| Khonumthung Media Group (KMG) is an independent News Agency, covering Chin State, Indo-Myanmar Border, Kalay-Kabaw area and Myanmar related issues in English and Myanmar. KMG is committed to providing reliable news and current issues through balanced, and accurate news.Khonumthung is a name given to the highest mountain, located in Kanpalet Township, Southern Chin State, North-Western Myanmar. It is approximately 10,018 feet high from sea level. The Khonumthung (otherwise called Mt. Victoria that was given by the British in honor to Queen Victoria during their invasion in Chinland) is decorated with various kinds of flowers were Elephants, Tigers, Bears, Wild Boars, various kinds of Monkeys, Barking Deers, Wild Goats and various Birds abode.Khonumthung Background The Khonumthung News Group (KNG) was initiated on 7th March 2002 by the Chin youth based in Mizoram, Northeast India.KNG is a member of the Burma News International (BNI), initiated by the exiled Burmese Journalists and News Agencies, from a seminar in Kolkota in 2003. In 2012, the News Group have returned to the inside of Myanmar and made registration for Khonumthung News Journal under the Ministry of Information Affairs to published Bi-monthly based in Tahan Block, Kalay, Sagaing Region in Myanmar. In 2018, the News Group has registered the Publication of Tahan Post Bi-monthly News Journal again. From 2020, the News Group has officially changed the name of ‘Khonumthung News Group’ into ‘Khonumthung Media Group’ under the News Agency registration in the Ministry of Information Affairs Myanmar.The offensive Press Security Act of Burma misinformed the people of Myanmar and Chin State and has less access to the national or international news. The circulation of local/state news is limited. Freedom of Press and Expression is totally denied to the people. The state-controlled media served no purposeful mean to the people. It is an official propaganda machine for the former Military Junta.The Khonumthung Media Group has been set up to provide real facts and reliable news from Western Myanmar as a whole and Chin State in particular as the mainstream Burmese press or the opposition media in exile could not cover Western Myanmar and Chin State. The Khonumthung Media Group strives to bridge these missing factors.The Khonumthung Media Group advocates people’s opinion in a democratic manner. It champions the Right to Freedom of Expression and Information and counters the state-controlled media. The Press Securities Act requires severe censorship and dictates the military regime to anyone who wishes to express their voice in letters or through any means of expression including the audio-visual arts. For this reason, no newspaper or independent magazines have grown in the entire Chin State.The Khonumthung Media Group Aims and Objectives are thus: -1. To provide all-out information about the Chin people. 2. To establish international standard journalism. 3. To make the Chin free for media and information. 4. To establish freedom of the press, Democracy and Human Rights in Myanmar.The absence of freedom of expression and information, the developments in the state go unreported and more often misreported by the Burmese junta owned and controlled press, radio and TV, broadcast from Yangon. Chin State does not have its own radio or TV stations besides the absence of the printed media, except for the limited number of annual magazines that are heavily controlled by the SPDC junta before. With the increased call for globalization, the role of the media has become not only a daily necessity but also a means to vent the public outcry. The right to freedom of expression and information is severely checked and manipulated in Myanmar.Khonumthung Media Group does not profess to solve all these problems overnight. But pledge to the international community that, we are resolved to further the causes of democracy and human rights in the least developed region of Myanmar. At present, through a reliable network of volunteers and correspondents, we are keeping track of the news and other developments inside Myanmar. People at home are now getting conscious about the power of the free press as our news pieces are picked up by many illustrious broadcasting houses and at a limited scale we are filtering in opposition publications inside Chin State, and therefore Myanmar.The people of Western Myanmar and Chin State are less aware of the happening in the wide world. Khonumthung Media Group, in its short tenure, could provide awareness of the effects of the media in relaying their message to the world and share their trials and tribulations under the oppressive military rule. Khonumthung Media Group, undertaking such bold measures, has helped in finding solutions to the existing problems at home.About Chin State Location Chin State is located in North-Western Myanmar. It lies between 21° 0′ and 24° 15′ North Latitude and between 93°15′ and 94°0′ East Longitude. India bordered Chin State in the North and Western Region; Rakhine State to the South; Sagaing and Magway Division to the East. Chin State has an area of 13,907 sq miles.Chin State is comprised of nine Townships – Tonzang, Tedim, Falam, Hakha, Thantlang, Matupi, Mindat, Kanpalet and Paletwa. New three sub-townships have been established – Gikha, Rih and Rizua respectively. Hakha is the capital of Chin State and Matupi was officially proclaimed as the Second Capital.Population The population of Chin State is 478,801, according to the government’s report in 2014.Religions in Chin State: Chin State is comprised of 80 percent Christians and the remaining 20 percent are Buddhists and Animists.National Symbols: Hornbill is National Bird and Rhododendron is National Flower of the Chins. | |
