Concept of the Chin People on their Nationality and Language

Concept of the Chin People on their nationality and language

By Pu Lian Uk

           The difference of language and dialect according to linguistics is just a matter of political concept. According to this theory, Chin people political concept is just one people in the name Chins. But Chin people are in several dialectal groups and not in different language groups. This is what make the different concept in the language and in the dialect. This follows that since the difference of language and dialect is a matter of political concept, it follows that the Chins as a single people speak only different dialects and not different languages.

            It is also according to the Chin traditional concept that Chin people speak only different dialects and not different languages, because our concept is that we are only a single people in the name Chins and that also follows that we speak only one language in different dialects.

         So, we request media to please keep this concept regarding our Chin language for our national unity sake here after. This concept is certainly what the CNF and the whole Chin people at large are adopting as a traditional concept since our fore father leaders.

         The different dialects the Chin people are speaking all come out of one Chin language as a source and just branch out into several different dialects in course of our long history due to different environment where we separately settled down in different environmental regions and places.

           However, it is very wonderful that there are many similar words and terms we still have very similar in common though we could not have contact from one Chin region and area to the other due to communication difficulties and due to  no security in the vast wilderness landmass we have occupied during our long history.
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         This concept of speaking as a people in different dialects is ours which is proved by our dialects today because they are not totally all different. We have the same grammar in our various dialects in which many of the Chin dialects as you all know are all mutually intelligible. For example, Falam dialect and Haka dialect are mutually intelligible and they could be grouped even as one dialect. The same thing is to Tedim and  Thadou/Kuki dialect which are also mutually intelligible. The same thing is to most of the dialects spoken in Mindat and Kanpetlet townships and so are the dialects spoken in Tedim and Tonzaang area.

            People in Paletwa widely understand  and speak the dialect spoken at Paletwa old town known as Reikkha village.So also was Haka dialect which was widely understood and  spoken  in Matupi township before the Burmese military regime stopped teaching the Chin language of several dialects in Chin State.

Mizoram & Chin State (Ref. mizohican.blogspot.com)

               Duhlian dialect spoken as Mizoram State official language in India and Haka dialect are just a dialect spoken in a family on the Indo-Burma border villages especially in a village known as Don. There, all mothers and daughters speak Haka dialect and all fathers and sons speak Duhlian dialect in a family. Haka, Falam, Tedim, Thadou/Kuki  and Duhlian dialects are very close that if one understands Tedim and Haka or Falam they could automatically understand mutually the Duhlian dialect. The author himself can understand and speak at least 7 dialects of the Chins namely 1) Haka, 2) Falam, 3) Duhlian 4) Tedim 5) Zophai, 6) Lautu and 7) Senthang.

       This is because these dialects are all very close to each other that they are just different in matters of consonant or vowel. There is a natural automatic way technique to transliterate from one dialect to another and if you could know enough of them that automatic transliterate technique helps us to pick up more different Chin dialects more easily.

Burmese military rule has not allowed Chin dialects being taught in public schools for decades. That action has much bad impact upon the Chin people that there arouse gaps of traditional norm and concept between the older Chin people in parliamentary democratic system generations of freedom and the newly born generations that grow up during the Burmese military one party dictatorial rule. So, the younger generations lost a lot of our tradition concept that made us united as a people. We hope that we can make it healed again in this new democratic era if the younger generations try to keep the norm of the Chin people unity concept as before to be able to see Chins people as one even at a glance in thinking about the Chin nationality.  

Burmese society and Chin society have been much different as different ethnic nationalities. For example, Burmese people have no different dialects. They all speak just one Burmese language as the communication has been so good in the flat land they have settled down in their long history .So some Burmese leaders especially during the Burmese military rule just wrongly take  one dialect group of Chin people as different ethnic national group to serve their goal  to rule the Chins  in" Divide and rule policy" and in the last census Chin dialectal groups are given many different codes as different people which could affect Chin people unity to serve the Burmese military aim to destroy Chins society. The Chins are thus to be aware of being divided due to this minor different in dialects.

              Thus, all Chin dialectal groups are to stand against to such divide and rule policy. The reason is the Chins are leading our destiny in "unity in diversity" and we are to be against "unity in Uniformity”. People in Nagaland and India as a country are those who are practicing "unity in diversity like the Chin people. 

               It is difficult for Burmese to have such idea of Unity in diversity, because they know not what Unity in diversity is as they speak only one language with no different dialects and the same one Burmese culture and there is no idea and mindset of “unity in diversity” in their society. The fact that having no mindset of Unity in diversity makes them to destroy the ethnic nationalities with the force of arms to make all into Burmese ethnic nationality in practicing ethnic cleansing of Burmese chauvinism. If they cannot divert their mindset on not knowing Unity in diversity which may  not be  possible for them,  they will keep on practicing ethnic cleansing to abolish the existence of the other ethnic nationalities and that is the reason the ethnic people are fighting against Burmese/Myanmar assimilation to keep on our unity in diversity in order to keep on  equality among the ethnic races in the Union.

Federalism is what is the utmost important to practice unity in diversity in the Union in which we can make balance of equality in all phases among the several different ethnic nationalities in the Union of Burma without any need of secession. So that the ethnic people in their own territory including the Burmese ethnic people have self-rule and that the Burmese ethnic also to be in self-rule too in their own territory   need not  have to interfere in other ethnic state affairs as long as  all the ethnic states form the federal union government in the common interest of all the constituent states of the federal Union. Thus, in order to be able to have unity in diversity among the diverse ethnicities in the Union , secession right is needed to have it in the constitution for check and balance so that the Burmese ethnic people be checked and balance to their traditional  aim to destroy the other ethnic nationalities.

      The mentality of the Burmese military practicing ethnic cleansing and assimilation could only be balanced with the secession rights so that they stopped ethnic cleansing and assimilation. General Aung San was asked question on the secession right as to why the ethnic nationality states were given this secession rights. His answer to this was that they would be made not want to secede by giving them the rights they deserve.

 But the Burmese military rulers control the ethnic nationalities not by giving the rights they deserve especially being not to  have written   the last 3 constitutions in federal form. Only is it in federal constitution that the ethnic people in their own territory including the Burmese ethnic people have self-rule in their own Burmese/Myanmar territory.Then only  that the Burmese ethnic people be also in self-rule too in their own territory. We repeat once again here, the Burmese to  need not interfere in other ethnic state affairs as long as  all the ethnic states form the federal union government in the common interest of all the constituent states of the federal Union. 

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Notes

1. Mizoram State is Northeast India and Chin State is in the Western Part of Myanmar. The Mizos and Chins are the same people and their language is basically the same but slightly different pronunciations. Their stories and cultures are pretty much the same. They had had no boundaries between the Mizos and Chin before the arrival of British in India and Myanmar in the 19th century. The British occupation of India and Myanmar divided Mizo and Chin peoples first. Unfortunately the Mizos and Chins became separate countries and people after India and Myanmar got independent from the British. 

2. My gratitude goes to Mr. Lian Uk for his knowledge about the Mizo and Chin people and his of his native land and people and contributing this article in my blog. This article is invaluable for the Mizos and Chins around the globe.