Unity or Ruin: The Chin Revolution and the Urgent Need for National Unity

Unity or Ruin: The Chin Revolution and the Urgent Need for National Unity 

(Danny Bawibikthawng) 

The revolution of the Chin people against the Myanmar military regime is one of the most painful and heroic chapters in modern Chin history. Villages have been burned. Churches have been destroyed. Thousands of innocent civilians have fled into forests and foreign countries. Young men and women who once dreamed of education, family, and peaceful futures now carry rifles in defense of their people. 

As a Chin from Myanmar serving among immigrant communities in the U.S., I write not as a politician or military strategist, but as someone who deeply loves his people and longs to see justice, freedom, and lasting peace for our nation. I support the revolution because silence before evil is not neutrality. Silence can become participation in injustice. Yet at the same time, I fear that our greatest danger may not only come from the Myanmar military regime, but also from our inability to unite as one people. 

The Chin revolution has produced many courageous regional armed groups. Their sacrifices deserve respect and honor. Many gave their blood to defend villages when nobody else could. However, after years of revolution, one painful question still remains: 

Can a nation truly win if it fights without becoming one? 

A Family That Prayed Against Itself 

When I think about our national struggle, I remember a simple story.  There was a poor farming family living in a village in Chin State, Myanmar. The father worked hard every day in the fields to provide food for his wife and children. The mother also carried heavy responsibilities at home, constantly caring for the family without rest.  

One evening, after a long and exhausting day of work, the father prepared for the next day’s planting season. Before going to sleep, he prayed, “Lord, tomorrow I will sow seeds in the field. Please send rain from heaven.”  

Meanwhile, the mother sat quietly beside the traditional fireplace where the family cooked their meals (Tappi) and prayed separately, “Lord, tomorrow I have many clothes to wash. Please let the day be sunny and dry.” (In the villages, many people still wash clothes by hand without electricity or washing machines.)  

Both sincerely prayed to God. Yet their prayers were moving in opposite directions.  

This story reflects the tragedy of many divided families and divided nations. Prayer alone is not enough when hearts are disconnected. Even good intentions lose their strength when people pursue different desires without communication, wisdom, and unity.  

The same danger exists in our revolution. We say we are fighting for freedom, but are we fighting together? We say we seek liberation, but do we truly share the same vision, priorities, and heart for our nation?  

Without unity, even righteous causes become weakened. 

The Danger of Fragmented Resistance 

The Chin resistance movement has become highly regionalized. Different local armed organizations emerged because of urgent needs, geographical realities, and the collapse of trust after the military coup of 2021. Initially, this fragmentation may have been understandable. Communities needed immediate protection. Leaders arose from local contexts. 

But five years into the revolution, continued disunity can no longer be explained merely as necessity. It increasingly reveals something deeper: pride, competition, mistrust, personal ambition, and the inability to surrender local interests for national survival. 

History repeatedly teaches that divided resistance movements often lose their strength from within before enemies defeat them from outside. Abraham Lincoln famously warned, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Though spoken in the context of the American Civil War, the principle is universal. A divided nation becomes vulnerable to destruction. 

Likewise, Winston Churchill once declared, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Yet courage alone is insufficient if it is scattered into isolated struggles without common direction. 

A revolution without coordination can unintentionally become a competition of territories, influence, and leadership rather than a united struggle for national survival. 

Strength Without Unity Is Dangerous

 Some argue that strengthening local armies automatically strengthens the nation. At first glance, this sounds reasonable. But reality forces us to ask difficult questions.

After years of strengthening regional armed groups: 

• Has our nation become truly stronger? 

• Has disunity decreased? 

• Has trust increased? 

• Has peace become closer? 

• Or have internal tensions also grown? 

Military strength without unity can become dangerous. Weapons can defend the people, but they can also deepen divisions when leaders prioritize territory, personal influence, tribal loyalty, or organizational pride above national reconciliation. 

The theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned that “The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” This insight is deeply relevant to the Chin struggle. Sometimes leaders become more committed to protecting their own organization than protecting national unity. 

A fragmented victory may remove one enemy while creating many future conflicts. This is why the question of unity is not merely military. It is spiritual, moral, and national. 

The Crisis of Leadership 

The Chin people do not need perfect leaders. Perfect leaders do not exist. What we desperately need are wise and humble leaders. 

Education alone is not enough. Intelligence alone is not enough. Military experience alone is not enough. Some of the most educated people can become the greatest obstacles to unity if pride controls their hearts.

The Chin struggle requires leaders who place responsibility above position. 

Too often revolutions are weakened because leadership becomes a competition for recognition rather than a sacrifice for the people. Corruption does not only happen through money. It also happens when ambition replaces service. 

Nelson Mandela once said, “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.” The Chin revolution needs both. Skilled leadership without compassion becomes dangerous. Passion without wisdom becomes destructive. 

The Bible also reminds us that “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3, ESV). Many leaders today can explain why unity is difficult. Fewer leaders are willing to sacrifice enough to achieve it. 

The Enemy Understands Division 

One painful reality must be acknowledged clearly: divided resistance movements benefit the Myanmar military regime. 

Throughout history, oppressive regimes have survived by exploiting ethnic divisions, political rivalries, and regional distrust. The military dictatorship in Myanmar has repeatedly used divide-and-rule strategies against ethnic nationalities. 

If Chin forces remain divided, our enemies will not need to destroy us completely by military power alone. Disunity itself can weaken us from within. The ancient strategist Sun Tzu observed, “When he is united, divide him.” Tyrants understand this principle very well. 

Therefore, unity is not optional. It is necessary for survival. 

The Responsibility of the Diaspora 

This responsibility also belongs to Chin communities abroad. 

As diaspora Chin living in the United States, Australia, Europe, India, Malaysia, and elsewhere, we must honestly examine ourselves. Sometimes we support only our own tribe, region, organization, or favorite leaders while claiming to support the national revolution. 

Money, advocacy, media influence, and public support can either strengthen unity or deepen division. Even support given with sincere intentions can become harmful if it promotes competition rather than reconciliation. 

As Christians, we must remember that loving our nation does not mean blindly supporting everything done in its name. Genuine love also requires wisdom, truth, correction, and accountability. 

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah loved Israel deeply, yet he also rebuked the sins that were destroying the nation. Real patriotism is not blind loyalty. It is courageous commitment to truth and righteousness. 

Unity Is a Spiritual and National Necessity 

Ultimately, the Chin crisis is not only political or military. It is also spiritual and moral. 

The Bible declares, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1). Jesus Himself taught that “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matt. 18:19). 

Unity invites strength, blessing, and clarity. Division weakens vision, trust, and purpose. A divided family struggles to survive. A divided church struggles to minister. A divided nation struggles to win freedom. 

The Chin revolution cannot succeed merely through bravery, weapons, or international sympathy. It requires reconciliation, humility, shared vision, and leaders willing to surrender personal interests for the future of the nation. 

A Final Appeal 

I write these words with sorrow, hope, and prayer. I honor every Chin soldier who sacrificed life and blood for our people. I honor the mothers who cry for lost sons. I honor displaced families, medics, volunteers, pastors, and every person who continues to endure suffering for freedom. 

But sacrifice alone is not enough if we remain divided. If we continue building isolated movements without pursuing deeper unity, we may eventually win battles yet lose the future of our nation. 

The Chin people must not only fight together. We must become one in heart, vision, and purpose. The leaders who courageously pursue reconciliation and military unity will not be remembered as weak leaders. They will be remembered as wise nation-builders. 

Therefore, our prayer today must become deeper than personal ambition, regional pride, or organizational survival: 

“Lord, unite our hearts. Teach us to seek not our own will, but the future of our people. Give us leaders with humility, wisdom, courage, and compassion. Heal our divisions before they destroy us. Let our struggle not only defeat oppression, but also build a united and righteous nation.” 

Without unity, even good goals remain distant. But with unity, wisdom, humility, and God’s grace, even wounded nations can rise again.   

References: 

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Life Together. Translated by John W. Doberstein. New York:  Harper & Row, 1954.  

Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Edited by Roy P. Basler.  9 vols. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953.  

Mandela, Nelson Mandela. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela.  Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.  

Sun Tzu. The Art of War. Translated by Samuel B. Griffith. Oxford: Oxford University Press,  1963.