I was born and raised in a town called Thantlang. Thantlang is a town of over ten thousand people. It is in the state of Chin, which is the Christian state in Myanmar. It was a beautiful town high in the mountains. It lies between the rivers Lahva and Buhva. In 2021, the town of Thantlang was burned to the ground.
In February 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup overthrowing the elected National League for Democracy government. The Myanmar military claimed that the vote that put the NLD in power was corrupt. They tried to gain popularity by promising to eliminate the non-Buddhists minorities. The militant government’s army used armed forces to arrest or kill many innocent people.
Minorities had to respond to the militant government’s army’s actions. Many young people fought back against the militant army. The battle between the Myanmar military army and local armed forces (Chinland Defense Force and Chin National Army) occurred in the town. During the battle Myanmar military forces set fire to the houses. More than ten thousand Thantlang people left the town and went to a safe place.
My hometown Thantlang was almost completely burned to the ground. The people of Thantlang can’t return to the town. We hope to rebuild our beautiful town one day.
As of today, the town of Thantlang has not been rebuilt and the effects of the tragedy are still being felt.