On 30 June 1986, after numerous attempts and failures in negotiation, the government of India and the MNF signed a memorandum of settlement that put an end to the Mizo struggle for independence. The memorandum contains various safeguards through Article 371(G) of the Indian Constitution while granting statehood status to the erstwhile UT. There was much jubilation across Mizoram as the long-awaited peace finally arrived. For the common people, the accord meant the end of violence and living in perpetual fear. For the Indian state, it was another story of striking an agreement, much like the Punjab and Assam accords signed in 1985. On his return from New Delhi, and with many welcoming him in the AR lammual (parade field), Laldenga, the president of the MNF, now revered as Mizo Hnam Pa (Father of the Mizo Nation), gave a speech to the Mizo public. Commenting on the accord, he said that it was neither the end of the struggle nor a complete stop in the quest for independence but a moment to rest and recuperate, and that it was now up to the younger generations to take the struggle forward for ethnic and territorial unity or independence.

However, for others like Raltawna, what was unsettling was that the president did not utter a word about restitution and reconciliation. As he put it, ‘In ngaidam tawn tawh ila tih lampang tal pawh hriat tur awm lo kha, engtin emaw rilruah a cham tlat nia!’ (There was no mention of mutual forgiveness, to let bygones be bygones, and that to this day still aches the mind!) (Raltawna 2010: 12). This points to the fact that the matter of the violence and injustice meted out to the Mizo civilians during the period of the movement continues to linger, which does not find a mention in the accord.

From the mid-1970s, remna leh muanna (settlement and peace) become part of the everyday vocabulary in Mizoram. It was remna leh muanna that dominated the political discourse. A vernacularized discourse of peace was created through which the issue of peace took centre stage in the everyday social and political life of the people. In the UT elections of 1977, political parties of all hues and colours promised muanna if elected to power. As such, muanna became the rallying point during elections to galvanize voters and win the electoral battle.