The origins of the Zomi National Congress (ZNC) are in
Manipur,
India.
T. Gougin founded the organisation in
Daizang,
Churachandpur district in 1972 to campaign for the unification of the
Zomi people in India and Myanmar. He submitted a
memorandum to the then President of India
V. V. Giri. It was a major goal of ZNC to hold the first
World Zomi Convention, which was eventually held at
Champhai,
Mizoram, India during 19–21 May 1988. Earlier in March 1988, T. Gougin joined forces with Brig. Sailo of the
People's Conference of Mizoram to form a joint organisation called Zo-Reunification Organisation. After the
8888 uprising in 1988, the ZNC branch in Burma was registered as a political party. It was permitted to function as a political organisation until 1992, when the
military junta abolished the party and banned it from all political activities.
Cin Sian Thang was chairman of the Zomi National Congress until the party's dissolution. Elected as a Member of Parliament during Burma's ill-fated
1990 elections, he worked diligently for several years in defiance of the country’s ruling
military junta. During the 1960s, Cin Sian Thang served as a leader of the Chin Ethnic Student Union while a student at Rangoon University. He has been imprisoned on at least six occasions by successive military regimes for his political activities between 1972 and 1999. In each instance, he served two years, during which he was subjected to brutal interrogations and torture, which led to permanent health problems. He also served as a member of the Committee Representing People’s Parliament, a group supported by 251 candidates elected in 1990. Considered a moderate ethnic leader, Cin Sian Thang heavily promoted the CRPP as a rallying point for Burmese activists and ethnic leaders. He was the most outspoken elected ethnic leader in Myanmar. He is also the co-author of the book "
In Burma, a Cry for U.N. Help". The party renamed to the Zomi Congress for Democracy after new naming restrictions imposed by the government leading up to the
2012 by-elections required them to drop the word 'National' from their name. The party formally registered this name with the
Union Election Commission in 2012. ==References==