night of 28 February 1966, the MNF launched a daring and ambitious attack on the district's major towns, resulting in the March 1966 Mizo National Front uprising. It declared independence and called on the Mizos to rise against India. The Indian government responded by sending troops and aircraft on bombing missions. Villagers were uprooted from the hills and sent without their consent to what were called Regrouped Villages built along the highways. For the next 20 years, violence continued in the Mizo hills with the fighters camping in Mizoram (India) and East Pakistan. With the fall of East Pakistan in 1971, Laldenga's men scattered to Myanmar while he moved to Pakistan. After secret meetings in Europe with Indian officials, he returned seeking a peaceful resolution of the problem. During his guerrilla life, Laldenga was arrested on several occasions and spent 10 years in exile, mostly in Bangladesh and Pakistan. He returned to India for peace talks in 1976, but the terms of negotiations failed in 1982. MNF was officially outlawed in January, and he, with some relatives, were arrested. He was extradited by the Indian government in April. Peace Accord and last days When Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India in 1984, it encouraged a new wave of negotiation. Laldenga met him on 15 February 1985, and peace settlement was on its way. On 30 June 1986 the official document entitled Mizoram Accord, 1986, Memorandum of Settlement was then signed by Laldenga, R. D. Pradhan, Home Secretary, and Lalkhama, Chief secretary. Laldenga became an interim Chief Minister, as the sitting Chief Minister Lalthanhawla stepped down to Deputy Chief Minister. Under the terms of the accord, Mizoram was granted statehood in February 1987. Laldenga and his party MNF won the first elections to the state legislature. Elected from Sateek and Aizawl North-II constituencies, he became the first Chief Minister of Mizoram as a federated state. However, defections toppled him from office in 1988. Death Laldenga never rose to political arena again due to chronic lung cancer. In early 1990, he received medical treatments at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. After a three-month therapy, he headed home via England. Just after landing on the London airport, he died as he was taken to Ashford Hospital on 7 July 1990. His body was transported reached Aizawl on 11 July and was honoured with the first state