the law. Even if they go against community guidelines, there is a system. We must realise that we cannot keep functioning as per the guidelines of our social institutions. Enacting good governance and the issue of law and maintenance should be in the hands of the government. Instead, NGOs such as SRS (Supply Reduction Service – an anti-narcotics team functioning under the YMA) are taking up active work. This incident shows that law and order has failed.”
Activists such as Ruatfela Nu have raised concerns in the past and, more recently, on the role of the YMA in the funeral and burial process of the deceased. She questioned, “Why are burial and the last rites in the hands of the YMA and the church and not in the hands of the government?”
“While it may initially seem like a positive move to entrust the funeral arrangements to the YMA, the issue lies in the fact that the NGO has the authority to choose who it will provide a funeral for and who it will refuse. This results in distress for the families of those rejected, as they struggle to ensure the deceased receives their final rites. The responsibility for the deceased and their burial should lie with the government. The government must care for its citizens, both during their lives and through to their burial,” she said.
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