Za Hlei Thang

Za Hlei Thang (ဇာလှေထန်း) (6 April 1943 – 17 March 2018) was a Burmese politician who was elected Member of Parliament as the Chin National League for Democracy candidate in the 1990 Myanmar general election.

Za Hlei Thang was born on 6 April 1943 at Tlauhmun Village, Falam Township, Chin State.

He studied primary school at Tlauhmun village and continue to study middle school at Falam City, the then capital city of Chin Special Division (now Chin State).

The government awarded scholarship to study at Myoma High School (Basic Education High School No. 2 Dagon) in Yangon.

On 2 March 1962 the Union Revolutionary Council led by General Ne Win staged a coup d’état’ against the democratically elected government in Burma.

He passed his matriculation exam in 1964 and he was the only student qualified for Medical School from the school.

He studied medicine at the University of Medicine-1, Yangon from 1965 onwards.

He joined the Chin Literature and Culture Committee and was active in politics.

On 2 December 1968, The Union Revolutionary Council set up an Internal Unity Advisory Board to advise the Union Revolutionary Council on how to restore internal unity and to draft a new constitution for the country.

The Union Revolutionary Council also officially invited the public to give suggestions for the Union constitution either on individual basis or in groups through a Liaison Officer appointed by the government.

A chin law student Lian Uk and his friends drafted and published the "Proposal of the Chin Youths" which demanded democracy and federalism.

Copies of the document was then distributed to all Chin University students in Yangon.

The Chin students were requested to read the document and sign their signatures if they agreed with its contents.

The document was then submitted to the Union Revolutionary Council via liaison officer.

Medical student Za Hlei Thang had great interest in the document and he was among the signatories.

He was also actively helping the Chin Democracy Party set up in Thailand, in alliance with U Nu’s Parliamentary Democracy Party to start an armed revolution against General Ne Win regime.

As a result, he was arrest by the Burma Military Intelligence Services (MIS) for his role in aiding the underground movement of the Chin Democracy Party and also for signing the "Proposal of the Chin Youths".

He was arrested in December 1972 under an operation known in Burmese as "Sin-Phyu-Daw Operation" which means the White Elephant Operation.

After he was tortured and questioned at Bahan MI6 Interrogation Center, he was transferred to the notorious Insein Prison.

There, he was put into solitary confinement for nine months.

While he was in Insein prison, he met with Salai Tin Maung Oo who led student demonstration during the U Thant funeral crisis and Shwedagon Strike in 1974 and 1975 respectively.

As, Salai Tin Maung Oo was a Chin ethnic, Za Hlei Thang invited him to join the Chin students’ movements.

He encouraged and help Salai Tin Maung Oo to be elected as general secretary in the Chin Literature and Culture Committee.

After the U Thant funeral crisis, he went to underground and then returned to Yangon.

When the military intelligence personnel searched to arrest Salai Tin Maung Oo, Dr Za Hlei Thang hid him at his house.

Dr. Za Hlei Thang was released from Insein Prison in 1974 and he continue to study medicine.

Salai Tin Maung Oo was finally arrested by MIS and later secretly hanged in Insein Prison on 26 June 1976.

He obtained M.B.B.S degree from the University of Medicine-1, Yangon in 1977.

He worked as a house surgeon at Mawlamyine General Hospital from 1977 – 1978.

Dr. Za Hlei Thang wanted to serve the Chin people so he moved to Tahan in 1979 and opened the Highlander Clinic.

During this time in Tahan, he played a leading role in promoting the use of Chin (Lai) ethnic language in Tahan.

He also founded the music group Salai-M who were the most popular music group in Kalay valley at that time.

He was also the founding father of Salem Baptist Church, El-Bethel Baptist Church, Lairawn Baptist Associations and Bethel Theological Seminary.

After the 1988 uprising, the State Law and Order Restoration Council prepared for a free election and allow political party to be formed.

Dr. Za Hlei Thang then went to Falam and founded the Chin Democratic Party.

After the 1990 election, he fled Burma after the State Law and Order Restoration Council accused him of breaking the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act, Article 20.

While in exile, he served as Chairman of the Chin League for Democracy, a "Chin party in exile".

He also served as Minister of Social Welfare and Development and Minister of Health and Education at the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma which is a "government in exile" led by Dr. Sein Win.

He also served as Chairman of the Chin National Front which is a Chin insurgent group in Myanmar (Burma).

He dedicated his life in the Chin national movement.