GUWAHATI: Some degrees arrive with a little delay. Zoramthanga is taking the long route – six decades, to be precise.Six decades after clearing his graduation examination, former guerrilla leader and three-time Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga is set to finally receive his degree certificate from Gauhati University on Thursday.Now 82, Zoramthanga appeared for his BA final examination in 1966 from DM College in Imphal, then affiliated with Gauhati University, with English as his major. He cleared the examination in the second class but never collected his degree certificate.The reason was anything but academic. Zoramthanga had joined the Mizo National Front (MNF) under Laldenga’s leadership in 1965. Soon after completing his examination, he went underground and became part of the armed struggle launched by the outfit. His degree certificate, meanwhile, stayed behind.“Gauhati University has carefully preserved his certificates and on August 20, six decades after successfully completing his undergraduate course, Zoramthanga will finally receive his degree certificate from the university,” Dr Akhil Ranjan Dutta, director of Institute of North East India Studies, Gauhati University posted on social media.On Thursday, Gauhati University vice-chancellor Prof Nani Gopal Mahanta will hand over the long-pending certificate to Zoramthanga at a function at the varsity’s Phanidhar Dutta Seminar Hall. The occasion will also feature a special lecture by Zoramthanga, jointly organised by the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, Gauhati University Institute of North East India Studies and the Centre for South East Asian Studies.
