Where has the Mara (Lakher) Country gone? Has the world forgotten Mara people? Are we arriving to our Gospel Centenary without knowing the purpose? Read more about 'The Lost country and forgotten People' contributed by Sasa below.
The Lost country and forgotten People
Written by Sasa, Armenia
Where has the Mara (Lakher) Country gone? Has the world forgotten Mara people? Are we arriving to our Gospel Centenary without knowing the purpose? As the saying, every change is a law of nature, so as the changes of every living thing in this world. Every nation or the people wherever they live they are born with their own distinctive ways, as we know the evolvement of all tribes and groups of people in this world have their own history, not judging on how it was before, but to know and learn how it was before, as we have distinguished a lot in terms of not only how man evolved but all the organisms living, like plants and animals, each have their own way of life, how and when or how they live, likewise for people of certain tribes too. The world has gone a lot of changes yet still there is lot of unknown facts that are still prevalent in this generation as we call the modern generation.
This new century has brought us into a new limelight but not the fact that everybody is living in what is supposed to be, to be more concerned is that there are lots of deprivements still continuing in many parts of the world as we have never heard of, even as we know the fact that water is everywhere but where does it come to at the end, likewise rivers ,streams, brooks all at last come to their own destination, the lake or the sea or the ocean, extended on what is written. Even though a kind of species is separated from its own habitat to a new habitat, it has always a point from where it was separated, everything has their own hold on wherever they are specified, for instance a bamboo grows in its own specific environment as does the timbers in the forest or the creepers in the special created region of the jungle where suitable to grow just as it is, each has their own way of how it grows and get adapted to its surroundings without being hampered by other habitats in their space this is the nature being which no one can deny of it.
So as people have lived and still live in their own territory, even though you can be anywhere or wherever but not do deny the fact that we are from where we have come from, nobody can deny our roots from where we came from. There is still lots of facts which people just don’t like to agree on it, as being a human being or being from a group of tribe everyone has the right to be what they are and express themselves and so be given the right and every possible opportunities so as to live, so why is that smaller groups or the certain tribes of people are being suppressed and deprived of theirs rights by the much stronger or the majority group. So is it not the right for everyone to live and express their own thoughts, and to belong to their own origin and to their unique tribe, why is it so that even after long centuries of struggle still the less are always the ones deprived.
Every tribe has their own history of how they came, where they lived, what they did and who they are, no other tribe or group has the right to change their history, coming to the point that we the MARA people have existed and lived in our homeland for more than a decade of centuries, has not our forefathers and ancestors lived there, they sure did, so is it not our homeland anymore or is it not our country anymore, so why is that this present century has neglected us, we are no longer called as a country but being considered as a small district or village, the time is coming when they will considered as a block till complete discriminated.
If we trace back to our ancestors we can see clearly how we were, it was indeed a great history and it still is so nobody has the right to clear off our history and give us a new name considering us as an unknown tiny tribe that has existed. How is it that after a long period of time we the MARA have been deprived of all our rights, we are given no recognition, even after living in our own homeland, why is it now that we are being considered as a tiny group of people and have no specific route to go, why is it now not only our land are divided in to small pieces with different names but also our people are separated half in India and the other half in Burma, is it for the interest of their people to separate us, surely is not for the interest of our people to get separated though we Maras are undividable in blood, why is that they put our people under the other’s rule and law even though we have had our own way to life with suitable, appropriate laws for us and strive in the place which our ancestors left us.
No matter the fact that this century has taken a lot of changes but still everyone did come from a particular root not denying the fact where they are now, so why is it so that we are still being left. We have a rich history and we sure should be proud of it so as to remember our rightful place, we can see how our Mara country was ruled by our own kings and chiefs in every village where everyone had their own rich traditions not forgetting their distinctive laws, rules and rights but now we lost those rights with which our forefathers used to enjoy heavenly.
We, MARA have been known to the world from long time back, since then we are neglected in this present century, our land was discovered long time back to the fact that we were known as a Mara Country or the other word as The Lakher Country in those days not as a district or a small group of people, we lived in our own country, our own homeland governed by our chiefs, so as till today we live in our own land but being neglected. Tracing back we can see when the so called foreigners came to our homeland, they mostly were Second World War soldiers and missionaries from outside of our country; they came to our land and called our land a Country not a state or district but the Mara’s of Mara country.
Almost a century has gone where we the Mara’s are still living in this present political century, yet the fact is we are still under the pressure of a lot of sufferings, we have been forgotten to the present century, our Mara Country had been denied by major group of people, we are no longer recognized as a Mara country but as a small group of people, why is it so that we are no longer protected, we are living in a world where we have nowhere to turn to, we have been scattered a cross international
border, a cross the wall which major group of people placed between our people to divided our country into two parts and now we are in the middle of nowhere. For instance our people from both sides now have no place to even express our thoughts likewise in Burma and in India, we are not recognized as tribe with rich history of how we have lived before and existed till date, our country is stuck in this modern political trap always being suppressed by the majority group.
So why are we still being neglected, why does the majority always have to suppress the minor group, where is that democracy and where is that so called freedom, is the freedom for every body or is it just only for some group of people who has the right to freedom and justice, as we arrived 21st century, a modern beginning of peace and harmony with powerful technology but yet our people are still under the pressure of the majority group instead of allowing so called freedom and modern technology to flow into our land, is it not the majority group to protect the minor group or assist the minor group for their well being, is it not the powerful man to help powerless one, is it that fair if the rich nation share nothing with poorer one, it will not be fair if the blood failed to circulate equally through out our body, if it so there can never be a healthy person.
Therefore each and every tribe should be allowed to free to their own responsibilities and to give each tribe their own sovereignty to live and strive. We the Mara’s are being neglected; don’t we have the right to be recognized? we sure have the right to be recognized and given equal rights and support as the rest of the world, but yet even after so long we are always being neglected by both sides of the majority group, even after the fact that we are still a tribe having our own history, how long will this denying go on how far more of suffering are they going to take us, our people have come a long way regarding the pain they have suffered, so why is it still our people are neglected, how long will they make us suffer, how long will they suppress our voice.
So is it not the time for us to put our strongest opinion, our wealth, our skills and our ideas and visions to bring a change to our society, it really is a time to bring change, to bring back the rich history of our Maraland and socialize with the world, so that we can be recognized by not only the majority group but from the whole world, this will bring back our rights if all we Mara people come to the sense that we still live in our rich history, so why is it so that we are still in the dark not knowing the main
principle of our homeland to bring it to light, it is the time now for us to really make a new beginning for the well being of our people, if we loose the hope of our beginning it is sure that not only our Mara country will be lost forever but our so called Mara district, village, even to the tribe. So why should we let the opportunity of letting our rich history being erased from us, isn’t it our duty to protect after so long of what our ancestors have shown us, we should not only stress on what the present situation is but also to think and act for our future so as how we can live and preserve our history and not letting our Mara Country lost forever.
There is still time for our generation to grow and show the world that we Mara people are undividable by blood, undeniable by our unique culture and still exist with our rich history as the rest of the majority group, so why should we let ourselves loose hope when still there is a way out, even though we are stranded in the middle of nowhere at this present, but if we gather all our hopes and work together there sure is a way when we can again see our Mara Country standing tall with her uniqueness to the life we should not let our hopes go in vain, we cannot let the majority to suppress us again and again, but the time will come if we all join our hopes to the future our people and try hard to bring back our Mara country by giving all of our efforts.
Therefore, It is the duty of every Mara individual to think and act of what our responsibility is, the other hand it is the duty for the major group to have respect to the minor and help the minor to achieve her responsibility, this is the high time for us all to free to our own responsibilities, we should never try to be free from this huge responsibility to bear otherwise our people and country future will be endanger with irreversible, we should never allow ourselves to end on nowhere. We should always remember that every one of us has a purpose to live and strive; our biggest duty in this world is to remain on the purpose of our life and to give up everything for our purpose. Therefore putting all our efforts for the purpose of making our people better and rebuilding our MARA COUNTRY is the main reason for which we are born.
Sasa
Fifth Year, Doctor of Medicine
Yerevan State Medical University
Armenia.
Dear,
Dr. Sa Sa,
A ly a chhie ngai ta kaw...Paw Khazohpa ta a kaw via pa ta nata a ki via pa ta cha vaw chhie tha ly ma maw seh........
Helen Ngo Thle Paw..................