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Missiological Reflection on Zo People’s Land-Boundaries
This is a highly original piece of writing on the significance of geographical sense of place in divine creation of diverse nationalities of people in different places. Based on St. Paul’s lecture before a learned Greek audience in ancient Athens on the hill of Acropolis, the author attempts to explain theologically how ‘people’ relate to ‘places’ both in God’s Word and the world itself. It also hints at the locational significance of the frontier lands occupied by the Zo people as pregnant with many possibilities from a missiological perspective. Finally, the author discerns ‘divine intentionality’ in the Zo’s sandwiched-positioning between the three great currents of Oriental cultures – Hinduism in India, Buddhism in Burma, and Islam in Bangladesh.
Growing up in a land, a land of my ancestors
Bravest of the braves walked upon this land;
Breathing Zo air and dancing with the wind
Elders and folks enjoy the moonlit night.
In the circle of fire they enjoyed each other’s presence
And decided upon their tomorrow’s destiny;
None despair, none grumble that they are born here
Nor was any soul unhappy that this land is theirs to keep
And that the land is there for them;
They were happy with the land that God gave them,
And the land was happy that she belongs to them.
And today I am happy for being a part of the children of this land --
Land of the Zo chidren;
My land, I will forever be true to you
For you have been true to me always!
And one more thing I know with a sure certainty:
It’s no mistake that God planted our ancestors here,
For he is the Good Shepherd
The One who leads people into good pastures;
And now it is you and me to bloom beautifully in this land
And spread our fragrance to the lands surrounding us!
The article is based upon the question “Why the Zo people are divided into three international boundaries – Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh and India?” It is an attempt to try to answer this question in a missiological perspective with very few words. The writer of this poem – Land of the Zo Children – is contemplating the many facets that are faced by the children of Zo (Yaw-Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi) in today’s world of pendulum politics, social turbulence, ethnic violence spurred by land-people relationship, land-produced economic disparity, the question on our land of whose land it is anyway, and most important of all - why we are in this land of all the many homelands in the world.
Some amongst us are grumbling that we are living in the most remote region of the world – the borders of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, where even our respective national governments do not give us due recognition and are not willing to include us in the nation’s building. Others complain that this is the most unrecognised land in the map of the world and thereby, has no value. Still some mutter that it is a mistake that we are here. We ought to be somewhere in Geneva or Washington D.C. or Buckingham Palace or be commuters in the New York busy running trains. Some even dream that we should be somewhere in the Scottish highlands sniffing and sniffing, like Mel Gibson did in Brave Hearts, the fresh and cold Scottish air. My O my, how to respond?
Yet in the midst of this grumbling, mumbling and fumbling, like the writer of this poem there are some sincere and inquiring souls who are determined to know what is the purpose of God in planting us in this land and what are our responsibilities to God in relation to this and the diverse ethnicity and multiple faiths surrounding us.
Acts 17:26 says, “From one ancestor he [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they [ethnic groups] would live.” Let’s not forget to underscore the bold words which simply mean “God, the Good Shepherd-King and the great Architect and Potter, is the One who planted different ethnic groups in different geographical locations.” If this is really the case, and surely it is, then we -- the Zo people -- are also his planting in this geographical location to display his will and grandeur!
If this is true then there must be a reason behind it. He would not make a mistake nor would he put us in one location without a purpose. We are in this place – three thin red lines running through our land – not for our extinction or weakness as an individual or as a nation but for his divine pleasure. His ways are always purposeful and are deep with meanings and blessings for all - all nations. We will be in peace and be greatly blessed – so too the nations surrounding us - when we unfold and discover the will of God in relation to the geo-political-religious location in which we are now dwelling and the purpose for our living, existence and breathing.
Looking at Panglong Agreement of 1947 – God’s hand behind it?
For those of us who are aware of the history of the Zo people and that of the unification of Myanmar under one administrative umbrella, we can never overlook the importance of Panglong Agreement which was signed by the unflinching trusworthy representatives of the diverse, free and sovereign-ethnic-nations in the pre-independent and pre-united Burma. This agreement was important precisely because it is for the very first time that an agreement was ever signed in the history of the then Burma by a popular and unquestionable Burmese leader with those popular and respected leaders of indigenous races of Burma. In this meeting, Bogyoke Aung San and others represented the ministerial Burma and met the various representatives of the frontier peoples [the Chins (Zo), Kachins and Shans] in a small hut at Panglong on the 12th of February 1947.
In this place, in one of their personal meeting, Bogyoke Aung San said to Pu Vum Kho Hau, “Burma without the [frontier people] will not be complete”. These words were higly emotional and a sincere appeal to share and walk life together under the union called Union of Burma. I believe this appeal was the voice of the people of Burma and uttererd with the knowledge of God. And it came at the right time. Because prior to this meeting, the Zo [Chin] people had entrusted Pu Vum Kho Hau with the future of the Chin Hills. And that he is to see if the Burmese people could be trusted and whether they are earnest about Union. And if they could be trusted then he is to cast the lot on behalf of all the Chins (Zo) for joining with the Burmese. With this mandate he went to Panglong and talked with Aung San and others. He found Aung San and other ethnic groups and the Burmese sincere and trustworthy. Then Pu Vum Kho Hau cast the lot. And the decision was made. And the Zo people (in Chin Hills) followed swift to walk and share their lives together with the Burmese. Dr. Maung Maung, a good friend of Pu Hau and the former President of Union of Burma concluded, “The Panglong agreement was therefore promoted to a very large extent by the Chins and Vum Ko Hau.”
Lord of history
Here, with the success of the Panglong agreement in mind, I would like to put one or two historical threads together to see how the hand of God was behind our history. Almost around this time in the Indian side of the border, the Zo people did not decide (nor are they politically conscious what is going on or will happen in the distant future) to form an independent sovereign Zo country after India and East Pakistan (Bangladesh, the erstwhile East Pakistan) got independence. Those around in Manipur were contended to be in Manipur and so also those who were in Mizoram and elsewhere. Many were not aware how nations were formed or independent territories were craved out or unable to comprehend what is an independent state with their primitive and tribal set of governance. They choose the path they are now living with or without much understanding, but known to God in His sovereignty.
Also, another thread is about the history of the dawning of the gospel of light and salvation among our people in Chin Hills. The first couple to accept the gospel were Pu Pau Suan and his wife Pi Kham Ciang and Pu Thuam Hang and his wife Pi Dim Ko Cing. And Pi Dim Ko Cing was the elder sister of Rev. Mi Za Kap of Thuklai (also known as Fortwhite, where intensive resistance guerrilla warfare was waged upon the Japanese and English armies by the Chin warriors to defend their land and the independence of the Zo people) who became the Headmaster of Khuasak (Fortwhite P.O.). And Pu Vum Kho Hau, who played a prominent role in the unification of Chin Hills with the land of the Bamars, Kachins, Shans, Karens, Rakhines, and Mons is the son of Rev. Mi Za Kap. Pu Vum Kho Hau’s political authority and leadership, I believe flows down to him by being the child of a godly parent. The will of God can prosper even through those who don’t know Him. But it prospers more so in the lives of those who are having godly parents and who themselves are experiencing the touch of heaven. And it seems to me by this – our people in Chin Hills entrusting Pu Vum Kho Hau to sign or not sign the Panglong Agreement, which he eventually signed - that God actually worked out His plan for our people to be also a witness not only among the nations of India and Bangladesh but also amongst the nations of Burma and beyond! Where do we go from here then?
With this kind of God’s specific guidance we experienced in our national history and after being planted in a diverse geo-political-religous garden, where do we go from here then? As a scattered minority in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India, we all could have long time perished culturally and ethnically, if not under Japanese or British onslaught, under the mighty and numerous Bengalis, Indians and Bamars who professes Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism – the three major and active religions of the Eastern world. But so far we are not crushed nor proselytised. We are surviving by God’s grace. Though we are facing the problems of assimilation and slow annihilation, yet we are still living and hanging gracefully in God’s grace. It is because, let me try to assert again, He wants to work out His act of salvation amongst the nations in these three sovereign States and regions beyond – using the Zo people as carrier and bearer of His Good News! God has prepared the path for our mission and way of life. So I called upon the Zo people, “Let’s walk into that path and way of life to fulfill our God-prepared-mission as an individual and as a people.”