To our Promised Land

By Pu Lian Uk

God has given us this land known as Chinland or Lairam or Zogam. The reason is this wide territory of vast land has been inhabited by the Chin people as the first settlers in the land. There are no other people who can claim that this Chinland has been theirs other than the Chin people. This land has been recognized by the universal law in the UN that it is the land of the Chin people in all international maps and atlases. If you cannot believe it, please buy an atlas or go to library and you will see the truth in many maps and atlases.

There is no way that the Chin people can create a territory like as wide as this Chin land in which only Chin culture and language is fully practiced in all its length and breadth. This was what Pu Rokunga composed in his song "Kan Zotlang Ram Nuam" that there is no other land so pleasant like this "Zotlang ram" in the world . It was with this song that the Band troupe of the Third Chin Rifles Battalion got First in the competition of all the Band troupes of the Union of Burma(UB) armed force Battalions in 1 953.

It has been neglected to develop by the succeeding Burmese governments. There is no any infrastructure like communications and electricity worth mentioning in the present Chin State. It has been left barren with no development for sixty years after we are supposed to be in our independent land.

The reason was there has never been Chin State Legislative Assembly and Chin State government for sixty years. There has never been development planning for the Chin territory at state government level for sixty years. Chin state is thus like a sick person which never is intentionally given medical treatment to let it die slowly though its illness is known.

It is this Burmese military regime which blocks us to form Chin State Legislative Assembly and Chin State government though U Nu government was at least to allow the Chin territory to form Chin State Legislative Assembly and Chin State government in 1962 after 14 years of Independence.

All the difficulties including the problem of poverty we have in the Chin State today is because we have never had Chin state legislative assembly and Chin state government. The Chin state will continue on suffering the same problem and the same poverty if only democracy is restored in the Union of Burma (UB) with no federal constitution as Chin state will not still have their elected leaders in the Chin State Legislative Assembly and Chin State government to redress all their problems and poverty they have suffered today.

The reason is all the governmental departments in the Chin State are under the various Ministries of the Government of Burmese people as the sovereign power of the government of the Union of Burma is totally monopolized in the unitary form of constitution by the Burmese people whose flat land is much different in topography of the landscape and culture and language from the Chin territory and its people. Chin and Burmese have traditionally recognized each other as different people different in culture, language and in other aspects.

The Burmese ministers who have been dealing with the affairs of the governmental departments in the Chin State know nothing about the Chin State topography, their culture and language which are much different from the Burmese in the flat plain as they have never been to the Chin state. Those Burmese ministers who dealt with the governmental departments in the Chin state had not been elected from the Chin state constituencies by the Chin people even during the democracy period from 1948-62 for the constitution of the UB in those days was in unitary form.

So even though a Burmans Minister will not do any good work for the departments he controls in the Chin State, there is no way for the Chin people to remove him from his minister-ship as he is not elected by the Chin people in the Chin State constituencies.

So there is no reason the Burmese minister should have incentive sense to develop the Chin State in the department he controls. They will have more interest in the Burmese people who elect them in the Burmese territory constituencies. That is just human nature and we may not blame them.

It is created by the constitution of the country, UB, in Unitary form this last sixty years. That was the main reason why Chin state is left barren today without any worth mentioning infrastructure like communications and electricity without which no development could be progressively done.

So Chin people today are to be in unity to continue on fighting until and unless any constitution drafted by Burmese democracy forces or Burmese military regime include a provision in which the Chin people are allowed to form its own Chin state Legislative assembly and the Chin state
government in the federal Union.

On this situation of poverty and many other problems, it is so easy to oppress the Chin people by the Burmese military regime as their plan to starve the Chin people has been the ripe time to smash them to their extinction while the Chin people are weak and disabled to resist them. Thus the Chin people to leave their homeland in thousands to foreign land at this time could be comparable to the people of ancient Israel to flee to Egypt to be under Egyptian slavery bondage.

The Chin people who leave their home land are exactly in slavery bondage in foreign land though they think themselves working with no dignity as refugees and immigrants in foreign land. It is like submitting themselves to be in slavery bondage same as ancient Israel surrendered themselves to Egyptian slavery bondage.

So what the Chin people should do to return to their God promised land is to take part in the fight against this Burmese military regime to remove them and establish Chin State Legislative Assembly and Chin State government in the Chin territory known as Chinland. That is what the almighty God give His promise to His elected Chin people as they have created their Chinland
as Chin Christian state in which not less than 80% of the Chinland population has been all Christians.

If there is Chin State government, several departments in the Chin state will be under the control of the Chin state government which is to be formed of the Chin ministers elected by the Chin people from the Chin State constituencies.

If a minister in the Chin state government do not make any progress in the departments he controls under his ministry, he could be removed at the general election by not giving him votes any more by the Chin state constituency. That will be the way how to give a minister in the Chin state government to give him incentive sense to develop the departments under the minister's control.

We know that Captain Mang Tung Nung had proposed federalism in 1961-62 as he could see this problem by that time so that the Chin State would have its own Chin State Legislative Assembly and Chin state government in federal Union. But it was not widely known by the Chin people for his short live after that as General Ne Win took power to abolish that planning of Captain Mang Tung and U Nu government.

Chin younger generations continue on the plan since 1968-69 till today. So what we mean by Self determination, the Union federalism and self governing territory of the Chin people in the Chinland means to have Chin State Legislative Assembly to form Chin State government in the federal Union.

Then only can we make Chin state development Planning at the state government level to make Chin State and its people prosperous in economics , in unity in culture, literature and in all the fields to overtake other countries.

The Chin youths who are being educated in western developed countries can do this if they have the will and we are certain that all the Chin youths educated abroad have the burning will to serve their mother land which is the promised land God bestowed them to make it prosperous endlessly.

So the Chin people in unity are to take parts by any means in fighting to remove this Burmese militarism as they are the regime that block the Chin people to their ever prosperity and development in their territory and government. What the Chin people should know here is the world , even the UN, is on the side of their cause as God is on their side.

We urge all Chin Christians Piang thar/Piangthak or non Piangthar/Piang thak to pray for this and to practically participate or contribute to the cause of the Chin people to be under the Chin State government under the mercy guidance of the Almighty God.

We have to be aware also that the Chin people will support the establishment of Federal Legislative Assembly and Federal government of the Federal Union of Burma in which we , the Chin people, also should share our part in the common cause and interest of all the constituent states including Burmans State or States in the federal Union of Burma.

Source: Kuki International Forum