Report on the 5th State Constitution Seminar and
Federal Constitution Drafting and Coordinating Committee Seminar
By:
Pu Lian Uk (MP) &
Salai Ngun C. Lian

It is our duty to report our experiences to the CFMB whenever we participate in any meetings in the name of CFMB. This is what we should not fail to do it for the sake of our transparent in formations about what is going on around us.

I was participating in two seminars and one workshop during November 15 to December 9, 2005 as I was invited to participate as Convener of the Chin Forum Working Group I which the SCSC called us Chin Forum Constitution Drafting Committee (CFCDC).

The first Seminar I attended was, the 5th State Constitution Seminar, organized by Supporting Committee for Sate Constitution (SCSC) sponsored by NRP, held in Chiangmai on November 15 to 17, 2005. Three representatives from each of the constitution Drafting Committee from the seven states and three representatives from the Burman Constitution Study group attended the Seminar. The NRP seemed to hold the seminar with the least possible expense on such seminars and workshops. So to save the expenditure the CF Working Group I is allowed to invite one from India side for which is attended by Pu Run Bik and one from the Working group who had been in Thailand for which Victor Biak Lian, members of Working Group one and me as the Convener of CFCDC who is separately sponsored also as a resource person by EURO Burma office, I believe.

The first day of the Seminar on November 15th was opening address and key notes by representatives of several organizations including SCSC and ENC. The second day Program was presentation on Federal constitution Drafting and coordinating Committee and having the joint meeting of SCSC and SCDCs joint meeting to end the SCSC and forming the ENC Working Committee seemingly known as Constitution Affairs Committee of ENC replacing SCSC to deal with the Constitution Drafting business under Ethnic National Council.

The 3rd day was continuation of Papers presentations from the second day by Raja Devasish Roy on the international concept of the Rights of the Indigenous people and the rights of Minority people. That papers clarified the difference between Indigenous People’s Rights and the Minority people’s Rights. The international concept on these rights, do not recognize the term Tribal people asserting that the term tribal people is just the creation of colonialists to discriminate to mean the backward people. Thus Tribal term as backward people has no any meaning in political term in modern time. The term is in political concept rather replaced by the Indigenous people. The Indigenous people in Burmese is Hta-ni taing-yin a-myo-tha- mya.

Thus in connection to this indigenous term, the Chin people are indigenous people in many Chin settlements in any part of the Union of Burma as the Chin settlements there have been since time immemorial in the history. That is the Chin people are to get indigenous people rights in many of their settlements in any part of the Union. The indigenous people rights as I understand, has a wide range of rights where as the minority rights is just the same as the rights of any individual citizens in the country wherever they are.

The Second Seminar that was attended was on The Forgotten Kingdom of Arakan. The Constitution Drafting Committee of the Chin forum was invited as we have already been there in Thailand. We thank very much the organizers of the Seminar on the Forgotten Kingdom of Arakan and the NR P. Pu Run Bik and I participated in the Seminar. The papers on the history and the archaeological result result of the Kingdom of Arakan from Danyawadi period to 1962 was read by several academicians. It was of course to me, to show national identity of the Arakanese as a distinct people in the Union of Burma. Many people may think that Arakanese and the Burmans might not be different people as all Burmese literature could be read understandably in Arakanese accent. But the papers on the Forgotten Kingdom of Arakan has clearly shown that they are different people in different kingdom in the history. There also was mentioned by an academician the Chin people as indigenous people of the Arakan State.

The 3rd and the last meeting I attended was the Federal Constitution Drafting Coordinating Committee Workshop (FCDCC) from December 9 to 16, 2005. It was on the Draft of the Future Constitution of the Federal Union of Burma drafted by the Drafting Committee of the FCDCC. The FCDCC members and One Representative from each Constitution Drafting Committee of all states and the Burmans Constitution Study Group attended the Workshop with Constitution Drafting Technical Advisory Team (TAT) led by Professor David Williams in which Salai Ngun Cung Lian was one of them.

People like Professor Silverstein was also invited as resource academician. He was usually consulted as Burma Historical expert in many occasions. He is in deed a living history of Burma for many events which are now historical events for the younger generations just had happened before his own eyes in his presence. His presence could solve many doubtful historical facts for younger generations that need to refer in the historical books of today. Such people who are both familiar with the historical events of the past and present are much needed as resource people of the living history in every state constitution drafting committee.

The manner the workshop was dealt was that , the members of the Technical Advisory Team were first given the chance to comment on the legal sense on the idea of each chapter of the constitution draft after any one or more of the FCDCC drafting committee first explained the reason and idea of any provisions of the draft constitution in the chapter concern.

After that, any of the state constitution drafting representatives who had to comments and suggestion on the issue were given the chance to express each opinion on the provisions of the constitution concerned. All our discussions and debate were recorded in the microphones. The Drafting Committee are supposed to listen to each argument in the microphones to amend the original draft and take it to another seminars in eastern and western sides of our country within appropriate time. With the comments and suggestion obtained in those 2 seminars, the final copy of the constitution be produced with in March 2006 .Thus it could be available for people to balance which is better with the constitution dicted by the military regime in prison camp at Nyiang-hni-pin in the vicinity of Rangoon to confirm in the constitution the rule of the militarism as it is today.

On the contrarily, the constitution drafted by the FCDCC is based on democracy, federalism, equality, and self-determination for all the people of the Union of Burma. The FCDCC represents the exiled Burmese democratic forces and ethnic nationalities political organizations and has strong links within political organizations and grass roots leaders inside Burma.

FCDCC challenge Senior General Than Shwe to make the national convention inclusive and democratic as it is in the FCDCC process. FCDCC process is free from censorship and control. International community is invited to reflect upon the contrast between FCDCC constitutional process and the military-dominated process taking place at the "National Convention". The suggestions I gave on FCDCC Draft constitution presented to the seminar and the additional opinion I gave on it is also here attached for those who have the interest to study it.