Journalist and author Sanjoy Hazarika’s forthcoming book Lal Thanhawla: The Boy from Zarkawt and the Making of Mizoram tells the story of Mizoram’s transformation from insurgency and political uncertainty to peace and stability through the life of its longest-serving chief minister, Lal Thanhawla.

Published by Westland Books, the biography will be released on August 27, 2026.

The book traces Mizoram’s political evolution from the British Raj to the present, examining the movements, negotiations and personalities that shaped the state. At its centre is Lal Thanhawla’s remarkable political journey—from being associated with an anti-India movement to becoming one of the leaders who helped bring an end to insurgency and establish a durable political settlement.

Hazarika has drawn on hundreds of interviews conducted over two years, along with archival material, to reconstruct both Lal Thanhawla’s personal story and the wider history of Mizoram.

The book looks closely at the political and social forces that influenced the region, while also documenting how insurgency gave way to negotiations, democratic politics and relative stability.

Explaining what drew him to the subject, Hazarika said the story had fascinated him for years and offered an opportunity to bring “the colour, drama and challenges of a remote outpost on India’s eastern border to a larger Indian audience”.

He described Lal Thanhawla as an unusual political figure because of his transition from participation in an anti-India movement to becoming part of the process that helped end the insurgency.

“Lal Thanhawla was an attractive political personality. He had been part of an anti-India movement, rose to power and turned his back on it—which politician does that?—to end an insurgency,” Hazarika said.

Apart from being a political biography, The Boy from Zarkawt also seeks to serve as a contemporary history of Mizoram, capturing the state’s difficult passage through conflict, negotiations and institution-building.

Hazarika is an author, researcher and journalist known for his extensive work on Northeast India. His books include The Strangers of the Mist, Strangers No More, Rites of Passage, Writing on the Wall and, most recently, River Traveller: Journeys on the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra from Tibet to the Bay of Bengal.

He reported for The New York Times from South Asia for 16 years and has also served as international director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. Hazarika is the founder of the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, which pioneered boat clinics in Assam.