Cries From The Chin Jungle

Van Biak Thang

Chinland Guardian
24 June, 2008

A child cries in hunger and for her mother
Her face bathes in tears and cowers in fear
In a grimy bamboo shanty, cold and empty
Nowhere between mountains and valleys
Her whimpering voice vanishes but unheard
Just like a gagged prisoner with a long beard

A ‘mautam’ famine preys on the Chin people
– A nation oppressed, ignored and in peril
Besides, families shattered by the military regime
Women are raped and left as if in a bad dream
And men enslaved, coerced and beaten like a mule
In the ‘unknown’ jungle where rats and soldiers rule

Distraught and worried as comes the rainy season
Further will the Chin be blocked yet unknown
Landslides, forest leeches and soldiers on patrol
The people know not how long more to roll
With ‘untold’ pain which has begun to fester
In a famine-hit jungle where life’s in danger