There are plans to erect a stone pillar in the Chin State capital Hakha as a monument to Chins who resisted British colonial rule more than 100 years ago, before the start of larger uprisings that eventually led to restoration of Burma’s independence.

“When we look at Burma’s history, we find that the Chin revolution against the country’s British rulers came much earlier than the uprisings that were led by farmers and students,” Pu Zo Bwi, the chairman of the Chin State parliament, told Khonumthung News.

Chin resistance to colonial rule began during the First World War, when the British started forcibly recruiting local people to fight in France.

“The British government wanted to recruit 1,000 people from each town. A thousand people from Tedim and 600 people from Falam were recruited into the British Army, but people in Hakha refused to join. They felt that it would be better to die here than to die over there. After that, Chin people in Hakha began to attack the British Army. British soldiers burned down at least 20 villages. Six people were killed in prison,” said Pu Zo Bwi.

“The Chin people opposed the British government more than other ethnic groups in Burma. That’s why we want to pay our respects to those Chin leaders who sacrificed their lives. That’s why we will set up a stone pillar to mark the Chin revolution against the British government,” he added.

In an article titled, “The beginning of the Chin revolution and the British army’s military operations in the Chin Hills (November 1917—April 2018),” Chin historian Salai Van Cung Lian wrote that Chin soldiers led by Pu Hreng Awr, the village headman of Farrawn, a village in Hakha region, began to attack British Army camps in Hakha on November 23, 1917.

Fundraising to build the stone pillar will continue until December 2019. According to organizers, the monument will be completed before Chin National Day in 2020.