59th Anniversary
Chin National Day
February 20, 2006
Ottawa, Canada

Sponsored by Chin Community Ottawa


Pu Lian Uk’s Speech:

Respected Chin friends and honored guests:

I feel very honored that I am invited as a guest speaker at the celebration of the 59th Anniversary of the Chin National Day celebrated in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. My thanks is beyond I can express to the Chin Community of Ottawa and the Chin National Day Celebration Committee who give me this opportunity to speak on this auspicious day.

I am so glad that the Chin people around the world is celebrating this 59th Chin National Day every where there are Chin communities. We, the Chin people are very much in need of the world support in our struggle to free from the bondage of this Burmese military regime at this time as the whole Union is in need of it. We have sought for it a lot and we have been successful to some extent especially in resettling the Chin refugees in Guam, Malaysia and India. The more we seek the world support the more we have got it.

In order to get the world support, the name “Chin” and the existence of the Chin people and their territory need to be known by people who should know us around the world. So we are encouraging every Chin community around the world to have the name “Chin” in their religious and secular organizations. So I am so glad that the Chin community in Ottawa celebrate the Chin National Day sponsored by the Ottawa Chin Community and have the name Chin in your religious and other organizations.

The second thing I appreciate very much again is I know that you celebrate the Chin National Day every year. We hope that the Ottawa Chin community will continue on celebrating the Chin National Day every year in the coming years too. We have children who are born and growing up abroad outside the Chin territory where Chin language and Chin culture are not widely used as we used in our own Chin territory. We are also to share the daily life of our diasporas countries in culture language to adjust to live together in peace with them though we are to use our Chin language and culture in our Chin communal society. Every parents around the world like their children not to forget their original native land from where they came. In the same way the Chin parents want their children not to for get our homeland and our relatives with our language and culture so that we do not get lost from where we originally are.

In such case, the best way to teach children that they are the children of their parents is to take them to the Chin National Day celebrations and to other Chin communal functions in traditional fashion and to make merriment in Chin culture and custom recalling relatives and friends back home on such occasion. Thus to take children and youngsters to Chin National Day celebrations and other Chin communal functions are the best way to teach them that they have Chin national ancestry and to love and give support to the Chin people and the Chinland in all fields.

Regarding the Chin National Day, I would like to mention about it very briefly. After British annexed India and Burma , they discovered a very vast territory that laid between them was also annexed as an independent Chin territory by the British outside India and Burma by making peace agreements with the Chin aristocratic rulers and land lords.

The law, with which to rule the Chin people and their territory from 1896 to 1947/48 till India and Burma got Independence, was passed according to the peace agreement by the Governor in Council of British India as Chin Hills Regulations 1896 proclaiming the annexation of the territory to the British empire in the same year. The law provided the Chin aristocratic rulers to give taxes to the British and to continue on ruling their subjects and retaining also their respective aristocratic titles as Chieftains, as it was before annexation

The Chin territory on Burma side however signed Panglong agreement to form a Union in federalism with other national territories, Burma, Shan, Kachin and others. The Chin territory representatives including the aristocratic rulers to the Constituent Assembly of the Union of Burma 1947 formed Chin Affairs Council adopting the Chin Special Division as the name of the Chin territory on Burma side at the Constituent Assembly in the constitution of the Union of Burma 1947.

The leaders of the Chin aristocratic royal families themselves could see and agreed that the hereditary aristocratic system should be changed to democratic system at the extraordinary Conference attended by representatives of all corners of the Chin territory on Burma side at Falam town. Thus on the last day of the Conference on February 20, 1948 the Conference in great unity of the aristocratic ruling class and their subjects adopted a resolution that elected representatives of the Chin population at every level of administrations should run the administration of the Chin Special Division.

The Chin people who were once the subjects of the ruling royal families and land owners were then raised on the dawning of a new day of democracy to equal status with the previous ruling class to involve freely in the affairs of their communities and their state by having votes in democratic election and functions. It was a great day of great achievement for all the Chin people.

The Chin Affairs Council constituting the legislature of the Chin Affairs in the Union Parliament replaced the Chin Hills Regulation 1896 with the law Chin Special Division Act 1948. February 20 since then was proclaimed as an official holiday as Chin National Day in the Chin Special Division. Chin Special division is renamed as Chin State just in name since 1974 without allowing to have Chin State Legislative Assembly and the Chin State government by the predecessor of the ruling Burmese military regime.

The reason why the Chin leaders in those days of 1948 particularly designated the holiday February 20 as the Chin National Day was that they wanted the Chin population in the generations to come to be conscious of their distinct national identity as a people of the world by retaining and developing their national culture, language and literature though they form a union with other national territories. Thus to have that holiday as the Chin National Day, they believed, was one of the best ways for the Chin population in the generations to come to keep conscious of their distinct national identity by celebrating the day in Chin national culture and traditions. It has become one of the most celebrated traditional festivals for the Chin people , reminding them to be conscious of their oneness as a people wherever they are.

Today, the Burmese military regime is ruling the country at gun point since 1962 devoid of democracy principles and human rights. Freedom loving people of all nationalities in the Union are now immersed in an intense struggle to free the country from the bondage of the Burmese militarism.

The goal of today’s celebration of the 59th Chin National Day is thus to strengthen Chin National Unity in all respects and to seek for the support from all the democratic and justice loving people of the world in our struggle for democracy and self determination. Thank you, Lnk