Chin State is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur to the north. The population of Chin State is about 488,801 according to the 2014 census, and its capital city is Hakha.
Myanmar is divided into 21 administrative divisions, which include seven regions, seven states, one union territory, one self-administered division, and five self-administered zones.
Chinland, officially the State of Chinland, is a self-governing polity in Southeast Asia. Its claimed territory encompasses Myanmar's Chin State. It controls nearly all of the Chin State in western Myanmar, along the borders with Bangladesh and India.
The Chin people are an ethnic group native to the Chin State of Myanmar. Strictly speaking, the term "Chin" only refers to the 53 sub-tribes of the Chin ethnic group, divided and recognized by the Burmese government. They speak the Kuki-Chin-Mizo languages, which are often mutually unintelligible but are closely related.
Pu Cin Sian Thang was a Burmese politician who was chairman of the Zomi Congress for Democracy, formerly the Zomi National Congress, a political party in Myanmar.
The Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) is an armed Zomi nationalist militant group formed in 1997, following an increase in ethnic tensions between the Kuki people and the Paites tribe in Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. Its parent organisation, the Zomi Re-unification Organisation, was founded in April 1993.
The Chin National Front is a Chin nationalist political organization in Myanmar. According to its website, its armed wing, the Chin National Army (CNA), fights the government of Myanmar. The group was founded on 20 March 1988. This organization claims to seek a Federal Union based on self-determination, ethnic equality and democracy. The Chin people are one of the four founding members of the Union of Burma. In 2021, CNF became a member of the National Unity Consultative Council.
Zomi nationalism is an independence movement in Chin State, Myanmar.
The Chin National Army is a Chin ethnic armed organisation in Myanmar (Burma). It is the armed wing of the Chin National Front (CNF), and was founded on 20 March 1988 alongside it. The CNA signed a ceasefire agreement with the government of Myanmar on 6 January 2012.
Za Hlei Thang was a Burmese politician who was elected Member of Parliament as the Chin National League for Democracy candidate in the 1990 Myanmar general election. After the 1990 election, he fled Burma after the State Law and Order Restoration Council accused him of breaking the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act, Article 20. While in exile, he served as Chairman of the Chin League for Democracy, a "Chin party in exile". He also served as Minister of Social Welfare and Development and Minister of Health and Education at the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma which is a "government in exile" led by Dr. Sein Win. He also served as Chairman of the Chin National Front which is a Chin insurgent group in Myanmar (Burma). He dedicated his life in the Chin national movement.
Lian Hmung Sakhong is a prominent Chin scholar, activist, and politician. He currently serves Union Minister of Ministry of Federal Union Affair at National Unity Government of the Union of Myanmar (NUG). He is also a vice-chairman of Chin National Front (CNF) and of Union Peace Discussion Joint Committee (UPDJC).
The Myanmar Civil War, also known as the Burmese Civil War, Burmese Spring Revolution, or People's Defensive War, is an ongoing civil war following Myanmar's long-running insurgencies, which escalated significantly in response to the 2021 military coup d'état and the subsequent violent crackdown on anti-coup protests. The exiled National Unity Government and major ethnic armed organisations repudiated the 2008 Constitution and called instead for a democratic federal state. Besides engaging this alliance, the ruling government of the State Administration Council, or SAC, also contends with other anti-SAC forces in areas under its control. Hannah Beech of The New York Times observed the insurgents are apportioned into hundreds of armed groups scattered across the country.
The Chinland Defense Force is a rebel group in Myanmar. It was formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état to protect Chin State from the military junta. The CDF claims that they do not attack the military without cause and that they always issue a warning, such as releasing detainees and refraining from using violence against civilians. If the military does not respond, guerrilla or other action follows. They promise to return their weapons and disband if the revolution is successful. CDFs are members of CJDC. Chinland Joint Defense Committee (CJDC) is formed to serve Chin people's security services and protect an enemy from the illegal Myanmar Army. The total strength of active personnel under the command of CJDC is approximated to be around 15,000. From August to October 2021, it was reported that at least 40 clashes occurred between junta troops and CDF in various townships. CJDC claimed that at least 1,029 Tatmadaw soldiers were killed in the clashes and lost 58 of their own in 2021.
People's Defence Force-Zoland, also known as Zoland Defence Force and shortened to PDF-Zoland, is a People's Defence Force armed group in Chin State, Myanmar. They're the armed wing of the Zomi Federal Union, and a key member of the Chin Brotherhood Alliance, formed in December 2023 alongside the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and Chinland Defense Force-Mindat (CDF-Mindat). This alliance aims to enhance collaboration in both political and military endeavors concerning Chin State and Chin ethic affairs.
The National Unity Consultative Council is an advisory body of the National Unity Government of Myanmar. Formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'etat, the NUCC seeks to overthrow the military dictatorship and build a federal democratic union in Myanmar through collective leadership, political dialogue, and coordination. NUCC is a historic alliance of ethnic armed organizations and the Bamar majority, and is considered one of the most inclusive in modern Burmese history.
The Chin Theater is one of the theaters of the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), with resistance forces fighting against the Tatmadaw military junta in Chin State, western Myanmar.
Pu Pa Thang is a Chin politician who has served as Prime Minister of the self-declared State of Chinland since appointment by the Chinland Council on 1 February 2024. He previously served as a National League for Democracy (NLD) Member of the Chin State Hluttaw for Matupi.
Sui Khar is a prominent Chin scholar, revolutionist, and ethnic rights advocate. He presently serves as foreign minister of the newly formed Chin State Government, having been nominated by the Chinland Council on 1 February 2024 and as Vice-chairman 2 of the Chin National Front (CNF).
The Chin Brotherhood Alliance (CBA) is a military and political alliance between several ethnic armed organisations active in Chin State, Myanmar. Formed on 30 December 2023 during the Myanmar civil war, the claimed goal of the alliance is to foster collaboration concerning affairs in Chin State and in the Chin ethnic community. The alliance was created by local Chin people's defence forces who believed that the establishment of the Chinland Constitution, the Chinland Council, and the State of Chinland "did not adhere to democratic standards, lacked equality, and failed to represent and reflect the unity of the entire Chin ethnic group.
Throughout the long-running separatist insurgencies in Northeast India, dozens of India-based insurgent groups have been involved in the neighboring conflict in Myanmar, both sheltering in Myanmar from the counterinsurgent Assam Rifles and participating in the conflict itself. Outside of several Indian-led operations, including Operation Golden Bird in 1995, Operation Hot Pursuit in 2015, or Operation Sunrise I and II in 2019, areas in which these insurgent groups are active have scarcely experienced fighting. Amid the escalation of civil war in Myanmar from 2021, several sources claim that the majority of Indian ethnic armed organisations (IEAOs) are allied, or have some level of understanding, with the ruling military junta of Myanmar, who allows them to maintain bases inside mountainous areas of northern Myanmar, typically in return for the IEAOs attacking anti-junta resistance groups.
