CHIN NATIONAL DAY
February 20
Welcome aboard! We are glad to have a cyber
celebration of Chin National Day once again. At this season we
can see in our mental eyes our land blooming with beautiful
flowers; our mothers and sisters savoring the beauty, and melody
of song birds, on their way home from field, while fathers enjoy
the same on their hunting trips. We will be able to hear the
beautiful song of C. Vansanga's Buannel Ram Dai at the last part of this page. Let's enjoy the beautiful day.
This
page will contain a Chin National Day message, a few video
clips, some patriotic songs and love songs, and more. Please be
patient downloading big files. Click all the links and the music
symbols. Music comes mostly in WAV files, and a few in
MP3. At the moment, you are supposed to hear a folk song, if you
have clicked the Play button of the audio console at the very top
of the page.
Let's start with a beautiful song of Salai M's February 20.
The song is inviting all of us to celebrate the Chin National
Day merrily. Just click the music symbol above, if you haven't.
Stop it whenever you want to. The song file was originally from
laimi.org, and now we store it in different format. If you are
motivated enough, you can click here for a different song.
O Land of beauty,
nature as her artist,
Fortified by deep valleys and steep mountains,
Embroidered by rosebays and orchids in the mist,
What on earth dare compare her charm and appearance!
O Land of nation, hornbill as her emblem,
Men in unity and women in purity,
Uplifted by singing her national anthem
What on earth dare challenge her arms and loyalty!
O Land of amity, friendship as her mores, too
Where men of accents share the same brotherhood,
Honoured by drinking her long-fermented zupu*
What on earth dare divide her love and attitude!
O Land of virtue, morals as her title,
Purified by equality and justice
Affluent in mentality and mettle
What on earth dare beguile her faith and prudence!
by
Van Biak Thang
(from http://chinlandguardian.com)
When the song is over, you may enjoy another
beautiful song sung by Central Young Lai Association by clicking
the next music symbol down below. The song says: "We are looking
forward a bright future and a new age to come" You will hear "Lai Ram"
often. Since songs are composed mostly in vernacular langauge, the
composers choose it to use the vernacular name of their land
which they call Lai Ram or Zo Ram or Zo Gam. It means the land of the Lais or the Zos. That is the way we call our land. Lai and Zo are vernacular words for Chin. However, we are using Chin here as the term has long been used in national and international contexts.
Chins around the world are encouraged to celebrate our national day at
their respective localities.Chins today are in diaspora because of the
hard-to-live political and economic situations of their homeland
(Burma). They are scattering in various countries as if they have
no land to live. Thousands are in India, Malaysia, Thailand,
Australia, Norway, Germany, Japan, Korea, United States, Canada, New
Zealand and Singapore. Many are seeking protection under the UNHCR.
While they remember the political nightmare the have faced in
their own land, they can never forget their mother land and their
people. February 20 marks their love of freedom and unity. On
this day, Chins and friends around the globe will be celebrating
our national day with songs and dance, as they have done for several years.
Chin National Day has occurred tens of times--the
first time on February 20, 1948. This year is its
66th day or 65th anniversary, but we are celebrating Chin National
Day here, not it's anniversary. We are celebrating our national day
because
to remind ourselves that we belong to this land, and our heart longs for
it even
when we are in different lands. This day also has a history and meaning.
What is the history? What is the meaning? Keep reading.
There is a land where chokhlei blooms and sial
roams. While the people adored the land, singing to it,
"chhawrpial ruun i iang e", the British annexed it, divided it and ruled
it under the names "Lushai Hills" and "Chin Hills". They divided
the mind of the people, and added the bigger eastern Hills to
Burma, the smaller western Hills to India, and the southern part
to Bangladesh.
On
February 20, 1948, just after Burma and India gained their
independence, more than five thousand of our mothers and fathers
in Chin Hills held
a conference in Falam, the then capital of the Chin Hills, in
order to terminate the feudal system so that every citizen may
equally enjoy their freedom--freedom from the oppression of the British
as well as of the local dictators (the chiefs, at that time). The
conference was attended by Sao Shwe Thaik, the then president of
Burma, who went there to persuade the Chins to abide with Burma,
rather than with India where a portion of our people lived. That
was the day they showed their freedom of choice. The same day
was recognized as Chin National Day by Prime Minister U Nu on
February 20, 1951, according to Pu J. Thang Lian Pau.
That same day was chosen, by Pu Laldenga, leader of Mizo
National Front, to sign the peace accord with the Indian
government, in accordance with the pre-existing Chin National Day
which had been celebrated since 1948. That is a sign to show
that the two peoples are of the same blood. The same day will be
celebrated as Mizoram State Day in Mizoram, India, and Chin
National Day elsewhere.
folk song
Beautiful is our cradle land;
In times when our national day comes,
Let our dreams come true,
As new leaves come in Spring.
Par Len Tial
Click here and here to view Chin National Day e-Cards of previous years.
Now let's make a time to remember our
loved ones who gave their life for our people and our land. Please
click the music symbol below. And you will hear a song sung by our
great singer Vanlalruati from India. The song,
composed by C. Dinthanga, is dedicated to a volunteer who gave
his young life for his land and his people. [Forgive the poor sound quality. I took it from a 2nd generation tape.]
This year, we have a Chin National Day message from Salai Elaisa Vahnie. Let's take a few minutes to read. |