NEW DELHI, March 10: Blending history and fiction, a new book “If I Have to Be a Soldier” thrusts readers into the heart of Mizoram’s tryst with insurgency and struggle for independence in the 1960s.
Written by award-winning producer and director Nikhil J Alva and published by Harper Collins, the book is touted to be a gripping story of identity, survival, betrayal and, above all, love.
It is set in the backdrop of the Mizo insurgency, which started in 1966 with the aim to establish a sovereign nation state for the Mizo people.
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The secessionist movement, led by Mizo National Front (MNF) and its leader Laldenga, came to an end in 1986, when it signed the Mizo Peace Accord with the government of India and created a separate state for the Mizos, called Mizoram.
“When I first read about the incredible causality between the once-in-fifty-year flowering of the bamboo in the Mizo Hills, the plague of rats, and the brutal twenty-year long insurgency that followed, as a storyteller, I was hooked!
“I first wrote a movie screenplay based on the idea. Along the way I fell in love with the characters I had created, and decided that only a novel could do justice to them. It took four years. But I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!” said Alva about his debut book.
So, according to the book’s plot, the year is 1966 and the MNF has launched an armed rebellion in their quest for an independent nation, and Delhi is pushing back with all its might.
As a brutal war rages, Indian Army Captain Samuel Rego, the son of a Baptist preacher, finds himself returning to the land he ran away from to interrogate one of the most feared MNF commanders in custody.
Except, the Mara tribesman everyone knows as ‘Che’ is Sena, Samuel’s childhood friend.
“When confronted with a grave moral dilemma, the choice Captain Samuel makes causes him and Che to become fugitives. While being hunted across the rugged Mizo Hills, the two men must face events from their bitter past that scarred their friendship, even as they struggle to stay alive and redeem themselves,” reads the description of the book.
According to the publishers, “If I Have to Be a Soldier”, while drawing on the dark truths of one of India’s most secretive wars, delves into the complexities of friendship, loyalty, and the devastating costs of war.
“A gripping tale set against the backdrop of a forgotten and turbulent period from India’s history, it challenges us to confront the haunting choices made in the name of survival,” said Rashmi Menon, executive editor at HarperCollins India, in a statement.
The book, priced at Rs 499, is currently available for purchase across online and offline stores. (PTI)
