Khuangleng
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1871 massacre by Laitui residents
The Times of India, Nov 26, 2015
Myanmar village seeks pardon for 1871 Mizo massacre
In a unique cross-border initiative, villagers of a Mizoram hamlet and their counterparts from a village in Myanmar gathered along the international border and prayed to erase the sins of their forefathers. In a ritual enactment, the first of its kind in Mizoram, residents of Khuangleng village in the state's Champhai district `forgave' the residents of Laitui village, located in the Chin Hills of Myanmar, whose ancestors effected a massacre that almost wiped out the Mizo village 144 years ago.
The invasion of Khuangleng by Sukte chief Zapauva in 1871 occurred at a time the Mizo village's chief warriors, led by generals Lalburha and Thanhranga, were away on an expedition in the Assam hills.
Elderly men, women and children were left behind to bear the brunt of the attack and the defenceless inhabitants were either killed or taken as slaves to Myanmar's Laitui.
The Suktes are part of an ethnic group of Kuki-Chin origin and are spread across the northeast and Myanmar. Inexplicably, the incident left a deep scar in the minds of Laitui villagers over the years, with many believing that frequent accidental deaths and illnesses among youngsters in the Myanmarese village were a consequence of the terrible massacre of 1871.
The mass prayers for `forgiveness' took place on Khuangleng playground along the Mizoram-Myanmar border and were attended by villagers from Khuangleng, as well as 90-odd people from Laitui who arrived. The forgiveness ritual was followed by a community feast, the cost of which was borne by the residents of Laitui.
