lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

Zo of the adjacent state of Mizoram in India. Outsiders name the differentsubgroups around the state according to the district in which theylive, for instance Tidam Chin, Falam Chin and Haka Chin.In the past, the Chin, as with most highland dwellers, led labourintensivelives, and their relatively simple traditional dress reflected this.Men wore loincloths in the warmer months and draped blankets overthemselves when the weather turned cool. The women wore poncho-likegarments woven with intricate geometric patterns. These garments andChin blankets are highly sought after by textile collectors today.Traditionally the Chin practise swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture.They are also skilled hunters, and animal sacrifice plays a role in importantanimistic ceremonies: the state has the largest proportion of animistsof any state in Myanmar. Even so, some 80% to 90% of Chin arebelieved to be Christian, mainly following the efforts of American missionariesduring the British colonial period. However, with the presentdayactivities of government-sponsored Buddhist missions in the region,the traditional Zo or Chin groups are fading fast. Many Chin have alsofled west to Bangladesh and India.KachinLike the Chin, the Kachin are part of the Tibeto-Burman racial group.Based mainly in Kachin State, they are divided into six ethnic sub-groups(Jingpaw, Lawngwaw, Lashi, Zaiwa, Rawang, Lisu) among which theJingpaw are the most numerous. Also traditionally animist, the Kachinwere heavily targeted by Christian missionaries during colonial times(about 36% of the population are Christian, mostly Baptist and Catholic).As much of Kachin State lies above the tropic of Cancer, the climate ismore extreme – stifling hot in the summer months and downright coldin the winter – and the Kachin seem to have abandoned their traditionaldress for Western clothes that can be easily changed to suit the seasons.UNHAPPILY TOGETHERThe Chin NationalFront (www.chinland.org) wouldlike to create asovereign ‘Chinland’out of partsof Myanmar, Indiaand Bangladesh.For more aboutthe Kachin seethe websitesof the KachinNational Organisation(www.kachinland.org)and the KachinPost (www.kachinpost.com).During colonial rule the British managed to keep animosity between ethnic groups undercontrol by utilising the carrot of semi-autonomy or the stick of arrest and imprisonment.Over a century later, little has changed.Insurgencies between the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) and minority ethnic groupsthat smouldered for five decades after independence have been largely quelled. Groupsthat signed ceasefire agreements with the government (the Kachin, Kayah etc) havebeen granted limited economic autonomy. In advance of the 2010 election five ethnicceasefire groups had agreed to integrate their troops into a Border Guard Force underTatmadaw control; eight had refused.Those who continue to fight (including some Shan and the Kayin) are dealt with severely.The government has long operated its ‘four cuts’ system of denying insurgentsfood, financing, recruiting and intelligence. This scorched-earth policy has, according tothe UK Burma Campaign, resulted in the displacement of up to half a million people withas many as 300,000 fleeing across borders into refugee camps mainly in Thailand, Indiaand Bangladesh. In 2003, the US State Department investigated and found crediblereports of systematic military rapes of Shan and other ethnic groups.Some observers of politics in Myanmar predict that, given a choice, many of Myanmar’sethnic groups would opt for independence and break away from Bamar-controlledMyanmar. As Thant Myint-U writes in The River of Lost Footsteps, ‘the prospectsfor peace are remote, the possibilities of renewed violence perhaps greater.’Against this background it is significant that following her release in 2010, Aung SanSuu Kyi expressed her desire for a second Panglong Conference: it was at the first PanglongConference in 1947 that her father forged the fragile agreement between Myanmar’sethnic groups that lead to Burma’s independence.309PEOPLE OF MYANMAR (BURMA) MAIN ETHNIC GROUPS