Chin Forum: Freedom Aspiration Will Not End with 2010 Polls
18 November 2009: Concluding its Board meeting this weekend, the Chin Forum says the aspiration for democracy and self-determination will not end with the military-staged elections in 2010 in Burma.
Meeting in Aizawl, the capital of India’s northeastern State bordering the Chin State of Burma from 14-16 November, the Chin Forum said it is increasingly concerned about the ongoing food crisis in Chin State and called for sustained and additional relief effort.
The last Chin Forum Managing Board meeting was held in Frankfurt, Germany in the summer of 2006 where the organization’s mandate and scope of operations were redefined. While reaffirming its existing mandate, the organization’s structure has been reformed during the last board meeting.
Coordinator Salai Kipp Kho Lian said, “We have reformed the organization’s structure to enable the Chin Forum to be more efficient and effective in discharging its mandate. The forum is now composed of a chairman, coordinator and three facilitators.”
The newly created Chairmanship position is filled by Pu Lian Uk MP. A think-tank, the Chin Forum’s mandate is defined to three areas: Constitution, Human Resource Development and Information and Communication. The three areas of functions are to be managed by facilitators Salai Ngun Cung Lian (USA), Victor Biak Lian (Canada) and Nang Lian Thang (Japan) respectively.
The Chin Forum was founded 1998 in Ottawa, Canada by 17 Chin prominent activists from different background, including elected MPs, intellectuals and freedom fighters from inside and outside of Burma.
Over the last decade, the Chin Forum has managed to inspire other ethnic nationalities with its initiative to draft the State Constitution of Chinland with a vision that any future federal constitutional arrangement in Burma will require a separate set of constitutions at the State level.
Chinland Guardian
