Authorities destroy Christian cemetery in Kalay

05 June 2015 — The authorities in Kalay, Sagaing Region yesterday forcibly bulldozed a Taungphila Christian cemetery that Chin churches have owned for more than 40 years.

Members of the Township Municipal Department and other government officials together with the police providing security razed the cemetery to the ground early in the morning, according to the Chin World Media.

Residents in the area said that it was brought to destruction by the authorities, without the knowledge of the Chin Christian groups.

In March 2014, the Township Municipal Committee and the District Administration Committee had stopped their attempt to destroy it after protests from the Christian fellowship.

A Christian pastor said that the case had been raised to the parliament last year.

U Maung Htoo, chairman of the Kalay District Administration Committee, said that he had made promises that the cemetery would not be destory but remain as it was, according to the pastor.

It was officially registered in 1970 as religious land by Chin Christians and is shared by four Christian churches, with about 700 families.

The area of Taungphila was first settled by nine Chin families on 25 December 1914, according to the Chin World Media.#