Govt employees, students allowed to celebrate National Day in Chin State

20 February 2014: Government employees and children in Chin State are allowed to skive off today when Chin National Day is celebrated.

According to a government source in Hakha, departments, offices and schools are not officially closed as the 20th of February is not a public holiday.

However, civil servants and school children will be permitted to participate in the celebration that marks the 66th anniversary of Chin National Day.

Salai Lian, an editor of the Chinland Post, a local newspaper based in Hakha, told Chinland Guardian: “It is not an official announcement but as it is an important day for the Chin, they are allowed to freely take part in the event.”

He also said that examination dates for high school students coinciding with the event have been postponed and that there are no examinations today.

Staff members from the government departments travel to Mindat town, Mindat Township to present their exhibitions at a grand-scale celebration organized by the Chin State government in partnership with local communities.

Chin communities elsewhere across the state and in the country as well as abroad celebrate their national day – a day that the Chin public voted for a democratic governing system at a conference held in Falam on 20 February 1948.

The authorities have not officially recognized the day as a public holiday, either in Chin State or across the country.#