Construing and Gleaning the Vexing Notion of ‘Outsider’ in Mizoram: Pre-Statehood to Post Statehood Times

Abstract

The concept of outsider is seen as prevailing across the north-eastern States of India, albeit under different names. The term that the Zo/Mizo people use to for outsiders is ‘Vai’. The term ‘Vai’ evokes mixed feelings of contempt, distrust, mockery and envy. The inflow of the ‘Vai’ in present day Mizoram has a strong colonial linkage. The gradual yet sure, entry of the ‘Vai’ into the Zo/Mizo economy provided for a greater degree of interaction between the two communities. This paper attempts to construe and glean the vexing notion of the outsider among the Zo hnahthlak (Zo/Mizo people) from the pre-Statehood through the post-Statehood times.