U Kyaw Ze Ya, Chairman of the Township Peace and Development Council of Paletwa Township in Chin state on March 24 organized a training programme related to the referendum to approve the draft constitution. Over 100 village heads from Paletwa Township were summoned to attend the training.


In the invitation letter for the training programme, the authorities were also said to have mentioned the penalty in the event of failing to be present at the training programme, said a village head who requested anonymity for reasons of security.


On April 1, the local authorities forced all trainees to sign the approval agreeing to accept the draft constitution. The trainees were assigned to monitor polling booths during the voting to approve the constitution at the referendum, said a village head.


The village heads were also assigned to persuade the people, by whatever means, to cast the "Yes" vote.


Military officials from the battalion based in the area will accompany the village heads who will start campaigning among the locals soon to cast the "Yes" vote during the referendum.


The village heads were told to prevent any campaigning for casting the 'No' vote in the referendum by any organization in their respective areas. In case, there is any anti-referendum campaign in the area, the village heads will have to inform the concerned authorities immediately.


Meanwhile, most people in Chin state are ready to cast the 'No' vote if the referendum is held freely and fairly.


"I will vote 'No' if we can cast the vote freely without any vendetta from the authorities. Most of the people in Chin state are ready to oppose the draft constitution. If they force and threaten us to vote 'Yes', the people are likely to vote 'Yes'," a local from Chin state said.


A delegate from Nay Pi Daw, the new capital of Burma, is likely to visit Chin state in the last week of April to oversee the situation in the region. Khonumthung News