AIZAWL, Feb 1 � Lalzawna, a cult leader who established the �Church of God� in Mizoram, today died due to pneumonia at a private hospital here, hospital sources said. He was 68.
Born on January 1, 1948, Lalzawna joined the underground Mizo National Front (MNF) movement in 1966 when the MNF began armed insurrection for a sovereign Mizoram and was in the underground capital headquarters in Arakan in 1971.
He claimed to have received a vision from God while in Arakan and advocated �redemption of the flesh� from 1978 and resurfaced in 1979 to spread his �vision� across Mizoram.
He settled at the Mizoram-Myanmar border Tlangsam village in Champhai district since 1984 and predicted that a huge stone from the east would hit Mizoram to cause massive disaster. Many believers flocked around him and settled at Tlangsam village.
He established a cult and a church of his own at Tlangsam and called it �Pathian Kohhran� or the �Church of God� which he headed till his demise. � PTI
