Mizos celebrate 'Chapchar Kut'

AIZAWL, March 10: Exuberant dancers performed to the tune of traditional music as Mizos all over the world celebrated 'Chapchar Kut' or 'summer festival' on Friday, reports PTI. In Aizawl, the 'Kut' function was held at the Assam Rifles ground where Art and Culture Minister Aichhinga who was named as 'Kut Pa' or 'Father of the Festival' appealed to the people to protect the customs and traditions of the ethnic Mizos. Aichhinga said that no nation or tribe can have self respect and survive unless they protect their cultural values and traditions. He urged the people to maintain peace and harmony, which is the spirit of the festival. The Chapchar Kut committee felicitated Lalsanga Pautu, a bank guard, who fearlessly and single-handedly repulsed the militants' attack on a bank in Meghalaya for his courage. Chapchar Kut is a festival held every year at this time when the forests cleared for cultivation was ready for burning in a shifting cultivation or 'jhum'.