A Nightmare in Chin State
In this powerful podcast interview with Simon, he describes how his Chin people have been oppressed for generations by the Burma Army. He recounts stories of education being interrupted, forced servitude, widespread Burmanization policies, canceled church activities, and violence. In the following excerpt, he describes the disruption caused to his community whenever the military passed through.
“The Burma Army used to come even on Sunday. I mean, we are Christian; so, Sunday is our worship time!”
“I am not a Burmese guy, how can I speak influentially or very fluently in Burmese? Most of those on the Village Council, they are not educated. But they are the ones who are living in the village; so, they serve. When the Burma Army [would] come, they used to get slapped because of not being good at Burmese language. So, it was a nightmare for me!
I still remember that when in the school, if the military comes we need to be really welcoming to them in a very good way. We used to practice almost three days, four days, just to say ‘hello’ to the military, [for] whenever they would come to the school. So it was really [such] a nightmare, after I passed my grade ten in Myanmar, and having gone to another country, to see the people how they live in my country, especially in Chin state. It was really a nightmare.
They used to come even on Sunday. I mean, we are Christian; so, Sunday is our worship time! But even then, the military arrives and we need to cancel our worship service just because of that. That's how they put pressure [on] or oppress our people in Chin state, and on myself.
And then of course, [on] education, [there has been a] really, really terrible impact. I graduated with my medical doctorate degree in 2018. I traveled to some villages. When they saw me, one of the men told me that I was the first doctor to arrive in his village in his entire life! He was 18 years old. That was 2018. Just imagine how the Chin state [would have looked] way back in the years. It was 2018 when I arrived; I had traveled to one village, and was very warmly welcomed. So, it was something that you can’t even imagine.
Again, in school, we are Chin people; we have right to learn our language! But we are never allowed to. We would only learn our own literature in Sunday school. Only. And whenever we practiced, everything [was] Buddhist-based, yet we are not Buddhist. And then sometimes, they will come to the school on Sunday. Then we need to prepare and wait, and they cancel all the church services.”