CNDF resistance fighters tying the knot amidst the gunpowder fumes

by Salai Vakok

“Do you promise to live together as husband and wife faithfully?” A slow but calm voice in Chin language came from the pastor. The bride and bride groom in western dress in front of him smiled at each other.

After the couple exchanged rings and signed the marriage agreement , the pastor blessed the newly- married couple.

The wedding pavilion was covered with old tarpaulin sheets and decorated with jungle flowers. A few tables were also placed in the make-shift pavilion to serve the guests. That was just a normal scene for a Chin traditional wedding in rural areas.

The houses around the wedding venue were empty and quiet. As the locals were fleeing war, very few villagers attended the wedding. But the wedding was very crowded with those sporting combat uniforms and visitors coming from faraway places.

Something strange about the wedding was the presence of comrades in full combat uniform providing security around the venue. Everyone was on alert and ready to fight back if the Military Council troops launched an offensive while the wedding was in progress.

It was no ordinary wedding but the marriage of Battalion Commander Ko Aa Lian to a fellow revolutionary. As a CNDF-Vakok Battalion Commander, as well as a CDM staff member, Ko Aa Lian had no money for the wedding. He only had genuine love, loyalty, and determination to overthrow the Military Council. The bride's parents also only asked for his loyalty.

The wedding ceremony was able to be held with the support of his elder sisters who were abroad. The wedding ceremony in a war-torn village, was celebrated by the comrades. The guests thronged until more than 100-viss of pork curry had been served.

Brigadier Generals, Battalion Commanders and other senior officials from KKG-CDF, Kale-PDF, People’s Defense Force (PDF) attended the wedding to honor the marriage couple.

The Military Council troops also seemed to want to congratulate CNDF-Vakok’s Battalion Commander on his wedding. The 120mm cannon deployed in the city was brought to the military camp outside Kale and fired about 7 or 8 times at their

estimated places where they guessed the wedding ceremony would be held.

"The military dogs learned about our wedding news and congratulated us with cannon fire," said Ko Aa Lian, laughing casually. Due to the sound of cannon fire, the guests from the wedding were a little panicked. As the ceremony was almost over, some went home. At two tables some people hurriedly finished their pork curry and rice.

Almost every house in the village where Ko Aa Lian’s wedding was held was deserted because most of the villagers were already fleeing the war. After the wedding, both the groom and the bride put on their combat uniforms and prepared for war.

However, their wedding day was a day without war. The married couple visited the forest with some of their comrades. A beautiful place with hills, mountain ranges, forests and a small wooden bridge. The only noise came from birds singing in the trees.  It would have been a perfect scene, if its area had not been covered with gunpowder fumes.

Just like Ko Aa Lian, there had been around a dozen members of the Chin Defense Forces (CDF) who got married during the revolution, just like the Koya Liang couple, said Salai Timmy, a spokesperson of Chin land Joint Defense Committee. However, the list did not cover the whole of Chin State.The weddings of some troops were held in the liberated areas, controlled areas and on the frontlines of the battlefield.

“They are fighting for their country and nation, but they can still fall in love. Actually, revolutionary fighters are more romantic” he said.

Other members of the armed resistance in the Chin Mountain Range had suspended contact with their romantic partners due to security concerns. Some relationships ended in tragedy but other relationships persisted even in a time of war. Some of the comrades lost their limbs due to the injuries in combat, but their partners accepted to marry without any hesitation.

After the Military staged a coup at the beginning of 2021, the lives, dreams, and love affairs of millions of young people in Myanmar had turned upside down in the beginning, young people took to the streets and protested peacefully. When the Military Council began to crack down on the protests violently, the youths

took refuge in the jungles away from the cities, and continued the armed revolution. Some young people were separated from their loved ones by the prison walls.

Everyone who chose a revolutionary life, had to give up their family life, home and education. Some are determined to return to their loved ones after the Spring Revolution. Some comrades would never be able to come back to return to their families and true love.

A Covid- 19 inspired romance

Ko Aa Lian was born and raised in an agricultural village with good soil. Villagers made their living by cultivating seasonal crops and working abroad. Ko Aa Lian was an educated young man from a poor family.

In 2019, when Covid-19 started spreading in Myanmar, Ko Aa Lian returned to the village from his work in a governmental department. Then he saw a village girl for the first time. “People suffered a lot because of covid, but the pandemic helped us to meet” laughed Ko Aa Lian.

The girl had returned to the village from attending Monywa University. In the same year, they fell in love. At that time, Ko Aa Lian was volunteering as a secretary at a youth charity group in the village.

When the military seized power, Ko Aa Lian decided to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). He also participated in protests on the street. “Even my little niece cried when she heard the news of the coup. Adults like us couldn’t tolerate this coup”, he said.

When the Military started violent crackdowns on protests, like other youths from Chin State, Ko Aa Lian took up arms and joined the ‘Tumee revolution’. Then his girlfriend followed in his footsteps and joined the armed revolution. Initially, she performed the office duties of CNDF-Vakok.

By the grace of God

Ko Aa Lian had fought various kinds of battles. He also participated in close combat. Thanks to the grace of God, he was not injured. In mid-August A fight broke out near Tharayawati GTC in Kale. In the battle, CNDF-Vakok and joint forces attacked and pressed the Military Council to retreat. The retreating army built a strong bunker in the village of Tharyakone and prepared defenses. During the gunfight, in which only a few houses separated the two sides, Ko Aa Lian's right hand was severely wounded. It took more than a month for the injury to heal.

The wedding ceremony of CNDF-Vakok's Battalion Commander Ko Aa Lian, was held in a small village surrounded by jungles in Kale Township, Sagaing Region. “There were difficulties, but by God's grace, our wedding went smoothly”, he said. Amidst the gunpowder fumes, the revolutionists couple was blessed by the pastor and recognized as husband and wife.