Presidential speech
Chavang Kut
Tuibong, Zale’n-gam 2016
Today is a day of RE-UNION of long-parted brothers in the course of our Millennium journey. Though separated by political boundaries, space and time, the ties of brotherhood was never broken; it was only not entirely realised. Today, therefore, is a day of great significance because on the occasion of Chavang Kut, 2016, we are gathered here together and affirm our relationship of love and affection and strengthen the eternal bond of brotherhood.
On this ‘Celebration of Brotherhood’, Chavang Kut, 2016, I extend special Welcome to our Chief Guest for 30 October, Pu Conrad Sangma, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and Chief Guest for 1 November, Pu Lal Thanhawla, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Mizoram. I also extend warm welcome to Pu Khamphone Viengluang (former President, American Laos Community (USA) and his wife, hon’ble dignitaries from Kuki, 2. Mizo, 3. Kachin, 4. Chin, 5. Karbi, 6. Zeliangrong, 7. KONYAK, 8. Singpho, 9. HEIMI, 10 NAHEN, 11. PARA, 12 MAKURY, 13. LAINAU, 14. Naowa, 15. PHOM, 16. KHIAMNIUNGAN, 17. CHANG, 18. YIMCHUNGER 19. SANGTAM 20. MISHING, 21. BODO, 22. KACHARI, 23. SIKKIM, 24. Adi, 25. UPPER CHINDWIN SHAN, 26. WA, 27. tagin, 28. Miji, 29. KARENI, 30. NOCTE, 31. WANCHO, 32. APATANI, 33. BUGUN, 34. MISI, 35. PADAM, 36. SHERDUKPEN, 37. TANI, 38. KHAMBA, 39. KHAMTI, 40. LISHPA, 41. MEMBA, 42. MILANG, 43. MISHMI, 44. MONPA, 45. NYISHI, 46. SANGKHEN, 47. TANGSA, 48. ZEKHRING 49. SHAN, 50. KAREN, 51. MON, 52. Palaung, 53. Paoh, 54. Lahu, 55. Akha, 56. KARENNI, 57. KAYAH, 58. RAKHINE (ARAKAN) 59. OUT-CHIN/ ASHO CHIN, 60. TAI PHAKE, 61. TAI AHOM, 62. REANG, 63. CHAKMA, 64. LIMBU, 65. TAMANG, 66. GURUNG, 67. MEITEI, 68. SEMA, 69. AO, 70. LOTHA, and 71. GARO,
my esteemed colleagues, friends, ladies and gentlemen, and each and every descendant of Manasseh, who are here, today, to celebrate Chavang Kut, 2016.
CHAVANG KUT CHIBAI to one and all!
This year, we celebrate Chavang Kut for three consecutive days again at Tuibong. This extended celebration is intended to enable each and every Manasseh ethnic people to display our unique God-given, colourful cultural dances and other traditional items such as songs.
Among the Manasseh people, the post-harvest festival is celebrated by the Mizos as Chapchar Kut or Thar Favang Kut, Tharlak Kut by the Tripura Kukis, Chavang Kut by Kukis in Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur, Shapawang Ywang Mannau Poi by Kachin, and Khawdou Pawi by Chins in the Chin Hills.
Despite the geographical dispersion of the Manasseh people in different countries, besides numerous customs, culture and traditional ties, celebration of the post-harvest festival is another common practice, which has preserved our ethnic identity. Today, as we celebrate Chavang Kut I trust our people’s unity will become ‘Bigger, Better and Stronger’!
Christ had decried Jerusalem for not accepting He whom the Father had sent to save His people. He favoured Jerusalem as an embodiment of Israel, but it chose to be ‘the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’
The Holocaust Museum at Washington DC displays a gas chamber and a railway bogie in which Hitler killed the Jewish people. Pictures of Jewish people from over ten European countries taken in the concentration camps are also displayed. Out of the twelve tribes of Israel, God chose the Manasseh group and had them taken away to China to become slaves of the Emperor. God permitted such calamity upon the people of Israel in order that Judaism is replaced by faith in His son Jesus Christ and Christianity may rule the world.
God’s plan has been revealed as follows:
Manasseh is the last chosen people by God from amongst the Israelites. As the Israelites disobeyed, in AD 75 God sent the Manasseh people in exile to China, where for a thousand years they remained slaves. During this period, they forgot their God and their origins and their physical appearance also changed. God also made them forget Hebrew, their mother tongue and gave them a new language.
Escape from China, where they were slaves constructing the Great Wall became their sole aim. They chanced upon a porcupine digging under the wall, which they gradually enlarged and made good their escape to Mongolia. A section of their population settled in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, while the rest proceeded towards Siberia and reached near the North Pole where they stayed only for a week because it was when the sun did not shine. The elders referred to this extraordinary event as Mujin Lhun, darkness for seven days and seven nights. In the folklore of the Gangte people, who were Python worshippers feared the sun God was angry and so reverted to Sun worshipping. In the North Pole there is sunshine for six months of the year, and darkness for six months. Similarly, in the South Pole there is darkness for six months and daylight for six months. There is no such occurrence on earth as darkness for one week; our ancestors had wandered in to the North Pole region during the six-month period of no sunshine.
From Mongolia, the Manasseh people headed eastwards, the direction from which the sun rises and went to North Korea, South Korea and Japan, where they established their settlement. As it was difficult to cross the Pacific Ocean, many proceeded towards east coast of China, and to Taiwan, Philippine, Yunnan Province, Guangxi and Inner Mongolia in China. Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Burma, North East India, and Bhutan. From Siberia, a section of the population headed towards Western China, Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir, and Sikkim.
Among the nations of the world, God loves most the Manasseh Tribe of Israel. The people are in Northeast India, Northwest Myanmar (Burma), Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and Jingpho (Kachin) settlements in Yunnan province, and other Manasseh settlements in Guangxi, western China and Inner Mongolia of China. This is not an exhaustive list. God has since revealed other Manasseh countries, such as Mongolia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Indonesia, Bhutan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Singapore, 20% in Taiwan, 40% in Philippines. Other Manasseh settlements in India include Burma, China, Nepal and in Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.
The Lord has said that the children of Israel are His chosen people, to whom He bestowed His love and compassion. God renamed Jacob as Israel, whose descendants are the twelve tribes of Israel, of which the youngest son is Joseph, who had two sons namely, Manasseh and Ephraim. By the blessings of their father Jacob (with cross-laying of his hands upon them), Ephraim received manifold blessings and ruled first in spite of being the younger brother. Nevertheless, as Jacob laid his left hand on the head of Manasseh and blessed him, the story of Manasseh has been revealed and came to light at a later stage.
God loves the children of Israel. Therefore, in order to let them understand His love, He hardened the heart of Pharaoh in Egypt; showed His Godly signs and wonders by bringing in a series of plaques and pestilences such as swarms of flies, frogs, turned water into blood, darkness over the land of Egypt. Thus, God showed His majestic signs, powers and wonders to all the Egyptians and the Israelites. Fifthly, they witnessed the death of the first born of the Egyptian people, including their livestock. At last King Pharaoh released the Israelites from their bondage and sent them away. Even though the children of Israel were set free to undertake the journey to the Promised Land, Pharaoh’s soldiers chased them from behind by the time they reached the red sea. At that moment, the Israelites were engulfed with extreme fear, wondering how to cross the river. Despite already witnessing God’s signs and wonders a number of times, they complained to Moses arguing, ‘why have you dealt with us, to bring us out of Egypt? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” At that critical moment, God commanded Moses to ‘lift the rod and stretch out his hands over the sea’. Accordingly, Moses did it, and the waters divided and the Israelites went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground. Thereafter, the children of Israel rejoiced in the Lord, and exalted His name while all the Egyptians and Pharaoh Army died as the sea returned to its full depth.
However, after a short while, during the time Moses went out to get the Ten Commandments from the Lord, the children of Israel made a moulded calf out of golden bracelets and earrings which the Egyptians gave it to them, and worshipped it. When Moses saw it on his return, he was furious and broke the two tablets of the Testimony at the foot of the mountain. Then God proposed to annihilate all the children of the Israel with the exception of the Levites, and create a
new nation out of him (Moses). To which, Moses pleaded to God and said; ‘ Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the wilderness, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.’ Further, Moses told God to blot his name out of the Book of Life rather than killing all the children of Israel. And as a result, God saved the children of Israel. Nevertheless, He killed a considerable number of their elders. Though they were predestined to reach the Promised Land in forty days, it took them 40 years to reach their destination for they did not believe in God, their Creator.
As we all know from the Bible, God intermittently showed His signs and wonders and tried to rebuild their nation, which I will not delve in details. In a nutshell, we all know that God loved His chosen people, the children of Israel.
By virtue of being God’s chosen people, the children of Israel have been arrogant, and have self-pride which in turn resulted in degradation of their spiritual life to a great extent. Thus to save the children of Israel, and all peoples of the world, God sent His begotten son. Nevertheless, as stated earlier, due to the special privileges endowed upon them by God, they could not receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Though Pilate washed off his hands as he found no fault against Him (Jesus Christ), the Israelites shouted back to him, ‘Crucify him, Crucify him’ saying, ‘let His blood be on us, and on our children. Matthew 27:25’. Thus, the Lord, our Saviour had been crucified, and died on the cross. His death paves the way for our redemption. His sufferings and pains healed us as He recompensed our wages of sin, ensuring us all to be with Him in His heavenly kingdom. Since the curse and wrath of God befell upon the children of Israel, the neighbouring kings destroyed their kingdom, including the Holy Temple at Jerusalem as they were taken captives in A.D. 70. During His dispersion of the Israelites to different corners of the world to undergo pains and sufferings in their captivity, God remembered once again, the children of Manasseh.
In the year 2011, from a foreign land (Burma) came two women, Nu Parchi and Nu Mawii, dedicated to serving the Lord God Almighty, amongst our people in Manipur. They came not to seek or do as they wished, but to proclaim, in obedience to God, that which was instructed by Him that every leader of the Kuki National Organisation must be strong in the Lord because it is His will that they would be His instruments to serve and rebuild the Kuki nation. As leader of KNO, I gave my testimony upon being asked. Preceding the dedication of Nampi Maicham at Old Mission Compound, Songpi, on 10 March 2011, Nu Parchi, Nu Mawii and I were seated astride on the Menhir (monumental stone) and carried by the members of the public up to the site. I declined to be accorded this traditional honour. However, they (Nu Parchi and Nu Mawii) said God has anointed you as leader and this procession is part of the dedication ceremony of Nampi Maicham, representing unification of the Kuki people.
On 7 July 2011, in the presence of Reverends, and Pastors, and participation of over 60,000 souls, I unfurled a flag with a symbol of the lamb encircled by 5 stars of David and Nu Parchi inaugurated Nampi Maicham at Old Mission Compound, Songpi. A crucifix and a monumental stone (Kipum khatna) with inscription of Unity, Liberty and Fraternity are installed at the site.
In His love for the Kuki people God has engaged Nu Parchi, Nu Mawii, Rev Chomlhun and Evangelist Hnamtinkhum among us. To fulfil His will He has chosen me, the least among us, to gather together the children of Manasseh and establish the Manasseh nation. God be praised!
In 2011 God revealed His plan to His servant Rev Chomlhun. According to the Reverend, God planned for the children of Manasseh to be taken to China and then to all parts of Asia in order that they may forget their Israeli origin and receive salvation through Jesus Christ. It is God’s plan that Manasseh should be the bearer of the good news of salvation to the Nations including the Jews. It has been a belief among the Israelites that ‘Manasseh will be the bearer of a new seed’ – indeed, Jesus Christ is the ‘new seed’! (The Parable of the Shower Mark 4:1-34)
That the children of Manasseh should deliver the good news of salvation in Christ to the Jewish nation, and that the Lord God will deliver the Manasseh people in Asia and establish them as a nation, is His will. Therefore, in accordance with God’s revelation, says Rev Chomlhun, ‘I have written this account Manasseh: The Lost Tribe of Israel’. Therefore, it is pertinent that our people realise we are the descendants of Manasseh and preach the message of salvation through Christ to the Jewish nation.
Therefore, one day, the king ordered all the people to go and work. In the meantime, the king let his men to steal the scroll of the Israelites and hid it away from them. When they returned from their work, they could not find the scroll. As they were searching for the scroll, the king feigned ignorance and told them that the dogs must have eaten it up. Mindful of the King’s assertion, they ceased searching for it, knowing that the King had hidden it. Thus, they remained without any book of law. In spite of that, they could somehow observe the Sabbath and other important days as long as the high priests were alive. However, after the death of all the high priests and with lapse of over a hundred years, they could not observe the law and all the other days and events of religious significance. As time passed by, after the lapse of two to three hundred years, they completely forgot about their living God, and their being of Israelites. Thus, they remained a Lawless society. Considering themselves as mere slaves of the Chinese, they remained bondage under the Chinese rule. After their long captivity for hundreds of years, they forgot their living God and their religion as they lost their identity; their facial outlook and appearances gradually changed, much similar to those of the Mongoloid race.
In the face of loss of their identity and their God, the desire to escape from the Chinese became their sole objective. In A.D. 1050 one day, a hunter spotted a tunnel dug by porcupine near the Wall, which led to the other side of the wall, i.e. the Great Wall of China. Presuming it to be the only means of escape, they dug a tunnel and made good their escape.
The answer to the above question, ‘how does the preceding story have any relevance to us?’ lies only in the fact that we are the descendants of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. Without the Manasseh factor, there is nothing tangible to connect us to the Biblical account, which is the basis of this narrative.
It has become crystal clear that we all are brothers, who are inseparable and indivisible. The reason I say God loves Kuki -Manasseh the most we have been given divine opportunity to integrate and strengthen the brotherhood. Among the children of Israel, we are descendants of Manasseh (one of the lost tribes of Israel) it is our bounden duty and responsibility to proclaim the Gospel to all the nations of the world. I firmly believe with all my heart that God has assigned us to resurrect the Kingdom of Christ. One of the reasons why I said God loves most the children of Kukis (Manasseh) is because God led the Israelis out of Egypt and took them to the Promised Land, protecting them from a series of war under the leadership of Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Saul, David, Solomon, Jeptha, Gideon, Samson and the likes. However, with the rejection of Jesus Christ as their Saviour (Luke Chapter 34: 1-16), the wrath of God fell upon them, following the fall of the Israeli kingdom. And God purposed the Chinese king to buy the children of Manasseh as slaves in AD 75, and by AD 1050, our forefathers journeyed to our present inhabited areas, where we have been relatively safe. For instance, the death toll in the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak & Muivah)’s ethnic cleansing campaign against the Kukis is less than one thousand, which I recorded in Zale’n-gam the Kuki Nation (2008) and disseminated it to various parts of the world. Observing the anti-Semitic campaign launched by Hitler, which resulted in the killing of more than six million Jews, our ordeal and tragedy is not worth comparing. God’s love has been manifested in various ways: (i) Physically, we have been secured and safe, (ii) Spiritually; we have been saved, which I want to give more emphasis on as it is most important. For the salvation of our souls, God has secured us in our present-day inhabited areas by transforming us into Gentiles, to be saved as Christians. We identify ourselves as a Mongoloid stock while all the writers, anthropologists and ethnographers categorized us Tibeto-Burman group. Our forefathers worshipped different objects and forms, such as trees and stones as they have been lost. After experiencing such vicissitudes, Christ the Saviour brought us the Living Word of God, and our acceptance of which has assured us eternal life and we could celebrate Christian Centenary.
Therefore, today, knowing God’s purpose in sending of His Son to the world is the delight of God. Some sections of our community adopted Judaism and went to Israel. We should go back to Israel only to preach the plan of God’s Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rather than going back to Israel, we, who have been saved, ought to organize crusades and Gospel camps to extend God’s Kingdom.
From 20 April to 1 May 2015, a Zo Re-Unification Organisation delegation, led by Pu R Thangmawia, president was to participate at the 14th Session of UNPFII at New York. As Pu R Thangmawia was indisposed because of ill health, PS Haokip and Dr Seilen Haokip went representatives of ZoRO. A statement concerning the Zo people (Kuki, Mizo, Chin, Kachin, Konyak, Zeliangrong, Rongmai, Kabui, Inpui, Karbi, Bodo, Kachari, Khimnungan, Phom, Yimchunger, Chang, Sangtam, Singpho, Heimi, Nahen, Lainau, Naowa, Para and Makury) was made on Monday, 27 April under Item 7 Human rights: (a) Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (with specific focus on economic, social and cultural rights), which is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP, 2007) and the ‘Chin-Lushai Conference of 29 January 1892, Fort William Calcutta’, which passed the resolution concerning the need for our people to be brought under one administrative unit.
Presently, our people are in 14 Independent countries and dispersed in five different sovereign countries by the divisive design of past colonialism. Consequently, divided, we are a minority people in each of those countries and are seriously disadvantaged socially, economically and politically, which is attributable to a form of present-day colonialism.
These detriments are precisely issues the United Nations Organisation have passed resolutions on to address in keeping with human rights, as officially documented and ratified in United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It is now known that the descendants of Manasseh are in nineteen countries. Therefore, in March 2016, I carried copies of The Voice of God in a trunk and went to Bangkok in Thailand. At a post office in Bangkok, I sent copies to the prime ministers, presidents, Ambassadors and Journalists of Mongolia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, including Bhutan. In May 2016, France 24, a television channel with headquarters in Paris, which transmits in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, became aware of The Voice of God being sent to dignitaries of various Asian countries. Curiosity over Kuki people and their links with Manasseh brought two of the media journalists from ‘France 24’ based in Bangkok to come our land and interview me at Vengnom, Churachandpur in April 2016. They completed fifty per cent of their media shooting and in July proceeded to Jerusalem to complete the remaining fifty per cent. France 24 is set to release their production on the Kuki Manasseh people in mid-November 2016.
It is the will of Yahweh that we, the children of Manasseh, are a chosen people to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and that we praise and lift up His Holy name. If we respond to God’s will and worship Christ, we will be a blessed people far beyond our imaginations.
Meitei, Ao, Lotha, Sema and Garo:
The most recent addition to the Manasseh family is our brothers Meitei, Ao, Lotha, Sema and Garo. Although, this revelation has been duly disseminated through flyers, The Voice of God, owing to constraint of time, it has not been possible to include them in the programme as desired.
I thank our Lord, the Almighty for His blessings upon the Manasseh people, for bringing us together at the Celebration of Brotherhood Chavang Kut 2016 and making our unity ‘Bigger, Better and Stronger’. I pray that we will be enriched by His continued blessings in the years to come.
Chavang Kut Chibai!
(PS Haokip)
President, Kuki National Organisation
Zale'n-gam
MANMASI
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