Rhododendron Online News

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1 Rhododendron Online News Volume (II) No (VII):: JULY 1999 Military government's attitude towards Christianity Christian persecution is on the rise in Burma. Christian activities in the Churches and the practices of their faith are being obstructed with any possible means and ways despite Burma is a country, which has claimed the right to freedom of religion. Just after Chin Christian Centenial celebration in Haka in April, the CHRO's monitor met a Chin Christian leader. The following is a survey of the military government's attitude towards Christianity in Chin State. 1. The effort of the military government not to allow crosses being put up on the top of any hill in Chin State by Christians is well known by now. What is so unfair, to my mind, is that the military government did allow the Buddhist group from setting up Pagoda on hills in Chin State without any interference from any body. This is pure injustice. 2. The military government literally forbade the ZBC's CCOC (Chin for Christ in One Century) evangelists from preaching in Paletwa; the military "house arrested" (so to speak) seventy of them in their headquarters in Paletwa for six months, while they allow the Buddhist monks to assault Christians in the Paletwa districts without any restraint from the military police. The ZBC (Zomi/Chin Baptist Convention ) later withdrew these evangelists since they were not allowed to preach in Paletwa. 3. In all of Burma the Buddhists could build any number of Pagodas anywhere with full Military government's support, whereas Christians are not allowed to build Churches. During the last many years, no Church building has been built officially permitted by the military government. The only permission granted occasionally is to allow to build " a prayer Center " or " mission center", but not Churches. 4. In all Burma armed forces, no Christian has been promoted rank higher than Major. The few colonels are the ones promoted ten or fifteen years ago. Since 1990, many of the Chin officers could go only up to Captain, and not beyond. 5. In Magwe township, many evangelists were sent by the Churches from Chin State, and at least 8 of them are now ordered by the military government to return Chin State, forbidding them to preach anywhere in the district. 6. When the "Chin Evangelical Centenary" festival was about to take place in Hakha, the military government officially called it, " we have nothing to do with the "white face" arrival in Chin State. They did not openly and strongly oppose the celebration all the way, simply because the military government realized that the Chins would go on and celebrate, with or without military government's permission. Even when the ZBC drew worship service programs, the military government objected to a number items in the program, and the ZBC had to revise the program four or five times

2 before finally giving approval. Why should a government had a say in the service program of the Christian worship service? 7. The military government played delaying tactic as long as they can: when the Chin held worship services in Yangon for the celebration, on March 13 & 14, the Chins did not get permission to worship for days and weeks. The permission came only 30 minutes just before the worship service began. The ZBC applied for permission for Centenary Permission 10 months ahead of time. The military government granted them just 5 days before the celebration started, they did it only when they saw that not granting them permission would be more riskier. 8. The military government allowed only 4500 guests to attend the centenary celebration in Hakha. What they said was, "accept only 4500 guests or you get no celebration." That was the ultimatum! However obviously more people attended more than allowed. 9. The military used all types of means to spy on the activities of the Chin Christians, including Buddhist monks. Monks often came to worship service, not because of their interest in Christians' message, but for other reason and the Christians know it well. 10. The military government did not permit the Carson hall in Hakha to be completed. They may say many excuses but the fact remains: they did not allow to be completed. When the military government wanted to have Students' Festival in 1998, the military government asked for and received all cooperation from the Christians in Hakha, including all stones the Christians had collected for their Carson hall, but when the Christians wanted to have their centenary celebration, help was not coming; the military government would rather try to prevent the celebration to take place. There is a lot of injustices, and they had the guns. The sufferings of people is truly deep. They are simply crying. Those who shouted about their sufferings are simply silenced either by threat or by imprisonment. 11. Last, the military government kept large armies and those who are stationed in Chin State did not behave like professional soldiers. They would steal and take by force whatever belong to the citizens without payment: their stealing is well known throughout the length and breadth of the State. I have talked a good number of people whose grocery items have been taken by force or stolen, by the soldiers, including chickens and pigs. Forced labour in Thantlang The Burmese army in the Thangtlang area, Chin State, continuously forced the villagers including men and women, the old and young, the pastors, the teachers and students without attending school, to build the car road (50 miles long) between Vuangtu village and Thantlang town from dawn to 11:oo Pm without a rest, except

3 the times of lunch and dinner. The army officers ordered them "to complete the road before the coming monsoon season that starts normally in the end of May." Nothing is provided for the villagers. A very tired man, Pa Za Kung, from Vomkua village, who took a rest in a moment, was beaten and killed on the spot by the army on 5/5/99, on account of taking rest without permits from the army. Another man, aschool teacher of Salen village, was beaten by the army and sent to the hospital for treatment who is in a serious condition. On 11/5/99, the forced labors were ordered to explode ( dynamite ) the rocky road. After that they were forced to pick up the stones on the road while the stones have been being rolling down on the road from ( above ) the high rock. Villagers explained the army to pick up then stones when the stones are in normal condition but the army refused, beat and forced them again to pick up the stones.the rolling stones, therefore, hit and pressed one man from Vomkua villages, and each two perosons from Ze Phai and Hriphi villages. Their friends saw and went to rescue them but the army ordered not to rescue them, rather they said, " Don't help them, if they are killed by the stones it is for the country." The army beat and forbad not to rescue the persons those who are under the pressure of the rocks. "All were seriously injured and sent to the hospital who are now in serious conditions," said by our reporters. Today, 28 families of Ze Phai village deserted their homes and villages, and went to India where they are living as refugees due to forced labors, human right violations and difficult living. One day is not enougt to tell you our suffering The following interviews were conducted in Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh by a human rights monitor from Immage Asia in February Name :: "Pa Tui" (not his real name) Sex / Age :: Male / (NA) Ethnicity / religion :: Chin / Christian Occupation :: Slash-and-burn farmer + Village headman From :: Lung Phum village, Paletwa Township Marital status :: Married with 5 children Name :: "Pak Dir" (not his real name) Sex / Age :: Male Ethnicity / religion : Chin Occupation :: Slash-and-burn farmer From :: Lung Phum village, Paletwa Township Marital status :: Married with 3 children - His wife is Khumi Interview date :: Q : When did you arrive in Bangladesh? Pa Tui : We arrived in Bangladesh in May We had to come secretly. We were

4 10 families from Lung Phum village. I was the headman, so I came out irst to check the situation in Bangladesh, and went back to fetch the others. Pak Dir : The day after our headman, Pa Tui, left our village, the Burmese Army got informed about our decision to leave. The soldiers came and beat us, even the children. After the beatings, we hold a meeting among our ten families to discuss how we could escape. Two days later, at night time, we ran away from our village. Then, we walked day and night. On the way, we didn't enter any village. We only took a rest in the jungle at the bank of a river. Q : Why did you leave your village? Pa Tui : Because of portering. Sometimes we had to be porters for awhole month. We could not work in our field. Except for my wife, all the other members of my family are young children. They were always struggling when we, the men, were away as porters for the army. Pak Dir : Because of all the problems caused by the Burmese Army. This is because of the opposition groups. We always have to give money to the Burmese Army, but we also have to pay to several other armed groups. It became unbearable for us. That is why I decided to leave. Q : How big is your village? Pa Tui : There were 28 families at the time. All Chins. Now, not a single family is left there. When we came out to Bangladesh, the remaining families had already left to Mizoram. We were the last group to leave. Q : How far is your village from the border? Pa Tui : 2 days walk to India and 3 days walk to the Bangladesh border. Q : Why did you choose to go to Bangladesh? Pa Tui : Because we knew some people who are living here. We knew that if we go to them they would help us, and we could stay with them. Q : Have you ever been beaten yourself? Pa Tui : They beat me three times. The first time was in 1994 when we were building a fence at Shinletwa camp. We finished the work and came out a bit late, so the soldiers beat our group. Again in 1996 we were working [doing forced labour] at Shinletwa army camp and we drank some water. The soldiers told us: "Why did you drink water instead of working?" Then they beat me in my back. The third time, also in 1996, the troops came to demand porters in my village. They only gave me 30minutes to collect 150 or 160 people. But within half an hour, I could not gather the full amount of porters. They beat me seriously with their rifle butts. They hit me on the cheeks, on the nose and in the chest and I fell down. They pressed the butt of their G-3 so hard in my chest that the skin was torn. They also punched my mouth and it became swollen. Afterwards, they went on beating the other villagers too. They beat me more than the others because I was the headman. They beat the head of each family and took them as porters. After beating us, they fined us 10 tins of rice and one fat pig that we had to give to the army.

5 Q : Is there any army camp in your village? Pa Tui : No. The nearest one is Shinletwa camp. Two days walk away. Usually we have to carry their loads to and from their camp at Shinletwa. Q : But you complained that you were portering for one month? Pa Tui : When the soldiers brought us with them to check the pillars along the borderline, they told us that we could come back after 7 or10 days. But once we arrived there, it was not like what they said and we had to stay with them for a whole month. We only brought our own ration for 10 days. When the food was eaten up, we asked them to provide us with more and they replied: "Why didn't you bring more food? We can't supply anything. Drink water instead!" Each time they stopped, we had to build a rest camp for them. Q : I heard that in 1997 the villages near Shinletwa were being ordered to move? Pa Tui : Yes. They hold a meeting around the end of They called all the village headmen together and the army ordered us to move down to Shinletwa near their camp. It was an order. At that time, all the village leaders opposed this. The people knew that if they stayed near the camp, the soldiers will use them as porters all the time and they will not be able to survive. That is why the people were afraid to move, and some decided to cross to Mizoram. When the army failed to gather the people at Shinletwa, they issued another order to do road construction work. We had to go and work on the main car road linking Kyauk Taw (Arakan State) to Paletwa. They ordered to work at a site beyond Paletwa town. We went there doing forced labour for 16 days. To go there and back on foot, it took us about one month. It was very far and all the villages had to go there. We had to walk for 3 days and then take a boat for one day. After 4 days traveling we finally arrived at the worksite. Ofcourse, we had to pay the boat fare ourselves. Q : Did you get any salary? Pa Tui : No salary. We even had to carry our own ration. We carried 12 kg of rice per person but at the worksite it was not enough. So we had to buy more rice and pay for it ourselves. Q : Did you work there too? Pak Dir : Yes, I did. Q : How many people had to go from your village? Pa Tui : 14 people at one time. When the first group returned, the remaining people had to go there. Some of our villagers did not go to work. They had to pay a fine of 300 Kyats per head. However, the army did show some respect for our religious leaders. The church elders had to pay 150 Kyats instead of 300, and the village headman could pay as he wished. The road from Paletwa to Kyauk Taw did exist before, but it was very narrow, so we had to widen it. After the rainy season, it collapsed in various places. That road looks like a river in the rainy season. We can't imagine that they will ever drive on it! Q : Did the women work there too? Pa Tui : In our area, because we are quite far away from the camp, the women did

6 not have to go. Also, when the soldiers came to our village, they didn't beat or harm any women. But we do know that they tortured those who are living near the army camp or along the bank of the river. Q : Did they ever steal in your village? Pa Tui : Extortion was unbearable in our village. At least once a month they used to come on patrol and stay at our village for one or two nights. Then they demanded whatever food they needed. If they demanded one pig and we refused to give it, they would shoot it anyway. Wherever they went, if they saw a chicken, they would just take it. They never gave any compensation. Moreover, they often collected taxes from us too. They told us this money was for paying labour or for the road. They collected 100 Kyats per family twice a year. In addition, they showed so many expenses that we have to pay. Sometimes, they said it was for fencing the camp, sometimes for the payment of the teachers, sometimes for the road construction. So many different things that we never understood what all the taxes were for! Q : As a headman, were you contacted by opposition groups? Pa Tui : Yes. First a letter would reach me. They always sent a letter first. Then after the money is collected, they came and picked up the taxes. Once a year AA and ALP collected 300 Kyats [per family]separately. CNF also demanded 300 Kyats per family. But we didn't pay 300, we paid 200. Q : Did they have make any troubles in your village? Pa Tui : No, because we never failed to pay to them. In their letters, they always put a warning. So we were afraid, collected the money and paid them even if we could not afford it. Q : Is there a school in your village? Pa Tui : Yes, a self-supported school with only one teacher. We paid him in kind, 180 tins of paddy per year. Q : And a clinic? Pa Tui : No. If someone is seriously ill, we have to go and see the doctor, 6 hours walk away. Q : Did other villages in your area flee too? Pak Dir : Yes. So many people are suffering. For the Khumi people it is more difficult because they can't leave the country. They have nowhere to go. [Khumi have no "cousin" tribes in Bangladesh or Mizoram to stay with]. So many people from the border area have already fled to Mizoram. Samang, Dongwa, Lung Phum, Sung Tulung, Tahai Wa, etc... all these villages are now empty. They are quite far from each other,1 day walk, 2 days walk, 3 days walk. Tahai Wa is not even in the border area, it is located up towards Paletwa. All are Lai Chin or Khumi villages and suffer the same. The small villages suffer more, because the population is very few. Some Khumi villages are quite big and suffer a bit less because there are many people [to respond to the army' demand]. Bu we can say that we all suffer the same.

7 Q : Do the Burmese Army recruit people? And the opposition groups? Pak Dir : Until we came here, we didn't experience any such problems. The Burmese Army did make a request, but we didn't send anybody. Q : Anything else that you would like to say? Pa Tui : That is all. We have already explained the most important. If you want to know all about our suffering, one day is not enough to tell you.