Place: KSDF's office, New Delhi
Date: 18th November, 2007
Time: 12: 00 am (IST)
Programme moderator: Nungah Chochong
Recording secretary: Pu Luntinsat
Functional Presidents: 1) Pu Tha No, MP, Arakan League for Democracy 2) Pu Thein Phe, Arakan National Council 3) Pu Tial Kha, President, Chin National Confideration 4) Pu Kyaw Than, President, All Burma Students' League 5) Pu Letlam, President, Kuki Peoples' Congress. Other special invitees included people from the exiled democraticleaders of Burma, the Kuki Students' Organisation, Delhi and Kuki International Support Centre.
At the very outset, the moderator called upon the functional presidents to occupy the seats allotted for them and, in the mean time, the rest of the participants stood up and remained standing at their respective position in honour of those functional presidents, who until were seated. Pu Letlam, president, Kuki Peoples' Congress, then, led the Tipple Salutes – a) The Burmese National Flag, b) Father of the Nation,General Aung San and his Colleague Leaders who were assassinated along with him on July 19, 1947 and c) the Late Kuki Heroes who displayed great valour. Pu Luntinsat, secretary of the Kuki Students' Democratic Front, made brief introduction of the programme. According to him, 'it was, in oneof the KSDF's earlier meeting, decided to organize jointly with the KSOD if the later agreed.' However, he said, 'the plan failed as the later was preoccupied with its own workloads that needed urgent attention.' 'This compelled KSDF to change from the previous decision of organizing a discussion on the issue exclusively within the Kuki community to a celebration with the Burmese community,' he said. Healso thanked the participants for sparing their valuable time though they were lately and informally invited through mobile phones just merely before 12 hours. He concluded his speech by making an appeal to all the invited speakers to heartily give their speeches. Pu Letlam was called upon to brief on the historical background of the 'Kinoni' or the Khadawmi Operation 1967. He spoke on how second Col.Vankul, a Hakha-Chin, the then commander of the Kabaw valley armybattalion, under the military regime of Newin's Revolutionary Council. He said, 'Col. Vankul Hakha, at his official capacity could havestopped the forceful dislocation by helping the Kukis through different means if he intended so.' However, he added, 'the colonel turned out to be more aggressive than one could imagine.''Here, the role played by Pu Zahre Lian, Chairman of the Chin State Cultural Committee was even worse.' He added. 'Pu Zahre Lian by makinggood use of Col. Vankul, manipulated the system of military regime that provided impunity to coerce upon the Kukis to accept the Chin identity.' 'This, he said, 'instead of uniting, polarized the relationship between the two community now.'While lamenting the injustice perpetrated upon the Kuki in Burma, hesaid, 'the plight of the Kukis in democratic northeast India is not secure either.' Challenging the Kuki youths to give it a thought over the uncertain political future of the Kukis in both India and Burma, Pu Letlam said, 'we need to work harder than our neighbouring ethnic nationalities because these communities have got certainty of their future.' By this 'certainty,' he means, autonomy or statehood. Ng. Veikhoneng then was call upon for reading of the Day's statement in Burmese version. The statement condemns injustice done to more than 20,000 Kukis who had to flee their homesteads with tears running down their cheeks. Villages like Waksuphai, Bongpa and others were completely burnt down to ashes by Col. Vankul led Revolutionary Council's army of Burma. The statement also calls upon the international community to intervene for justice and demands that the resettlement given to the Burmans in the erstwhile Kuki village be demolished and the victims, reinstated and compensated. Pu Tha No, MP, Arakan League for Democracy was called upon to deliver his speech. He thanked for the invitation and also expressed his feeling of shock to learn the wild history of Newin's regime in Kuki area. He also narrated how the Arakans too has been facing atrocity from the Burmans since the time of Maha Bandulah. He said, 'it all happens because of the false pride of the majority Burmans, who consider themselves a superior race.' From Newin's Revolutionary Council to the present day Than Swe's State Peace and Development Council, it is all about discrimination against the minority ethnic nationalities of Burma', he continued. 'It therefore is a must,' he said, 'that the Burman too should have one state only in the future Federal Union of Burma to prevent repeating such history. 'Pu Thein Phe, Arakan National Council, while expressing solidarity to the victims of Khadawmi Operation said, 'it is a very sad thing to learn that certain weak people suffer in their own land due to cruelty of another people of larger population despite the fact that both had earlier fought together for independence from the colonial yoke.' He also said that the ethnic nationalities - Shan, Kuki, Kachin, Karen, Arakan, Chin, Mon, etc.- need to understand the techniques used by the Burmese regime so that we might not fall victims of their divide and rule policy. On how the regime can be crushed, he said, 'we need a strong coalition of armed forces, powerful enough to fight to the finish,' and added, 'we have witnessed that to fight a military regime with diplomacy will not take us anywhere closer to victory.' Pu Tial Kha, President, Chin National Confederation regretted that Pu Vankul and Pu Zahre Lian had committed such an indeletable heinous crime in the history of the Kukis, the closest ethnic of all in Burma to the Chins. At the same time he said, 'all problems in Burma is rooted to the military regime.' 'To fight in unison with arms is needof the hour.' And he continued stressing on arm warfare, 'if we leave the fight for change of the regime to the non-armed Buddhist Monks alone, we shall continue to remain the victims.' Pu Kyaw Than (Cho Tan), President, All Burma Students' League vindicated all the allegation made by the preceding speakers that allatrocities perpetrated upon the minority communities in Burma are committed by the majority Burmans. He said, 'the military, which composed of just one per cent of the state's population, does not make any difference when dealing with anyone, whether Burman or non-Burman,who comes in their way.' ' Anti-Fascist Peoples' League led by late General Aung San was inclusive of all the ethnic nationalities,' he continued. He also said that everywhere dictators are but betrayers who act so at the moment they begin to think they are not secure.'Newin was no exception,' he said. 'It is because betrayers make useof religion, regionalism, communalism, ethnicity or race, etc. as means to cling on to power,' he added 'we should not blame the entire community to which a particular dictator belongs as this very antagonistic presumption itself makes us a victim of their plot, and it is more harmful to us than them.' 'Therefore,' he said, 'we theBurmans do not exclusively own either dictator Newin or General Than Swe. He concluded by saying, 'Young peoples should constantly rekindle the energy within them to courageously continue to fight against injustice.' Pi Mawli, Women's League of Burma stated that in the present day-world, minority community need not worry too much for fear of injustice because the UN has a charter on protection of these communities. She expressed her regret that due to demarcation in thepost independent, ethnic nationalities like Kukis, Nagas, Mons, etc. had to be divided and reduced to a minority community, which otherwise would not have been the case. She however said that change isinevitable and there is hope for justice shortly.Mawng Lu Gree, Secretary, Democratic Party of Arakan, stressed on theneed of a capable leader like late General Aung San who can win the hearts of and bring to a common plateform all the ethnic nationalities. He said, 'unless such a leader comes up, we are but fighting a loosing battle in fragments.' Pu Kili Aung, Cho-Chin Leader, expressed that he too feels very sorry for what had happened to the Kukis forty years ago. He said, 'the majority Hans in China, the Hindus in India, the Burmans in Burma, etc. are always responsible for victimization of the minority community in their own state due to their inconsiderate policy to safeguard them (minorities).' 'For the perpetrators,' he said, 'it might seem a harmless or negligible, but for the victims, the severity of the crime is intolerable.' Pu Thangpu, Kuki International Support Centre, while taking his time demonstrated the importance of God's power in changing the cruel regime of Burma. He said, 'there were regimes in African states where the dictators were as bad as or even more than the ones in Burma, butthe prayer of the victimized citizens to the Almighty God have been heard and changes have resulted there.' 'The people of Burma,' headvised, 'could also pray to their respective religious God or gods because with God, everything is possible.' Fostering the need of God's power, he concluded his speech by citing a verse from the book of Mathew of the Bible that says, 'for I am with you till the end of the world.' Pu Balah, Free Trade Union of Burma (he is a Kuki te Tupa, whose wife is Nengboi from Tamu), who was also the last speaker said that he had been left with no word to add as the speakers before him had all spoken what he had thought he would. He thanked particularly Pu Thein Phe, whom he said was senior to him in politics and also Pu Kyaw Than, his junior for their beautiful words. However, he said he had just a little thing to put forward to be pondered upon. Then, he asked the reason why victory has not come when it should have been. To this question, he says, 'the answer is, simply because of our incompetence.' 'To be competent,' he added, 'we should delve into the problem by doing in-depth study and be prepared first.' He concluded that this would bring in the desired result fast. The moderator then called upon Ng. L.K. Nengboi who thanked all the participants for sharing their valuable knowledge whole heartedly. She also made an apology if there were any inconvenience during the programme. Now, with the end all the speeches, the moderator formally declared that the Programme had ended, and requested every one to join the light refreshment.
Date: 18th November, 2007
Time: 12: 00 am (IST)
Programme moderator: Nungah Chochong
Recording secretary: Pu Luntinsat
Functional Presidents: 1) Pu Tha No, MP, Arakan League for Democracy 2) Pu Thein Phe, Arakan National Council 3) Pu Tial Kha, President, Chin National Confideration 4) Pu Kyaw Than, President, All Burma Students' League 5) Pu Letlam, President, Kuki Peoples' Congress. Other special invitees included people from the exiled democraticleaders of Burma, the Kuki Students' Organisation, Delhi and Kuki International Support Centre.
At the very outset, the moderator called upon the functional presidents to occupy the seats allotted for them and, in the mean time, the rest of the participants stood up and remained standing at their respective position in honour of those functional presidents, who until were seated. Pu Letlam, president, Kuki Peoples' Congress, then, led the Tipple Salutes – a) The Burmese National Flag, b) Father of the Nation,General Aung San and his Colleague Leaders who were assassinated along with him on July 19, 1947 and c) the Late Kuki Heroes who displayed great valour. Pu Luntinsat, secretary of the Kuki Students' Democratic Front, made brief introduction of the programme. According to him, 'it was, in oneof the KSDF's earlier meeting, decided to organize jointly with the KSOD if the later agreed.' However, he said, 'the plan failed as the later was preoccupied with its own workloads that needed urgent attention.' 'This compelled KSDF to change from the previous decision of organizing a discussion on the issue exclusively within the Kuki community to a celebration with the Burmese community,' he said. Healso thanked the participants for sparing their valuable time though they were lately and informally invited through mobile phones just merely before 12 hours. He concluded his speech by making an appeal to all the invited speakers to heartily give their speeches. Pu Letlam was called upon to brief on the historical background of the 'Kinoni' or the Khadawmi Operation 1967. He spoke on how second Col.Vankul, a Hakha-Chin, the then commander of the Kabaw valley armybattalion, under the military regime of Newin's Revolutionary Council. He said, 'Col. Vankul Hakha, at his official capacity could havestopped the forceful dislocation by helping the Kukis through different means if he intended so.' However, he added, 'the colonel turned out to be more aggressive than one could imagine.''Here, the role played by Pu Zahre Lian, Chairman of the Chin State Cultural Committee was even worse.' He added. 'Pu Zahre Lian by makinggood use of Col. Vankul, manipulated the system of military regime that provided impunity to coerce upon the Kukis to accept the Chin identity.' 'This, he said, 'instead of uniting, polarized the relationship between the two community now.'While lamenting the injustice perpetrated upon the Kuki in Burma, hesaid, 'the plight of the Kukis in democratic northeast India is not secure either.' Challenging the Kuki youths to give it a thought over the uncertain political future of the Kukis in both India and Burma, Pu Letlam said, 'we need to work harder than our neighbouring ethnic nationalities because these communities have got certainty of their future.' By this 'certainty,' he means, autonomy or statehood. Ng. Veikhoneng then was call upon for reading of the Day's statement in Burmese version. The statement condemns injustice done to more than 20,000 Kukis who had to flee their homesteads with tears running down their cheeks. Villages like Waksuphai, Bongpa and others were completely burnt down to ashes by Col. Vankul led Revolutionary Council's army of Burma. The statement also calls upon the international community to intervene for justice and demands that the resettlement given to the Burmans in the erstwhile Kuki village be demolished and the victims, reinstated and compensated. Pu Tha No, MP, Arakan League for Democracy was called upon to deliver his speech. He thanked for the invitation and also expressed his feeling of shock to learn the wild history of Newin's regime in Kuki area. He also narrated how the Arakans too has been facing atrocity from the Burmans since the time of Maha Bandulah. He said, 'it all happens because of the false pride of the majority Burmans, who consider themselves a superior race.' From Newin's Revolutionary Council to the present day Than Swe's State Peace and Development Council, it is all about discrimination against the minority ethnic nationalities of Burma', he continued. 'It therefore is a must,' he said, 'that the Burman too should have one state only in the future Federal Union of Burma to prevent repeating such history. 'Pu Thein Phe, Arakan National Council, while expressing solidarity to the victims of Khadawmi Operation said, 'it is a very sad thing to learn that certain weak people suffer in their own land due to cruelty of another people of larger population despite the fact that both had earlier fought together for independence from the colonial yoke.' He also said that the ethnic nationalities - Shan, Kuki, Kachin, Karen, Arakan, Chin, Mon, etc.- need to understand the techniques used by the Burmese regime so that we might not fall victims of their divide and rule policy. On how the regime can be crushed, he said, 'we need a strong coalition of armed forces, powerful enough to fight to the finish,' and added, 'we have witnessed that to fight a military regime with diplomacy will not take us anywhere closer to victory.' Pu Tial Kha, President, Chin National Confederation regretted that Pu Vankul and Pu Zahre Lian had committed such an indeletable heinous crime in the history of the Kukis, the closest ethnic of all in Burma to the Chins. At the same time he said, 'all problems in Burma is rooted to the military regime.' 'To fight in unison with arms is needof the hour.' And he continued stressing on arm warfare, 'if we leave the fight for change of the regime to the non-armed Buddhist Monks alone, we shall continue to remain the victims.' Pu Kyaw Than (Cho Tan), President, All Burma Students' League vindicated all the allegation made by the preceding speakers that allatrocities perpetrated upon the minority communities in Burma are committed by the majority Burmans. He said, 'the military, which composed of just one per cent of the state's population, does not make any difference when dealing with anyone, whether Burman or non-Burman,who comes in their way.' ' Anti-Fascist Peoples' League led by late General Aung San was inclusive of all the ethnic nationalities,' he continued. He also said that everywhere dictators are but betrayers who act so at the moment they begin to think they are not secure.'Newin was no exception,' he said. 'It is because betrayers make useof religion, regionalism, communalism, ethnicity or race, etc. as means to cling on to power,' he added 'we should not blame the entire community to which a particular dictator belongs as this very antagonistic presumption itself makes us a victim of their plot, and it is more harmful to us than them.' 'Therefore,' he said, 'we theBurmans do not exclusively own either dictator Newin or General Than Swe. He concluded by saying, 'Young peoples should constantly rekindle the energy within them to courageously continue to fight against injustice.' Pi Mawli, Women's League of Burma stated that in the present day-world, minority community need not worry too much for fear of injustice because the UN has a charter on protection of these communities. She expressed her regret that due to demarcation in thepost independent, ethnic nationalities like Kukis, Nagas, Mons, etc. had to be divided and reduced to a minority community, which otherwise would not have been the case. She however said that change isinevitable and there is hope for justice shortly.Mawng Lu Gree, Secretary, Democratic Party of Arakan, stressed on theneed of a capable leader like late General Aung San who can win the hearts of and bring to a common plateform all the ethnic nationalities. He said, 'unless such a leader comes up, we are but fighting a loosing battle in fragments.' Pu Kili Aung, Cho-Chin Leader, expressed that he too feels very sorry for what had happened to the Kukis forty years ago. He said, 'the majority Hans in China, the Hindus in India, the Burmans in Burma, etc. are always responsible for victimization of the minority community in their own state due to their inconsiderate policy to safeguard them (minorities).' 'For the perpetrators,' he said, 'it might seem a harmless or negligible, but for the victims, the severity of the crime is intolerable.' Pu Thangpu, Kuki International Support Centre, while taking his time demonstrated the importance of God's power in changing the cruel regime of Burma. He said, 'there were regimes in African states where the dictators were as bad as or even more than the ones in Burma, butthe prayer of the victimized citizens to the Almighty God have been heard and changes have resulted there.' 'The people of Burma,' headvised, 'could also pray to their respective religious God or gods because with God, everything is possible.' Fostering the need of God's power, he concluded his speech by citing a verse from the book of Mathew of the Bible that says, 'for I am with you till the end of the world.' Pu Balah, Free Trade Union of Burma (he is a Kuki te Tupa, whose wife is Nengboi from Tamu), who was also the last speaker said that he had been left with no word to add as the speakers before him had all spoken what he had thought he would. He thanked particularly Pu Thein Phe, whom he said was senior to him in politics and also Pu Kyaw Than, his junior for their beautiful words. However, he said he had just a little thing to put forward to be pondered upon. Then, he asked the reason why victory has not come when it should have been. To this question, he says, 'the answer is, simply because of our incompetence.' 'To be competent,' he added, 'we should delve into the problem by doing in-depth study and be prepared first.' He concluded that this would bring in the desired result fast. The moderator then called upon Ng. L.K. Nengboi who thanked all the participants for sharing their valuable knowledge whole heartedly. She also made an apology if there were any inconvenience during the programme. Now, with the end all the speeches, the moderator formally declared that the Programme had ended, and requested every one to join the light refreshment.
