Episode #112: Journey into Chin State
Although there is no written history, oral tradition suggests that the first Chin people entered what is now Burma through the Chindwin Valley in the 9th century and settled in what is now Chin State in the 15th century. Simon, our guest on this episode, traces the arc of his homeland’s history and politics from those long-ago mists of history to the present-day conflict.
Simon describes how in pre-colonial times, Chin chieftains were fiercely autonomous in their rule. But once the British incorporated Greater Burma into their empire, things changed drastically for the Chin. Historically animist, a large number of Chin were converted to Christianity by missionaries who arrived soon after the advent of British rule. Simon then recounts more recent history: while Chin fighters helped Allied forces in World War II, in the postwar Panglong Conference on Burmese independence from Britain, Chin interests ended up getting subsumed in the process of creating a country that incorporated the ethnic, tribal territories that ring the Burmese heartland.
And Simon knows all too well how his people suffered for generations under military rule, which began in 1962, including being persecuted for practicing a different religion. “In our own land, we cannot build our churches the way we want,” he says sadly. “We need to go and ask permission. Chins stay in the most beautiful mountains, just a beautiful area. But the military comes and builds its pagodas, which is very hurtful for the Chin people.”
Simon has long been dedicating his life to the betterment of the Chin people. The poorest and least developed part of Myanmar, there has always been great need in Chin State; it suffers from a lack of developed infrastructure, and is plagued by poor roads, unreliable communication and intermittent electricity. Due to the lack of available medical care, Simon decided the best way he could serve his community was by becoming a doctor. After getting his degree, besides his medical practice, he led seminars on hygiene and sanitation in villages scattered across the countryside. With the scarcity of medical professionals, Simon was in high demand, and many village elders say he was the first doctor they’d ever met in their life!
Simon explains how perhaps Chin State’s root problem now is poor access to education. He speaks of a small number of woefully-supplied schools several days of walking away for many villagers. In other words, the dream of a full education is pretty much out of reach for most Chin. Simon was very fortunate to be able to get a medical degree; very few Chin become professionals. Because there are few who can give back to society like Simon, and the Bamar government is never keen to help too much, as a result Chin State continues to suffer from that overall, very inadequate state of infrastructure and development. It should be noted that since the coup, there are no operating schools at all in Chin State.
But while Simon was fortunate enough to attend school, he carries painful memories of the oppressive “Burmanization” of the curriculum (a subject addressed on two previous podcasts, “The Language of Freedom” and “Education: The Passport to the Future”). Chin students were required to speak the Burmese language at school, and though largely Christian, they were forced to memorize and recite Buddhist suttas. In addition, there was military propaganda in the guise of history lessons that were limited to the alleged great feats of past Bamar kings and military leaders. In other words, the cost of his education was being denied the chance to learn about his own Chin history, or even to speak his own language, and forced to consume the propaganda of the forces which oppressed his nation.
Because in fact, Chin students were not just forced to learn the Burmese military’s propaganda, but to be a live witness to its harmful presence in his homeland. He remembers the frequent incursions by Burmese soldiers into his hometown. They would routinely force villagers to carry their supplies—even to act as human minesweepers—and help themselves to whatever food and other goods they wanted from Chin villagers’ homes. This history has left many Chin residents not only terrified of soldiers, but according to Simon, triggered by seeing anyone wearing even a similar shade of olive green to their uniforms.
But incredibly, despite his community having faced this awful oppression, Simon maintains that he doesn’t harbor hatred for the Bamar people, or even those in uniform. He credits this to his religion. “Lord Jesus Christ has taught us to love our enemy and to pray for our enemy. I think that was one of the teachings that strengthened us to be able to forgive.” And he recognizes the Tatmadaw’s systematic brainwashing that paints ethnic minorities pose an acute risk to the stability of the country, which often turns decent men into monsters when they put on their uniform. “In the eyes of the Rangoon people, they are very good, and they are very obedient. They are very religious, but these same people, when they come to Chin, they change! They start to torture, they start to oppress, they start to make some things unacceptable to Chin people like me.”
However, Simon is sympathetic with the many Bamar who didn’t believe the history of atrocities committed in his land by the military, because they never, themselves, saw this degree of cruelty. Of course, everything changed following the coup, and now many Bamar are beginning to realize the generations of on-going military violence against the country’s ethnic minorities. Simon hopes that the depth of the military’s evil has finally been revealed to the populace. “Until today, this military has been killing us and torturing us, even raping us! We have been saying this for decades, about these things. But most of the time we are being ignored, we are always put aside, and our voice was never heard.”
But although Simon appreciates honest reflections and even apologies from his Bamar friends, he also feels there is more self-examination to be done in order to reveal the full scope of Bamar superiority. “They always think that Burmese is something more superior than the rest of us ethnicities in Myanmar,” he notes. “But actually, as I said, without Chin, and without Shan, the Union of Burma would never have been born. We have to accept this fact.” In Simon’s view, rather than cultivate the unity that was envisioned in the years after the Panglong Conference, Bamar leaders empowered the military by “[training] leaders on the wrong side, the dark side, just to maintain authority.” Simon believes that for true reconciliation to occur, the Bamar population first has to acknowledge that evil for what it is, and has done to ethnic homelands, but then the different communities within Myanmar must be also willing to put the past behind them and move on with mutual love and trust. While he believes that many from Generation Z share this vision, he has his doubts about the older generation of Bamar leadership. “The old people, it is really, really hard to accept those things. Because their mind and their heart tells them that they are superior.”
Still, Simon recognizes this is not the current priority given the circumstances; they are in a revolutionary period and must prioritize more immediate goals. He certainly agrees that there is no greater need now than overthrowing the Tatmadaw.
Simon notes the enormous popular support for resisting the coup in Chin State just days after the military forcibly took power. Massive street protests erupted all over the province, everyone from ninety-year-old old men to parents with young children, all coming out to make their voices heard. Chin state also boasted the highest percentage of employees who joined CDM.
This message of resistance and rejection started a renewed cycle of escalation. The Tatmadaw responded with a swift and utter brutality that stands out even amongst their other atrocities of the past year. These initial, horrible assaults on a defenseless populace drove many Chin—males and well as females—to flock to ethnic armed camps to join the armed resistance.
The Burmese military, in turn, responded with even more vicious ground attacks and airstrikes, which sent residents of entire towns fleeing on foot for their lives. Many ended up across the Indian border in Mizoram, a state populated by ethnic relatives of the Chin; Simon anticipates that number could reach 100,000 before long. Although Prime Minister Modi, who enjoys close ties with the junta, let it be known that he did not want these refugees in his country, Indian villagers and local officials did all they could to provide for them. Some Chin children were even able to go to school there. However, life continues to be extremely challenging, with basic necessities such as shelter, water, food, and medicine in short supply. In addition, many of these refugees have lost everything they owned, and have nothing to return to.
Even as the challenges continue to grow, Simon and his colleagues are still seeking a path forward not only for their Chin community, but also for the entire country of Myanmar. However, they need outside support. As he notes, “if the international helps and works with us and cooperates with the people of Myanmar, and if we can wipe out, from the face of Myanmar, this military in the future, then all the Myanmar people will be joyful, peaceful and prosperous.”