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CHIN NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR FEDERALISM UNDER
1
SUPPRESSION OF CHIN NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR FEDERALISM
UNDER THE
REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL
AND THE
BURMA SOCIALIST PROGRAMME PARTY (1962-1988)
By Pu Lian Uk
Introduction
The first British intrusion into the Khumi Chin territories in Paletwa in southern Chinland in
1826, the final whole scale invasion of Chinland throughout the Chin-Lushai land Expedition
(1888-90) and other related political events during the British occupation are milestones in the
political history of the Chin peoples’ struggle for freedom. The Haka and Thado Chin resistance
movements of the 1917-1919 in central and northern Chinland respectively, the burning of
hundreds of Chin villages; and the mass arrest by the British that followed, where some died in
captivity etc. are well recorded milestones as well. A mass arrest occurred again in 1939 at
Kanpetlet in southern Chinland when leaders of the first Chin political party, the Chin National
Unity Organization, led by Pu Vomthu Maung were arrested by the British for demanding
independence for Chinland. Vomthu Maung later became the first Minister of Chin Affairs
Council of the post-independence Chin Special Division. The British then arrested altogether 129
Chin leaders through six rounds of separate mass arrests and locked them up in different jails
across the country such as Kanpetlet, Myingyan, Katha, Haka, Falam, Tedim etc. These
historical events are well documented by various historians and scholars.
However, the Chin’s struggle for the establishment of a peaceful and solid Federal Union of
Burma and the subsequent suppressions of General Ne Win’s Revolutionary Council and the
Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) Regime during the period from 1962 onward and
prior to the 1988 nation-wide democracy uprisings are yet to be properly documented despite the
facts that political events during this period have a lasting influence on the new generations of
Chin leaders until this day. It is not an exaggeration to conclude that these events of the 60s and
70s Chin politics have in one way or the other influenced the political developments far beyond
the realm of Chin politics but also have significant political impacts on that of other ethnic
peoples’ struggle for freedom, democracy and federalism for decades thereafter.
This part of our modern political history deserves a proper record and this paper will attempt to
document and highlight the missing links between the political aspirations of the older
generations of the 60s / 70s and the new generation Chin leaders of today. In so doing I will
briefly touch the largely ignored Chin armed resurrections against the oppressive BSPP Regime
during this period and highlight in more detail the events of the Chin attempts to lawfully
reestablish a peaceful and prosperous federal Union.
2
PART I
A brief description of Chin armed resistance movements against the Military Regime
known as the Revolutionary Council after 1962
On 2 March 1962 General Ne Win staged a coup d’état’ against the democratically elected
government in Burma and established the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) on 4 July
1962. U Nu, the ousted Prime Minister and the Union President Mahn Win Maung were put
under custody along with several other elected parliamentarians.
General Ne Win started to nationalize all the country’s major commerce and industry including
banks and shops in 1964. Anticipating a communist-style totalitarianism falling upon the
country, many Chin leaders like Ex. Col Pu Son Kho Pau, Pu Thual Zen (a former army
sergeant) and former parliamentarians and politicians like Pu Hrang Nawl, Pu Dam Kho Hau, Pu
Pa Cung Nung, Pu Mang Kho Pau, Pu Son Cin Lian, Pu Ral Hmung, Pu Hmun Hre, and Pu Ro
Thang went underground. They all fled to India and established their bases along the Indo-
Burma border to fight against the Burmese military regime. The Indian government offered them
a refuge and financial allowances but on the condition that they refrain from political activities
and stay within a 25-miles border zone. Undeterred by India’s offer of political asylum, they
planned to form an armed organization to restore democracy in Burma. Colonel Son Kho Pau
and Pu Tun Kho Pum, a young prominent politician from Manipur State, joined hands in early
1965 and went to the then East Pakistan(now Bangladesh) with a contingent of 150 recruits who
got their military training and weapons from there. This armed organization aimed to establish an
independent Chinland encompassing all Chins in Burma and India. In 1966 some exparliamentarians
negotiated with the Burmese government and returned to Burma. Col. Son Kho
Pau and a number of volunteers were ambushed and captured in Nagaland by the Indian Army.
They were eventually handed over to the Burmese government. Pu Son Kho Pau, Pu Hrang
Nawl, Pu Thual Zen and others served eight to ten years of prison terms in Mandalay. Pu Thual
Zen died in the prison. During this short-lived abortive armed movement Pu Hrang Nawl
attempted to overtake Haka. Pu Tun Kho Pum was last seen in Mizoram/Manipur state boundary
when the MNF took up arms against the central Indian government on March 1, 1966.
Starting from 1963 a number of young Chin nationalists began to establish contacts with the
Kachin Independence Organization and various ethnic armed revolutionary movements in other
parts of Burma. Among them were Pu Thang Za Dal, Pu Hau Za Cin and Pu Kam Za Lian. They
subsequently formed the Zomi(Chin) National Front. Later when they expanded their activities
and connected with Thai-Burma border based ethnic revolutionary forces Salai Myo Aye, one of
the veteran revolutionaries of the Asho Chin armed movement called Chin Oozi Apywet (Chin
National Vanguard Party) joined them. (The Chin Oozi Apywet was the offshoot of All Burma
Chin National Organization ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံလံုး ဆိုင္ရာ ခ်င္း အမ်ိဳးသား မ်ား အစည္းအရံုး, founded in 1948.
Chin Oozi Apywet took up arms in 1956 and was defunct in 1965. When the General Ne Win’s
Revolutionary Council government made peace talks with various armed movements in 1963 the
Chin Oozi Apywet also took part in the negotiations in alliance with the Communist Party of
Burma, Karen National Union, Mon New State Party and Karenni National Progressive Party.).
The ZCNF, however, remained as exclusive underground political movement rather than
transforming itself into a mass or armed movement until it was dissolved in the mid 1970s.
Some Chin patriots, including Pu Tial Khar and Pu Hrang Bil Thang, joined the Mizo National
Front (MNF), when its armed troops occupied Falam for two-days in 1968. Pu Hrang Bil Thang
was killed in action under the banner of Chin reunification. MNF aimed to reunite all the Chins
3
in Burma, India and Bangladesh and to establish a nation and a sovereign state to govern itself.
Mrs.Indira Gandhi initiated a peace accord in Mizoram and the final agreement between the
Indian government and the MNF was reached under Shri Rajiv Gandh in 1986. Mizoram was,
thus, inaugurated as a federated State of India on February 20 1986. The day – February 20 –
which coincides with the Chin National Day, is now observed as State Inauguration Day. This
date is public holiday in Mizoram.
When U Nu fled to Thailand and started an armed revolution against General Ne Win regime in
1970, Pu Mangtling Cinzah also fled to Thailand and joined U Nu. There he formed up the Chin
Democracy Party (CDP) in 1971, in alliance with U Nu’s Parliamentary Democracy Party /
ျပည္ခ်စ္လူငယ္တပ္ဦး Pyichit Lunge Aphwet. Pu David Thang Za Pu Pau, Mang Kham and Pu
William Sa Lian Zam went underground to join the CDP in 1971.
.
Later Pu Sa Lian Zam and his closest comrades formed up an armed group named the Chin
Liberation Army and planned to launch an armed uprising in the Chin territory. In alliance with
the Arakan Liberation Army led by Khaing Moe Lin, the CLA started its long march from Thai-
Burma border in the late 1975 through Karenni, Shan and Kachin territories and reached the
Chin territory in June 1976. Pu Sa Lian Zam, Pu Khaing Moe Lin, Pu Khaing Ba Kyaw and most
of the Chin and Arakanses revolutionaries were killed extra judicial by the Burmese troops after
they were captured. Pu John Mangtling Cinzah later took political asylum in USA, and became
one of the founding members of the Ottawa-based CHIN FORUM in 1998. He died at the age of
72 in Washington DC in 2004.
Following the 1972 mass arrest of Chin leaders in Chin Special Division many people were
convinced that lawful demands for federalism put up to the Burmese military dictators would not
yield any meaningful result. Among them was Pu Thawng Sai who went underground and joined
hands with Pu Tial Khar who was in the MNF. The former was killed in action and Pu Tial
Khar, a former government servant under People’s Police Force and a veteran of Mizo
Revolution against India, whom I knew as respectable Chin patriots, set up the Chin National
Front in March 1988. The organization was later joined by the Chin students who fled the
country when the historic Four Eights Democracy Revolution was brutally crushed by the
Burmese military dictators. Subsequently, Pu No Than Kap succeeded him as the organization’s
president. Currently the CNF, forming alliance with other democratic forces, is led by its
president Pu Thomas Thang No, and its vice President Pu Zing Cung, who is one of the founding
members of the CHIN FORUM.
PART II
1. Political Proposals submitted by the Chin Youths to the Revolutionary Council through
the Interim Unity Advisory Board (IUAB): The First Phase of the Chin Federal Movement
under the military regime.
After all the arrested leaders of 1962 military coup were released from jail in 1966/67 the
Revolutionary Council (RC) set up an Interim Unity Advisory Board (IUAB) on 2 December
1968 comprised of the 33 members of formerly elected Members of Parliament including U Nu,
the former Prime Minister, and the Union President, in their capacity as individuals. The IUAB,
was informally known as “the Thirty-Three-Member-Advisory-Board” or
သံုးဆယ့္သံုးဦးအၾကံေပးအဇြဲ႕ in Burmese. The main task of the Board was to advise the RC how to
restore internal unity and to draft a new constitution to be submitted to the RC. General Ne Win
might have expected the Board to come up with a proposal for a constitution in Unitary form
4
because the very reason the military staged a coup in 1962 was that the Parliamentary
government was about to amend the constitution in federal form.
Pu Htat Hlaing and Pu Lun Pum, the two Chin ex-Parliamentarians from the then constituency
known as Chin Special Division were among members of the IUAB. The RC also officially
invited the public to give suggestions for the Union constitution either on individual basis or in
groups through a Liaison Officer appointed by the government.
One day in 1969, Pu Thuam Kho Tin (Martin), a senior College student who was the Publisher
of the Chin Student Magazine Committee 1968-69 came to my room at the University House on
Prome Road, in Kamayut, Rangoon. At that time I was the Chairman of the Magazine
Committee while also serving as Secretary of the Chin Literature and Culture Sub Committee,
Universities - Rangoon.
Pu Thuam Kho Tin (Martin) informed me about a meeting held between Pu Htat Hlaing, Pu Lun
Pum and Pu Ngin Za Thang and other Chin elders at the later’s house at Lanmadaw, Rangoon, to
discuss about the opportunity for the Chins to submit suggestions on the Union constitution to
the RC Government through the IUAB.
We were both very disappointed that the University Chin student’s leaders were not invited to
such an important meeting though we had had expected as such. Even the Chin Affairs Council
formed by the Ne Win government and led by Pu Son Kho Lian used to consult us, the
University Chin Student leaders, whenever they deemed it necessary to do so. So, naturally we
expected our elders who were members of the IUAB to consult us. When Pu David Thang Za
Pau and I eventually met Pu Lun Pum at his Minmanaing Home in Rangoon, we found out that
they did not have much idea on what kind of suggestions to make as the deadline for submitting
suggestions was already too close then.
As a law student of the Rangoon University and having just studied the Constitutional Law, I
was aware of the fact that the Supreme Council of the United Hill Peoples * (SCOUHP) had in
1961-62 made a resolution at the Taunggyi Federal Conference to amend the country’s
constitution into a federal form. (The SCOUHP was formed in 1947 by the ethnic nationalities,
more commonly known as the “frontier peoples” at that time, as their common platform to deal
with the issues of independence, federalism and their future political destiny. ) So I started
drafting the “Proposal of the Chin Youths / ခ်င္းလူငယ္မ်ားအၾကံေပးတင္ျပခ်က္” in Burmese for which
Pu Lun Pum was very helpful - allowing me to get access to his books and files at his home in
Rangoon whenever I needed references. (Note: The term - Proposal Paper and Proposal of the
Chin Youths will be used interchangeably in this paper. Author)
The following persons were also heavily involved throughout the process of publishing the said
Proposal Paper: Pu Tial Hu and Pu Ca Lian Thang (third year University students) made the
editing and re-writing of the draft. Pu Martin Thuam Kho Tin (BA final year at Bo Ta-Htaung
Adult University in Rangoon) made the final editing of my Burmese. Maung San Thein
(Gangaw) of Ko Kyaw Copying and Stationary Business Store, located in Bar Street had typewritten
the finalized version (he charged one kyat per page but it is worthwhile to note that he
was very sympathetic to our cause); Pu David Thang Za Pau (a third year Law student), an
intimate friend of mine and his cousin brother Pu Thang Za Dal (already involved with
underground movements at that time) took care of the expenses incurred for the publication of
the draft. Several duplications were made using cyclostyle.
5
Copies of it were then distributed to all the Chin University students in Rangoon and to all Chin
youths we could reach. They all were requested to read and sign their signatures if they agreed
with its contents as we had no more time for discussion and feed backs. Every Chin student in
Rangoon took great interest in it and all liked it very much as it was the first ever written
political document of the Chins. Some students waited for their turn to read it in their hostels
almost until dawn as we could not afford to give them enough copies to everyone.
As a result many students joined as signatories of the proposal. Dr. Za Hlei Thang and Pu Salai
Kip Kho Lian (both of them now in the CHIN FORUM) who were then studying Medicine and
Architecture respectively were among the signatories. Because of a rumour circulated among the
Chin students that signatories of the proposal in question would be arrested, one or two students
came to my room to withdraw their signatures. But the majority students and youths stayed put
and sticked to their commitments.
We were well aware that General Ne Win, far from accepting our proposal, would even throw us
into prison for proposing a federal system that he abhorred. Nevertheless, we decided to go
forward anyway with our Proposal Paper.
The rationale behind our determination were:-
i) the root cause of poverty in the Chin territory since the Union of Burma came into existence in
1948 was that, in the first place, because the Chins did not have their own State, legislative
assembly and their own government. So, it is now in our hands to take the chance and act to
restore our national self-determination enshrined in the Panglong Agreement;
ii) the Chin Chiefs - Pu Hlur Hmung, Pu Thawng Za Khup and Pu Kio Mang - who signed the
Panglong Agreement in 1947, failed to secure a State for the Chins and we, the generations that
followed had been blaming them for this grave mistake; if in case the present Chin generation
and the intelligentsia failed again to take initiative to raise their voices and did not submit any
suggestions and the Chins end up without achieving national self-determination and territorial
rights in the Union of Burma, history would judge us as the irresponsible generation;
iii) the RC/BSPP Regime would decide our national destiny if we, Chins, would not expressed
our desire;
iv) even if submitting proposals would result in the signatories being thrown into prison, the
sacrifices we made would inspire Chins of the coming generations to carry on the struggle until
our national aspirations were attained;
v) even if our proposals for federalism would be rejected we could take the opportunity to
educate and raise political awareness among our people by distributing as many copies of the
“Proposal of the Chin Youths” as possible among the Chin people. So our proposal would serve
as guiding principles for the coming generations;
vi) if we could prove and display that a self-governing territory with our own State Legislative
Assembly and federalism for the whole country is what the Chin people overwhelmingly
supported and desired, we might be able to gain international supports, especially from that of
the democratic countries etc in the event of eventual armed revolution against the regime should
they reject our proposal.
6
Pu Martin Thuam Kho Tin and I took 35 copies of the “Proposal of the Chin Youths” to the
Government Guest House located on the AD Road in Rangoon where Pu That Hlaing was
lodged by the government with some other IUAB members. We gave him all the copies for him
to distribute among all members of the Board and two copies extra to be submitted to the Liaison
Officer directly by Pu Htat Hlaing himself.
Pu Htat Hlaing slowly read through the Proposal and eventually asked us “Who wrote this
Proposal?”. We told him that it was written by Chin students. He expressed heartily that he was
so glad that Chin students could write such a good political document. So we were ensured of his
full support. He promised us to distribute the copies to all the members of the Board and also to
Colonel Than Sein, the Liaison Officer. The Proposal paper was directly addressed to General
Ne Win, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Council / BSPP. This was very helpful when we
distributed copies of the document because whenever we encountered agents of the most feared
Military Intelligence Services (MIS) we could readily point out that the document distributed
was not illegal underground political document but instead one that was submitted directly to the
top leader of the country. Actually, we had not secured any legal permission to print out copies
of the Proposal paper to be widely distributed for the consumption of the general masses but we
took for granted on the ground that General Ne Win himself had officially asked for suggestions
from the general public in the first place. It was as if we were openly distributing antigovernment
leaflets since we were aware of General Ne Win’s strong disgust for federalism.
In February 1969, U Nu submitted an 'interim report' recommending that General Ne Win hand
over power back to him; that the Parliament abolished by Ne Win in March 1962 be reconvened.
He proposed that the Parliament would meet and formally appoint General Ne Win as President.
He also stated that he made this proposal in absolute sincerity so that the Revolutionary Council
would not remain as 'usurpers' ('those who came to power through force') and the 'taint of
illegality' of Ne Win's takeover could be erased. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Nu
Soon after submitting his 'report' or recommendations, U Nu, feigning illness, and under the
pretext of a pilgrimage to India left Burma for India. When Ne Win made no response to his
report, U Nu left India for London. In a speech given at the opening day of the Fourth Seminar of
the ruling Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) on 6 November 1969, Ne Win formally
rejected U Nu's proposal, saying that he took over power — and held on to it — not because he
craved power but to uplift the welfare of the 'workers and peasants' and that U Nu's proposals
amounted to 'turning back the wheel'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Nu
In a press conference held in London on 27 August 1969, U Nu announced that he was the 'legal
Prime Minister' and 'pledged to the people of Burma' that he would not give up his struggle for
democracy in Burma and that Burma was under the 'same kind of fascism' which (Burma's
independence hero) 'General Aung San had fought' (during the freedom struggle and the
resistance against the Japanese occupation of Burma during the Second World War).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Nu
The Revolutionary Council finally abolished the IUAD and went on its own way to draft the
country’s Constitution.
Meanwhile many more extra copies of the Proposal Paper were re-cyclostyled and dispatched to
all the nine townships of the Chin Special Division. At one point a bunch of copies of the
7
Proposal paper sent to Tedim were confiscated at Kalemyo airport by the MIS. But the MI
officers did not take any further action against the students who transported them when they
realized that the documents were legally submitted to General Ne Win himself and his
Revolutionary Council / BSPP government
Among those actively distributing the Proposal paper in Kalemyo were Pu Suang Za Khup, Salai
Sing Nang, Salai Al Thang, Salai Za Kung etc; Salai Kipp Kho Lian and Khai Za Nang in
Tahan, Hang Cin Zam, Zel Kam Cin and others in Tedim, Than Sang, Ngun Uk and others in
Falam. Manghram, Ngun Khuai and others in Haka, Sing Ki Gei (an Engineer student) and Ko
Haki (a Law student) in Mindat, C. Hnalthang and Za Kho (both Engineering students) in
Matupi.
Pu Put Pa, one of the four members of Chin Affairs Council (Chin Oosi) – a highest organ of
Chin Special Division at that time - mentioned in one of his speeches to the Students of Tedim
State High School that the “Proposal of the Chin Youths” prepared by the University Chin
students for the Union Constitution currently circulated among the masses was unrealistic and
the demands made were too high for the Chin Special Division and that they should not take
interest in these proposals. This, contrary to his expectation, aroused more interests of the
students and the masses. And it was learnt that copies of the Proposal paper were secretly sold at
K 25.- per copy and borrowed at K 10.- per night in Tedim when a cup of coffee costed only 25
pyas at that time. The reason for such a hype was not because of Pu Put Pa’s speech alone but
also because of the scarcity of the copies due to confiscation at the Kalemyo airport as mentioned
above. After all, due to heavy censorship imposed ever since General Ne Win took over the state
power by force in 1962, the whole country was starved of such serious political documents at
that time.
There were more demands for copies of the Proposal Paper and there were always some people
who had cyclostyled more copies and distributed secretly at K 100 per copy in Chin Special
Division. The re-production continued almost every year until 1988 democracy uprisings and the
1990 general election. Thus, the “Proposal of the Chin Youths” had become the unifying force
that had brought the Chin general masses to a higher level of political and national
consciousness.
Reprinted version is now available at the Ethnic Nationalities Council as part of the document
titled ၿငိမ္းခ်မ္းစြာ အတူေနထိုင္ေရး၀ါဒ မွသည္ စစ္မွန္ေသာ ဖက္ဒရယ္ျပည္ ေထာင္စု စနစ ္ စီသို႕ (တတိယတ)ြဲ ၊
ပင္လံုစာခ်ဳပ္ကိုလက္မွတ္ေရးထိုးခဲ့ေသာ တိုင္းရင္းသားလူမ်ိဳးမ်ား၏ ျပည္ ေထာင္စုအေပၚ ေ၀ဖန္ သံုး သပ္ သည့္
စာတန္းမ်ား။ ဆလိုင္းလ်န္မႈန္းစုေစာင္းတင္ျပသည္။ [P. 166 to 136] in Burmese.
2. The Second Phase of Chin Federal Movement: Reaching out to the General Masses.
After the Revolutionary Council / Burma Socialist Program Party(BSPP) Regime had abolished
the IUAB in 1970 it announced once again that citizens of the country could give suggestions for
a future Union constitution directly to the government - individually or in groups - to the
Constitution Drafting Commission. The Constitution Drafting Commission was to tour around
the country – that is to all States and Divisions to collect people’s suggestions and opinions.
8
We heard the announcement when I was in Falam as a young lawyer defending Ex Lt. Col Pu
Son Kho Pau who was tried in the Special Crime Court of Falam District under Unlawful
Association Act Section 17(1)(2) for organizing an underground armed movement against
General Ne Win’s Socialist Regime with the support of Pakistan. According to what Col Son
Kho Pau told me personally, Pu Hrang Nawl was taking the responsibility of President of their
Political Organization and he was taking the responsibility of defense as Chief of Staff.
Members of his troops who were called as witnesses in his case were Rual Uk, Mang Al and
Thang Hrim. They told me that their political organization was known as Anti Communist
Freedom League. At that time together with Pu Van Thio, my contemporary young Lawyer, we
were defending also other Chin patriots like well-known artists Pu Hram Tlai, Pu Biak Lar and
others (quite a number of them) including Pu Thawng Lian , Pu Ngun Hing etc.. accused of
supporting the Mizo National Front (MNF) during their two-days occupation of Falam in 1968.
(The MNF armed troops also occupied Tedim for one day and one night at that time ) Through
my experiences of defending Chin political leaders at the court I came to realize that the
occupation of Falam by the MNF was made possible with the help of some Chin patriots like Pu
Hrang Bil Thang and Pu Tial Khar. (Pu Hrang Bil Thang used to contact me at my place during
May 1968 when I was preparing a thesis for my LL.B degree at the archive of the Deputy
Commissioner in Falam.)
Pu Chan Peng , Pu Victor Kap Lian, Pu Van Thio , Pu No Zam and I with several others held
meetings in September 1970 at Pu No Zam’s home in Falam. We decided to respond to the
RC/BSPP Regime’s call for suggestions and to repeat the demands made in the “ Proposal of the
Chin Youths” which we submitted through the IUAB. We went to Haka and held meetings with
other people like Pu Victor Kap Lian, Pu Khin Maung Win, Pu Chan Peng, Pu Van Thio, Pu,
Van Lian, Pu Huat Chum etc. at Pu Dr. Ngin Thawng’s residence at Dorthar block.
Pu Dr. Ngin Thawng and I became intimate friends when he was in Paletwa Civil Hospital as a
medical officer and I was an acting Middle School headmaster as a Junior Assistant Teacher
about 7 years before. A UK-trained Dr. Ngin Thawng was a very caring physician who was
dearly loved and respected by the local people. He chaired the meetings while I was acting as the
secretary. We selected important facts from the “Proposal of the Chin Youths” and re-edit it to
suit the new situation . We cyclostyled and reproduced many copies of it. Pu Dr. Ngin Thawng
took these copies in his departmental tour to all the townships in the Chin Special Division then.
He held meetings with government officials in every town he visited to discuss about the
suggestions that we had prepared. He was campaigning in Kanpetlet, Mindat, Matupi and
Paletwa and in Tedim and Tonzang as well. Suggestions were to be legally given by citizens
themselves regardless of whether thy were government servant or otherwise. And he distributed
copies of the original “Proposal of the Chin Youths” to several groups in all the towns he visited.
Each interested person or group were to draft their own suggestions for a federal constitution
based on the main document “Proposal of the Chin Youths” and to submit them to the Union
Constitution Drafting Commission when they came to their towns to collect people’s opinions,
suggestions and proposals.
Pu Dr. Ngin Thawng suddenly passed away some months before the Constitution Drafting
Commission came to Chin Special Division. I was greatly shocked and deeply saddened when I
was awakened from my sleep in the midst of the night to be informed about his passing away of
heart attack. It was a great loss not only for his family but for me personally as well for he was
my most intimate friend in Chin politics. Indeed, it was also a great loss for the entire Chin
people.
9
The whole Haka town people were so sad that in an unusual move they contributed a highly
valued and expensive Chin traditional blanket known as Congnakpuan to cover his coffin and to
be buried along with it as their last tribute to the respected Chin patriot. Such a display of respect
– similar to covering political leaders’ coffin with national flags in the West.- is rarely to be seen
in Haka except for persons they regard as man of integrity. Had he not died, he was also to be
arrested later when the mass arrests of Chin leaders took place. His grave was even visited by the
Military Intelligence Service to confirm his death.
After our first meetings at Pu Dr. Ngin Thawng’s residence, we held some other meetings at Pu
Ngun To’s residence with elders from the whole city of Haka. Mr. Van Thio and I explained
about the need for the establishment of a federal union based on the content of our Proposal
Paper. We discussed about how Chin Special Division was totally neglected and how poverty
had prevailed as the result of the Chin territory having no State Legislative Assembly and a
government of its own. We all agreed to propose a federal form of Union when the Constitution
Drafting Commission arrived in Haka.
We therefore drafted a Paper for a federal constitution and divided it into several parts to be read
by selected representatives when the Constitution Drafting Commission came to Haka. I drafted
all the papers basing on the “Proposal of the Chin Youths”.. Pu Pe Lein Mang from Mindat who
was my intimate friend since University days secretly edited them at Pu Nein Ling’s residence
in his bed room. Pu Pe Lein Mang was at that time a Senior Assistant Teacher at the No. 1 State
High School in Haka and living at the residence of Pu Nein Ling, Secretary of the Chin Affairs
Council in Haka.
When Pu Dr. Ngin Thawng was alive he allowed us to use the ground floor room of his
Divisional Health Director’s office which was rented from Hlei Tialnu, Major Za Hup’s widow.
After Pu Dr. Ngin Thawng’s death, she continued to let us use it for our meetings and had even
supplied us type writers and gaslight as it was done before. It was all done at night in secrecy for
security reason as we were afraid that we could be arrested before we had the chance to read and
submit our Paper to the commission though we did not care much if we would be arrested after
our suggestion had been read and submitted to the Constitution Drafting Commission.
Every single person we approached for financial help or other kind of services enthusiastically
helped us in any possible means they could. Male and female typists from several governmental
departments in Haka took turn beyond midnight to help us with the typing of all the documents
at the office of Health Director of the Chin Special Division. Two of them who had helped us
most were Pu Phun Kil and Pu Duh Lal.
After having typed the documents we cyclostyled them in several offices - some at Chin Affairs
Council Information Office, some at the Haka Party Unit office of the BSPP, some at State
Education office in the evenings after offices had been closed or on Saturdays. All the office
staff contributed their services very willingly. It was Salai Al Thang from Kalemyo and Mr.
Thawng Sai of Sopum who happened to be in Haka visiting their relatives and took care of all
this cyclostyling in several offices with me and together with the office staff as already
mentioned. Binding works were all done by the youths led by Pu Thang Kio of Hriangkhan
village at Haka Pyidawtha Block at Pu Ralkham’s house, which was close to the office where
we typed all our drafts.When we had finished with the duplication of the Paper we held some
meetings again as usual and we approved it and assigned several people to read them to the
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Constitution Drafting Commission. The reading rehearsal was done at the Haka BSPP Party Unit
meeting hall.
Copies of the Paper were also distributed to all over the townships of the Chin Special Division
with the aim that other individuals and groups could use the Paper that we had drafted as
guidelines in preparing their own suggestions when the Constitution Drafting Commission came
to their respective towns.
Pu Khin Maung Win who was the Personal Assistant of Pu Vomthu Ha Shing and one of the four
members of Chin Affairs Council took the assignment to organize the reading of our suggestion
Paper and to distribute it in Southern Chin Special Division, Pu Victor Kap Lian, (Personal
Assistant of Pu Tin Zam, one of the members of Chin Affairs Council, and Pu No Zam (Ex MP)
took the assignment to mobilize the town people in Falam and also to distribute copies of it there
and to read them before the Commission.
There were several other people who campaigned for the same kind of federal movement in
Tedim and Tonzang like Pu Son Cin Lian (Ex MP), Pu Cin Sian Thang and several other
youths.
As our strategy for a publicity coup, we organized school children of No.1 State High School in
Haka to hold placards displaying the words “Genuine Federalism” written in Burmese at the
welcoming scene of the Constitution Drafting Commission on the day of their arrival. Our idea
at that time was that if the government’s propaganda documentary films would record the
arriving events of the Constitution Drafting Commission, the placards held by the school
children would be captured by their cameras and this would send out a strong message to the
would-be viewers or to General Ne Win himself that the Chins are determined to establish a
genuine federal union.
In December 1971 when the Commission arrived at the Assembly Hall of No. 1 State High
School in Haka we started to read out our suggestions as planned to the Panel of the Constitution
Drafting Commission led by Col. Than Sein. I read the introduction part of the whole
suggestions that we had prepared and introduced the titles of other parts and the names of
representatives who would present these suggestions. These suggestions were put up as the Chin
people’s desire and wishes on how the federal union should be formed and what points or
clauses should be included in the future constitution. The papers were systematically presented
and read by our selected representatives - one after another. There were also some individuals
who read their own suggestions.
Our suggestions for the future constitution were submitted to the Commission after all parts had
been read out to them. The BSPP later published these documents. According to their
publications, there were 150 papers of constitutional suggestions from the nine townships of the
Chin Special Division alone. Among them altogether 75 papers that were read and submitted to
the Constitution Drafting Commission were advocating genuine federal union. The other 75
papers were not acceptable to the BSPP-Regime as constitutional provisions. Nevertheless, there
were not a single paper that was against federalism. So we were certain that all the 150 papers
submitted by the Chins were supporting federalism.
11
The total number of 150 papers submitted in Chin Special Division were indeed significant. We
were overwhelmingly satisfied with the fact that we had harvested our many years of sacrifices.
All those who contributed their services and financial supports generously for the realization of
the Chin people’s aspirations and the general masses that were very much awakened to be fully
aware of their rights - deserve a due credit and recognition for their noble contributions for the
establishment of a peaceful federal union.
According to the publications by the BSPP, throughout the country there were altogether six
forms of suggestions submitted to the Constitution Drafting Commission at that time and one of
which was a federal form. There were all together 111 papers in the whole country that had
advocated for pure federalism and out of which 75 were from Chin Special Division alone. In
other words, that numbers made up about 70% of the entire papers submitted throughout the
country for federalism. This proved the comparatively significant scope of political awareness
among the Chins at that time. This clearly indicated the success of the three years of tireless
campaign – the Chin Federal Movement. We had harvested the fruits of our strategy in taking
advantage of the BSPP Regime’s calls for advices and suggestions for the country. And it was a
golden chance or opportunity for us to educate and mobilize our people.
3. The mass arrest of leaders of Chin Federal Movement in 1972/73.
In the late September 1972 I went to Rangoon for a job interview for the post of Law Officer. I
was among the first batch of graduates obtaining LLB degree in the country. In October, 1972 I
went home as a Law officer to Haka to sort out some of the legal cases. On my way home I went
to Mandalay by train and in the evening when I was in the night bazaar a stranger approached me
and asked several irrational questions. Being suspicious that I am being traced by the military
intelligence I let Pu Ca Mang to fly with my flight ticket to Kalemyo. But nothing happened.
Had Ca Mang, using a ticket bearing my name been arrested, I was to flee the country for India
or Thailand to avoid detention.
But since Ca Mang was not arrested, I bought another ticket and at the airport I noticed some one
shadowing me even when I went into the rest room. At the time our plane landed at the Kalemyo
airport on October 31, 1972, an officer I knew to be from the Bureau of Special Intelligence
(BSI ) received me. The other officer politely requested me to follow them for “a while” as they
have some questions to ask me. (Note: This is a very commonly known method used by agents
of MIS. They would never say “You are under arrest”. Instead they would ask you to follow
them for “a while”, which could also mean ten years in jail or one may even totally disappear
forever without a trace.) Upon arriving at a guest house they searched my bag and bed-roll. Then
I was taken to the army compound where I was put on a truck full of people from the Chin
Special Division. The person sitting close to me was Ex Captain Hei Er, a leading member of the
BSPP Regional Party in Chin Special Division and there had been no slightest thought in my
mind that he would be arrested.
We were not supposed to speak to each other but I whispered to him asking how all of them from
the Chin Special Division happened to be there. He whispered back and told me that they were
all arrested. The truck drove us off to Kalewa in the evening. From there we were taken in a
motor boat to Mongywa, where some were left behind and some of us were taken to Shwebo. On
the same night Pu No Zam, Pu Cin Sian Thang and I were taken to a certain Mandalay army unit
12
cell. We came to learn that we were arrested under an operation known in Burmese as “Sin-
Phyu-Daw Operation” which means White Elephant Operation.
The next day we were taken to Mandalay jail inside the ancient palace. There we were
interrogated for four nights without sleep and finally we were taken to Rangoon by train on
November 4. 1972. The Jail officer asked me if we were physically tortured. When I answered
“no”, he told me that he did not allow the MIS to torture our group, though they asked for
permission to do so. He further mentioned that the MIS are told that they were not allowed to
torture in civil-controlled jail as they, the civil jail authorities, could not take any responsibility
on any consequences resulting from torture.
In Rangoon we were taken to Yekyi-aing , the notorious MIS detention camp north of Rangoon,
where we were kept untill 4 January 1974. We were assembled to be sent back to Mandalay Jail
by train and there Pu Son Cin Lian, Pu No Zam, Pu Hei Er, Pu Suang Za Khup, Pu Cin Sian
Thang and I from Yekyi-aing detention camp and Pu Bohmu Kyin and Pu Dr. Suan Za Dong
from Insein jail were surprised to meet each other as we were unaware of one another’s detention
before that.
Later, I learned that most of the Chin and other detainees under “Sin-Phyu-Daw Operation” were
released on 3 January 1974, the day the RC Government declared the “promulgation” of the
socialist Constitution in accordance with the nation-wide “referendum” in which more than 90%
voted “Yes”. We also learned later that at every poll station country-wide the people
overwhelmingly voted against the BSPP Regime’s socialist Constitution but all the poll results
were rigged and declared as more than 90% “Yes” vote. It was apparent that General Ne Win
was determined to declare himself a legitimate ruler of the country through this “referendum”
and for this very reason he might have chosen the name of the operation “Operation Sin-Phyu-
Daw” to arrest us – all those who advocated federalism – because white elephants are regarded
by the Buddhist ethnic Burmans since the olden days to be sacred and belong only to monarchs
“ruling with justice and the kingdom is blessed with peace and prosperity.”
Later Pu Suang Za Khup and I were on trial at the Mandalay North East or North West township
Special Crime Court inside Mandalay Session Court building. I was defended by an intimate
senior lawyer U Hla Nyunt who did not charge me any fee. I usually defended several accused
together with him before I was arrested. Pu Suang Za Khup was defended by other lawyers and
he was given a bail. All of my co-accused were released in May, 1974 after some of them were
examined as witnesses of the Prosecutor in our case at the Special Crime Court. Pu Suang Za
Khup was acquitted in the case. They were all reappointed in their respective postings.
All of their arrears pay while they were in detention was paid back by the Government in lump
sum. Pu Lian Kung and Pu Tum Khar joked later that they would not be able to build their
houses were they not arrested and without the lump sum arrears received as back pay.
I was convicted with two and half years term of imprisonment. The prosecutor himself argued
before the judges of the Special Crime Court of Mandalay Township Session Court that there
was not enough evidence to convict me. However, he argued further that I must be convicted as
the case involved government “policy”. That means, since the government had arrested me, I
should be convicted no matter whether there was enough evidence to convict me or not. But I
had been more than two and half years in jail on the day the judgment was pronounced. So, I
was released soon after the judgment was passed and that was the government policy. I was
13
arrested on October 31, 1972 at Kalemyo airport and the trial of my case was held at that
Mandalay Special Crime court and was released from Mandalay jail on August 9, 1975.
To summarize the mass arrest under the Sin-Phyu-Daw Operation :-
i) We all were arrested separately and put in different detention camps across the country
like in Monywa , Shwebo, Rangoon, Insein, Yekyi-aing, Mandalay, Mingin,
Mingyan etc;
ii) The arrests took place in Tedim, Falam, Haka, Thantlang, Matupi, Mindat, Kanpetlet,
Rangoon, Insein and Natmauk etc. Pu Lua Thawng (who died during his captivity)
was arrested in Taunggyi, Shan State and there were also several other towns from
which the Chin leaders were arrested, including even Rakhine and Magwe Divisions
wherever there are numerous Chin settlements;
iii) From among the nearly fifty Chin arrestees only Pu Suang Za Khup and I were put on
trial. Pu Suang Za Khup was acquitted. Through the mass-arrests of all high ranking
Chin officers, student leaders, Chin intelligentsia and the arrest of the Chin
Programme announcer Pi Van Hnuai Thluai of the Burma Broadcasting Service
(BBS) and the further accusation made upon us of having connections with Pu David
Thang Za Pau of the underground Chin Democracy Party etc. the military
government seemed to be convinced that they could easily convict us in the court.
Eventually I alone was convicted even though no evidence was found to charge me
under the Unlawful Association Act 17;
iv) Most of us were arrested from October 1972 onward. Except for myself and Pu Suang Za
Khup, most arrestees were released on 3 January 1974, after the “promulgation” of
General Ne Win’s one-sidedly drafted socialist constitution;
v) In a nutshell, it became apparent that it was the government “policy” to put behind bars
all those who advocated for federalism, at least before and during the “referendum”
period that took place on 15 December 1973. This was because we had had already
mobilized a wide range of political awareness among the Chin people across the
country and the Military Junta wanted to silent the leaders who had enthusiastically
taken part in the Chin federal movement;
vi) Were we not put behind bars, we would have had staged a mass protest when they
forcefully “promulgated” their socialist Constitution. Discussions were tentatively
going on among us for this option though – by the time of our arrest - we had not yet
reached the point of laying down any practical strategy as such;
vii) Under the new Socialist Constitution the Chin Special Division became “Chin State” –
the status we demanded in our proposal. But in reality it is a “State” by name only,
without any trace of national self-determination for the Chins or federalism. The
“States” in name only without any function of statehood – were being “created” by
the military dictators. It could best be described in a Burmese usage as “ေပးကားေပး၏
၊မရ။”, meaning “Given, but not received”
viii) It became apparent that General Ne Win, from the very beginning, had no intention of
seeking the genuine desires of the people; being a fascist in nature, as U Nu has
accused him of, he had been extremely intolerant of differing opinions; so as a
person who so abhors federalism demanded by the ethnic nationalities, Ne Win is
also determined to suppress any attempt to restore democracy which had long been
advocated by most anti-Ne Win Burmese political movements. Thus, for Ne Win or
for the Burmese military dictators, in order to deny federalism, denying democracy
is a must;
14
ix) The cross-section of the mass-arrests of the Chin leaders, encompassing peoples of all
walks of life – students, high ranking military officers and BSPP functionaries,
intelligentsia, high ranking government servants, teachers, lawyers, doctors etc.
belonging to all tribes and regions – undeniably proved that the Chin people
overwhelmingly supported and desired federalism.
Dr. Maung Maung describing the creation of three new States wrote: “To placate restless
minority groups, the three separate states [Chin, Arakan and Mons] were to be created within the
Socialist Union of Burma” in the book: “Constitution of the Countries of the world (1974) P. 3
by Albert P. Blaustein & Gisbert H. Flanz”. Dr. Maung Maung implicitly mentioned that the
Rakhine State, Chin State and Mon State were nominally “created” under the constitution of the
Socialist Republic of Union of Burma 1974, because of the decision that had been made in the
parliament in 1961 and because of the continuous demand made by political leaders and
activists of these States. But as mentioned above, these are just given-but-not-received kind of
“states”.
The scope of the Chin federal movement under the BSPP Regime at that time covered far beyond
the official Chin territory known as Chin Special Division. For example, meetings were also held
at that time at the house of Pu Bohmu Kyin (Major Kyin) in Insein in the vicinity of Rangoon
during 1970. Pu Bohmu Kyin, one of the arrestees was an Asho (Plains) Chin. The meetings at
his place were attended by Chins from Arakan Division (later Rakhine State), Magwe Division
and other parts of the country. I still remember that there were in the meeting some Chins from
Paukkhaung, General Ne Win’s home town, who were known as elephant-owners (Sin Paing
shin). We all discussed about advocating for federalism. Discussions with those Chins from areas
adjacent to the Chin Special Division involved their desires to join and incorporating their areas
into the future Chin State if they were asked by the Constitution Drafting Commission. We
learned that those involved in discussions at Pu Bohmu Kyin’s residence were also arrested. We
were unable to collect and record the names of arrestees from these areas as we were locked up
in different places across the country. In the future when the opportunity allows us we need to
keep into record the names of those arrestees form the Asho Chin areas
Somewhere around 1970-71 while I was traveling through Kalemyo for some days, we were able
to hold a public gathering through arrangement initiated by prominent Chin leaders in Tahan, Pu
Lian Hrang and Pu Gopal. I knew both of them to be whole-heartedly supporting our federal
movement. I went to Tahan, Kalemyo with Pu Sang Awr and Pu Uk Mang and met with the
community leaders there including Pu Thang Hlei-a, another prominent political leader of Tahan
who was also a staunch supporter of the federal movement. Taking turns, we all gave speeches to
the general public so as to mobilize the Chins in Kalay-Kabaw Valleys to opt for joining the
future Chin State if in case a referendum might take place. Local music groups and popular
singers entertained us with inspiring patriotic songs promoting unity between the peoples of
Mizoram and the Chin territory. The timing coincided with the armed revolution of the Mizo
National Front led by Pu Laldenga, so our campaign there created a deep sense of brotherhood
and intimacy between the Chins and Mizos.
In 1970 during the periods of drafting the “Proposal of the Chin Youths” Pu David Thang Za Pau
(a third year Law student) , Pu Mang Kham and Pu William Sa Lian Zam (Burma Navy) went
underground to join the Thai-Burma border based Chin Parliamentary Democracy led by Pu
Mang Tling. Pu Kipp Kho Lian connected Pu William Za Lian Zam and Pu Mang Kham to Pu
Hau Za Cin, who personally led them through KNU-controlled areas to the CPD camp. We knew
15
that this group whole heartedly supported our peaceful federal movement as I had personal
relationships with them before they decided to go underground. After all, Pu David Thang Za
Pau himself, who was one of my most intimate friends for several years, had been actively
involved in the publication and distribution of “Proposal of the Chin Youths”, as mentioned
earlier above, before he left us for underground.
Pu Thang Za Dal, Pu David Thang Za Pau, Pu Kipp Kho Lian, Pu Victor Kam Za Lian (the Aces
Music Band) and Pu Hau Za Cin and I worked out in 1968-69 a concept of forming Chin
National Council (CNC) which was supposed to lead an armed struggle should our peaceful
attempts to establish a federal union failed. We worked out some kind of military strategy
dividing the Chin territory into Northern, Southern and Central Regions. Owing to many
obstacles following the mass arrests of those who opted for above-ground peaceful movements
and the brutal suppression of the armed underground movements lead by Pu Sa Lian Zam etc.
our plan for an armed struggle did not materialize.
The emergence of the Chin National Council in 2006** at Sinai Camp, the HQ of the Zomi
National Congress is a welcoming move for us as a materialization of a political organization
conceived forty years ago.
4. List of high ranking officers, political leaders and student activists arrested in 1972
1. Pu Sang Awr, B.A., LL.B., Lawyer, Thantlang
2. Dr. Suan Za Dong, M.B.,B.S, Rangoon
3. Pu Hei Er, Ex Captain, Zeya Kyaw Htin, Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), Chin
Regional Organizer and BSPP Central Committee Member, Haka
4. Dr Ni Hei, M.B. B.S., Medical Officer, Matupi
5. Pu Om Hung (Hlaw-wah) Secretary, Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) Township
Party Unit Committee, Mindat
6. Pu John Ling Hung (Luk Ghei) Trade Corporation, Trade Department, Mindat
7. Pu Hmun Iap (Thantlang –Lungler) Township Agriculture Officer, Mindat
8. Lt. Col. Thian Kho Khai, Secretary of Chin Affairs Council, Haka
(father of Pu David Thang Za Pau). He was forced to retire from the Burma Army after his
release.
9. Pu Tum Khar, Chairman, Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) Township Party
Unit, Haka
10. Pu Suang Za Khup, Senior Assistant Teacher, State High School, Kalemyo and Township
Inspector of Schools, Later transferred to Haka.
11. Pu Ha Kee ( Bong) Junior Assistant Teacher, State High School, Mindat
12. Pu Khaw Gei Kee (Shit Hmawi) Chairman, Township Worker's Asi-ayone , Mindat.
13. Pu Mang Gin Kee (Vomthu) Headmaster (Middle School), Education Dept.
Makuimnum, Mindat
16
14. Pu Hniar Kio, B.A., LL.B, Lawyer, Haka
15. Pu Hre Lian Kio, B.A., LLB., Lawyer, Haka
16. Pu Lian Kung, Headmaster, State High School , Haka
17. Pu Bohmu Kyin, Ex Lt. Col., Insein, Rangoon
18. Pu Salai Kipp Kho Lian , Tahan- Kalemyo. Arrested as a student leader while studying
Architecture at the Rangoon Institute of Technology. He was arrested under the Sin-Phyu-Daw
Operation on December 11, 1972 and released on January 3, 1974, but arrested again on
December 11, 1974 for taking part in a student strike against the BSPP Regime. In 1976 he was
eventually expelled from the RIT for life for his relentless roles in the anti-government student’s
movements during 1974/75 &76. He is now based in Germany. As one of the founding members
of the CHIN FORUM, he is at present the Coordinator of the Chin Forum Managing Board.
19. Pu Son Cin Lian, Ex MP , Tedim constituency and Ex Chairman of Chin Affairs Council.
Leader of the Chin National Organization (CNO) with Pu Vom Thu Maung (Mindat) and
Captain Mang Tung Nung (Tedim).
20. Pu Victor Kap Lian, Personnel Secretary of (Ex Captain Pu Tin Zam, Member of Chin
Affairs Council) , Haka
21. Pu Khuang Ling, B.Sc, Township Inspector of Schools, Mindat
22. Pu Shing Phe Ling (Shuitha) Junior Assistant Teacher, Mindat
23. Pu Lian Khan Mang, B.Sc. (Agri.), ARDC, Tedim
24. Pu Thang Kee Mang (Ham Bung) Health Assistant, Health Department
25. Pu Sum Mang, Inspector of Schools, Chin Special Division, Haka
26. Pu Aung Ling Mawng (Vomthu) Headmaster (Middle School), State Middle School,
Makui Imnu, Mindat township. Education Dept.
27. Pu On Za Nang, Township Administrative Officer in Tedim, later promoted to State Law
Officer.
28. Pu Yaw Om (Vomthu) A body guard to Pu Vomthu Ha Shing
29. Pu Kham Khan Pau, Township General Administrative Officer, Matupi
30. Salai Kyaw Sein, Chairman , Township BSPP Party Unit, Natmauk (The birth place of
General Aung San)
31. Pu Gin Khui Shing aka Pu Khin Aung (Vomthu) Member, BSPP Township Party Unit
Committee, Mindat
32..Pu Ngun Soe (Thantlang Hmunlipi), A Chin Student leader Mandalay University
33. Pu Cin Sian Thang, B.A., B.A., LL.B, Lawyer and Former Regional Leader of AFPFL led by
U Ba Shwe and U Kyaw Nyein, Kalemyo. He was elected as Chairman of the Chin Students
Union during the academic year 1963-64. As a university student, he attended the Taunggyi
Federal Conference in 1961 representing the Chin people. Pu Cin Sian Thang was elected as a
Member of Parliament in the 1990 general election under the ticket of Zomi National Congress .
He became one of the leaders in the Committee Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) led by
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Since 1988 he has been arrested many times by the Burmese military
regime. Until today, despite his failing health, he keeps on fighting courageously against the
military regime from within the country using non-violent means.
34. Pu Ngo Deih Cin Thang, Township Administrative Officer, Kanpetlet
17
35. Pu Vul Za Thang, B.A., B.Ed. Senior Head Master, State High School, Mindat (It was very
heart breaking to have lost a great teacher like him, who died of the disease he extracted in the
jail soon after he was released . I knew him very well as a very efficient teacher serving as senior
Headmaster in several High schools in Chin State.
36. Pu Do Thawng, Health Assistant, Kanpetlet He critically discussed about the BSPP-drafted
constitution in the public meeting when the Constitution Drafting Commission came to Kanpetlet
in 1972. He was detained for 22 months in Myingyan jail and released on 3. January 1974. Pu
Do Thawng is an elected MP from Kale Constituency 1 on NLD ticket during the 1990 general
election. Currently he is the chairman of Kalemyo NLD. He was arrested the second time on 20
May 1996 while he was about to travel to Rangoon to attend the NLD-MPs Conference called by
Daw Aung San Su Kyi. He was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment without any trial and was
released on 2 June 2003. Now he lives in Tahan, Kalemyo. His son, Dr. Roding (NLD- LA), one
of the founding members of the CHIN FORUM, is now based in the USA.
37. Pu Lua Thawng, District Cooperative Officer, Mindat District, during the Chin Federal
Movement. He worked in Taunggyi, Shan State, at the time of his arrest. Pu Lua Thawng was
interrogated in Mandalay prison inside the old palace. He died in the prison ward of the
Mandalay General Hospital. His death attracted Chin students of the Mandalay Universities and
other Chins residing there who paid their last tributes at his funeral.
38. Dr. Za Hlei Thang, M.B., B.S. (Arrested as a University student leader), MC 1, Rangoon. Pu
Dr. Za Hlei Thang was elected as Member of Parliament as the Chin National League for
Democracy(CNLD) candidate in 1990 general election. He shortly joined the exile government –
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma - and served as Minister of Health. He is
now based in Washington DC area and an active participant of the Members of Parliamentarian
Union (MPU) and a member of the CNC. He is also one of the founding members of the Ottawabased
CHIN FORUM.
39. Pu Van Thio, B.A, LL.B, Lawyer, Haka
40. Pi Van Hnuai Thluai, B.Sc., Burma Broadcasting Service Announcer, Chin Section,
Rangoon. She was the only Chin female arrestee under the Sin Phyu Daw Operation.
41. Pu Lian Uk, B.A., LL. B. Lawyer (Author of this article), Haka. Pu Lian Uk was elected as
MP - an independent candidate from the Haka constituency in 1990 general election. He is now
based in the US since 1994 since he fled the country through India in April 1991. He was blacklisted
to be arrested for drafting the framework of Chin State Constitution to be adopted by the
Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD) while he was inside the country. He could
smuggle out with him the document - Chin State Constitution Frame Work – which was based on
the “Proposal of the Chin Youths” and the Constitutional Suggestions submitted to the
Constitution Drafting Commission in 1971. The First Initial Draft of the Chinland Constitution
produced by the CHIN FORUM was based on the said Chin State Constitution Frame Work
smuggled out of the country. He is one of the founding members of the CHIN FORUM, formed
in 1998 in Ottawa, Canada, to carry on the Chin Federal Movement in exile . He is now actively
taking part in the MPU and in the CNC as Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee.
42. Pu Khin Maung Win aka Pu Law Ha Om (Vomthu) Personal Assistant to (Ex Major Pu
Vomthu Ha Shing , Member of Chin Affairs Council, Haka. (I had been so saddened that he
18
died of the disease he extracted in jail soon after he was released as he was my personal
intimate friend and co-worker in this programme to give suggestions on federal form to the
ruling Burmese military regime).
43. Pu Mawng Yaw (Vakok) Judicial Clerk, Chin State Session Court , Mindat Judicial
Dept. Mindat
44. Pu Bawi Zam, Farmer from Falam township
45. Pu No Zam, Ex MP and Former Regional Leader of the Pyidaungsu Party led by Former
Prime Minister U Nu., Falam
46. Pu Thawng Do Zam, Sub Divisional Officer(General Administration) He later became
Secretary of the Office of Chin Affairs Council. Chin State, Haka
47. Pu Lian Kho Zam, Township Officer, Tonzang. He was later promoted to Deputy
Commissioner of the Mindat District General Administration, Mindat.
48. Pu Tha Zul, B.Sc., Senior Assistant Teacher, State High School, Falam.
- Pu Dr. Ngin Thawng. His name was in the list to be arrested. But he had died before the
operation took place.
- Pu Thang Sun was black-listed to be arrested, but his name was misspelled as Thang San. I
was asked whether I know and I said I did know him while I was interrogated.
- Pu Khai Za Nang, A high school student (A very close friend of the author), Tahan, Kalemyo.
He was listed to be arrested but he was already in his death bed in Mandalay hospital suffering
from bone TB by the time the Sin-Phyu-Daw Operation started. Three strangers, believed to be
from the MIS, visited him before he died at the hospital. While lying on his death bed he heard
all the news of Chin leaders being arrested. After his death his relatives found medications he
stacked under his pillow cases, apparently opting to die instead of being arrested. He died on the
same day with Pu Lua Thawng, mentioned above, and both were buried in Mandalay on the
same day.
- Pu David Thang Za Pau. When U Nu surrendered to General Ne Win’s government, Pu Mang
Kham surrendered along with Bohmu Aung in 1974. It was from him that we learned about Pu
David Thang Za Pau being killed in the Karen National Union-controlled area.
- Pu Hau Za Cin. It was learnt from his relatives that he later joined the Burma Communist Party
to become a commanding officer in Shan State and was killed in action during a fierce battle
with the Burma Army.
Col. Khen Za Mung was the Chairman of Chin Special Division Peace and Security Council in
Haka during the period the Sin-Phyu-Daw Operation took place. But he seemed to know nothing
about it.
Conclusion
As already mentioned earlier the participations of peoples of all walks of life and the subsequent
mass arrest of Chin intelligentsia, and even included military and the BSPP functionaries, proved
the undeniable truth that the cross-section of the Chin population strongly desired a selfgoverning
territory (State) in the federal Union of Burma. The armed uprisings in Chin State -
abortive or otherwise - all originated from the strong desire for national self-determination. So,
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Chins of the next generations should take their cue form these historical facts and relentlessly
carry on the struggle for national self-determination until we reached our ultimate goal.
I hope this document has properly recorded the Chin national movements during 1962 and 1988
and vividly proved that despite the Chin people’s sincere attempts to re-establish a peaceful,
prosperous and united federal Union of Burma, the Burmese dictators had geared the country
towards chaos, poverty and disunity ever since they took over the state power by force. The
peoples of the Union of Burma, including the Chins, voted vehemently against the one-sidedly
drafted ‘socialist’ Constitution during the December 1973 referendum. Again during the May
2008 referendum, after 35 years, the Burmese dictators have repeated the same mistake again
and forcefully “promulgated” their one-sidedly drafted ‘democracy’ Constitution. The military
dictators are fond of giving name-only “States” in response to the ethnic nationalities’ demand
for genuine federal states. Now they are preparing to give another name-only “democracy” for
the country. In 2010 there will be election sponsored by the Burmese dictators. They will deliver
a “ေပးကားေပး၏ ၊ မရ” or given-but-not-received kind of “democracy” for the peoples of the Union
of Burma in response to their overwhelming demand for freedom and democracy.
For so long, the peoples, actually, deserve true freedom, federalism and democracy. It is high
time that the “federal forces” and the “democratic forces” join hands and find a common ground
and establish a solid alliance (not a name-only superficial alliances) of federal democratic forces
to establish a truly united, peaceful and prosperous Federal Democratic Union of Burma. The
longer the two forces remain disunited both will end up with “ေပးကားေပး၏ ၊ မရ” or given-butnot-
received kind of freedom.
Feedbacks from any one who could help update this article and make it more complete is heartily
welcome.
Lian Uk
(Edited by Salai Kipp Kho Lian)
Footnotes:
* The Supreme Council of United Hill Peoples
1. Hon'ble Sao Sam Htun, Saohpalong of Mongpawn, Counselor for Shans, President of
Supreme Council of United Hill Peoples
2. Hon'ble Vum Ko Hau, Counselor for Chins, and Vice President of Supreme Council of United
Hill Peoples
3. Hon'ble Sinwa Naw, Duwa of Sama, Counselor for Kachins, and Vice President of Supreme
Council of United Hill Peoples
SOURCE: Profile of A Burma Frontier Man by Dr. Vum Ko Hau Published 1963 p. 111
** The formation of CNC (2006) is a follow-up of the Chin Consensus Building under which the
Political Affairs Committee of Chinland was formed in 2004 at the Victoria Camp, the HQ. of the
Chin National Front. Dr. Vumson Suantak and other colleagues from the CHIN FORUM such as
Dr. Salai Lian Hmung Sakhong, Dr. Sui Khar, Pu Victor Biak Lian played crucial roles during
the formation of the PACC, along with other political leaders like Pu Thang Lian Pau and Pu
Thawng Do Cin and many others of Zomi National Congress, Pu Thomas Thangno and other
leaders of Chin National Front, CNLD) Pu Samau Cinzah of Mara People’s Party etc.
20
CNC is now an umbrella organization representing all the major Chin political organizations in
the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC). The ENC, which promotes peaceful co existence of all
nationalities in the federal Union of Burma, represents the ethnic nationalities in exile. The
ENC, the National Council of the Union of Burma(NCUB) and the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) and other organizations together formed the
Federal Constitution Drafting and Coordinating Committee (FCDCC) which has completed the
drafting of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of the Union of Burma in 2007-2008
Referent books
1. Pioneers, Trail, Trial and Triumph by Laura Carson
2. Burma’s Constitution by Dr. Maung Maung
3. ၿငိမ္းခ်မ္းစြာ အတူေနထိုင္ေရး၀ါဒ မွသည္ စစ္မွန္ေသာ ဖက္ဒရယ္ျပည္ ေထာင္စု စနစ္ စီသို႕ (တတိယတ)ြဲ ၊
ပင္လံုစာခ်ဳပ္ကိုလက္မွတ္ေရးထိုးခဲ့ေသာ တိုင္းရင္းသားလူမ်ိဳးမ်ား၏ ျပည္ ေထာင္စုအေပၚ ေ၀ဖန္ သံုး သပ္ သည့္
စာတန္းမ်ား။ ဆလိုင္းလ်န္မႈန္းစုေစာင္းတင္ျပသည္။ [P. 166 to 136] in Burmese.
4. Constitution of the countries of the world (1974) P. 3 by Albert P. Blaustein & Gisbert H.
Flanz
5. Constitution of Socialist Republic of Union of Burma 1974
6. Za Hre Lian of Burma by Dr. Steven Hre Kio
7. Zo History By Dr. Vumson Suantak (Pu Vumson was one of the founding members of the
CHIN FORUM)
8. Burma: Insurgency and Politics of Ethnicity by Martin Smith.
ASAULO NUN TAK NA
CALANDER
Topa hoih mah mah hi !!!!!!!!!!
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