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BurmaNet News: September 16




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"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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BurmaNet News: Friday, September 16, 1994


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Contents:

1: NATION: THE SLORC AND ISLAM
2: BURMANET: GUIDE TO "INVESTING IN MYANMAR" AVAILABLE
3: KHRG: TESTIMONY OF A KAREN POLITICAL PRISONER

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NATION: THE SLORC AND ISLAM
September 4, 1994

[This article is a bit dated but has not been on the net before and is worth
reading--editor]

by Donald Wilson and David Henley, Crescent Press Agency

It isn't always easy to follow the mental processes of the men behind Burma's
military government.  In the past, and perhaps under the old regime, it was
taken as read that--at least in economic and political matters--Burmese
military thinking was rigid, stultified and incompetent.

No longer.  In recent years the "Young Turks" of the SLORC, no doubt with the
tacit approval of Ne Win, have successfully employed a judicious mixture of
carrot and stick to persuade virtually all of Burma's ethnic rebels to sign
ceasefire agreements.  Today Bo Mya and his Karen National Union are the last
major holdouts--and perhaps not for long.

Given this new, Machiavellian competence on the part of the Slorc, what
should be made of the following?  In recent months, disregarding vociferous
objections by the local Muslim community [which happens to be of
predominantly South Asian ethnic origin], the Burmese military authorities
demolished a mosque at Myawady in Karen State, ostensibly as part of a major
road-building project.  Meanwhile, around the same time, the Muslim community
of Tachilek in Shan State [which happens to be of predominantly Chinese
ethnic origin] was celebrating the opening of a fine new mosque built partly
with government aid.

The demolition of the Myawaday mosque should raise few eyebrows.  Slorc--like
its parent and predecessor, the Burmese Socialist Party Programme--has never
held any affection for Islam, which it associates with "non-indigenous"
people and more particularly, immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 
For more puzzling, why should Rangoon be getting involved with the opening of
a mosque in distant Tachilek, nowadays much touted by Slorc as "The City of
the Golden Triangle?"

Burma, like Thailand, is a predominantly Buddhist country.  Like Thailand,
too, it has a sizeable Muslim minority comprising perhaps 2,700,000 persons,
or about 6% of the population.  These Burmese Muslims come from many varied
ethnic backgrounds, although few are truly "indigenous" to Burma in the sense
of having been permanently established in the country for more than a century
or so.  This may seem an academic point, but in some circles--notably among
the ruling Burmese military authorities--it makes most Muslims interlopers,
associated with the mass migration of Indians which took place during the
period of British colonial rule.

If fact there have been Muslims living in Burma, which appears on early Arab
navigational charts of the region, for more than a thousand years.  Mainly
traders and sailors, they remained few in number until 1884--in which year
King Bodawpaya annexed the previously independent Kingdom of Arakan, with its
considerable Muslim population, to the Burmese Empire.  Today Arakan, and
especially the northwestern region around Buthidaung, remains home to Burma's
largest population of "indigenous" Muslims, settled on land their ancestors
have farmed for centuries.  Even this issue has been clouded, though--at
least in Burman nationalist eyes--by the long settlement in the region of
illegal Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Arakan Muslims--known as Rohingyas--aside, it is difficulty to find a Muslim
community throughout the length and breadth of Burma which the Slorc
considers "indigenous".  Of course, there are a plethora of Muslim groups
scattered from Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State in the north, to
Kawthaung (Victoria Point) near Rangoon in the far south.

Most of these groups--for example, the Chittagonians, the Bengalis, the
Punjabis, the Chulias, the Bohras, and the Mappilas--trace their ethnic
origins to South Asia, and their historical appearance in Burma to the time
of the British Raj.  They are, by and large, urban-based traders, and int he
eyes of the Slorc--and many ordinary Burmans--they most definitely are not
"indigenous."

Leaving aside a handful of Islamicised Moken [Chao Thalae or "Sea Gypsies"],
there are two other significant groups of Muslims in Burma.  The Slorc would
like to consider them non-Burmese migrants, but in these cases it isn't so
easy to dismiss the people involved as "non-indigenous".  The Muslims
involved are the Zerbadees, or Burmese-speaking descendants of mixed
marriages between Indian Muslim men and Burman women, and the "Panthay"
Chinese--migrants from Yunnan who have also settled widely in North Thailand.

The Zerbadees [the term is essentially pejorative, implying mixed race] are
by and large an urban based community living throughout the country and
engaging in all kinds of business except farming.  Many "pure" Burmans resent
the Zerbadees, seeing in their ancestry a reminder of the much-disliked South
Asian communities which came to dominate the Burmese economy during the
colonial period.

The Zerbadees are not South Asians, however, but Burmese--in that they speak
Burmese as their mother tongue, wear Burmese clothing, eat Burmese food
(suitably Halal, of course), and above all identify with Burma.  For these
reasons and because the Zerbadees--really Burman Muslims--live interspersed
with the majority Burman Buddhist population at all levels of society, it is
impractical for the Slorc to treat them as a non-indigenous people.

Which brings us to the Chinese Muslims, known in Burmese as Panthays.  This
group originated in Yunnan, especially in the west of the province, where for
many centuries they have been the muleteers and caravan traders to the Burma-
Thailand-Laos frontier area.  In Burma they remain traders, living in small
settled communities throughout the Shan States, in Mandalay and in Rangoon. 
As Yunnanese Chinese they are not, strictly speaking, an "Indigenous" Burmese
people.  Come to that, pushing this ethno-centric interpretation to its
limits, they are not even 100% indigenous Chinese, as they trace their
ancestry to Uzbek soldiers of Bukhara in the service of the Mongol Khans. 
Such spurious arguments aside, it can be argued that the Panthays are the
nearest thing to an "indigenous" non-Burman population in Burma, since
evidence exists that members of their community have lived within the
present-day frontiers of Burma for as long as 800 years.

All this begs the question, what exactly do the Burmese military authorities
mean by "non-indigenous", and what doest his category mean for the peoples
concerned?  In brief, to attain "indigenous" status, a national group in
Burma has to be able to prove that its ancestors were permanently resident in
the country before the arrival of the British in Arakan and Tenasserim in
1826.  Over the next 60 years the British were to occupy first Lower Burman
and Rangoon (in 1852), then Upper BUmra and Mandalay (in 1866).  Between the
arrival of the British and Burmese independence in 1948, the demographic
character of Burma was to change dramatically, with massive immigration from
the Indian Subcontinent, reducing Burmans to a minority in their own major
cities.  The anti-South Asian [Hindu, Sikh or Muslim is immaterial] sentiment
which this produced led to the wholesale expulsion of South Asians after
independence and is the root cause of the Slorc's discrimination against
"non-indigenous" groups.

Until recently all Muslim groups in Burma suffered from some degree of
discrimination.  Arakan, home of the main "indigenous" group of Muslims, the
Rohingyas is under virtual military occupation by the Slorc, and hundreds of
thousands of Muslims have fled or been pushed across the frontier to
Bangladesh.  The Burmese military authorities argue that these refugees are
illegal migrants from the Chittagong area of Bangladesh who have merely been
expelled.  But Arakan opposition groups, including the militant Rohingya
Solidarity Organisation (RSO), insist that the Tatmawdaw, or Burmese army,
does not distinguish between illegal Bengali migrants and indigenous Arakan
Rohingyas, but attacks all Muslims indiscrimanently.

While Slorc has been pursuing these ruthless policies at home, it has at the
same time been trying to present a more open face to the world at large, and
especially to ASEAN, with whom it is conducing "constructive engagement".  It
is true that Thailand, Rangoon's main advocate in ASEAN, is not really
concerned with the fate of Burma's Muslims.  The predominantly Muslim states
of Indonesia, Brunei and--especially--Malaysia are, however, and Slorc's
mistreatment of its Muslim minorities has both shocked and angered these key
Asean states.

Seen in this light, it is easier to understand Slorc's building activities in
Shan State.  Tachilek is a border town, open to Thais, Asean nationals and
other tourists alike.  With the recent opening of Kengtung in the heart of
eastern Shan State, and developing road construction between Thailand, Burma
and China's Yunnan Province, Tachilek has become something of a showpiece to
the outside world.  It's also pretty well isolated from the rest of Burma--so
what better place to build a spanking new mosque.

But the clincher for Slorc, which doesn't normally go around building
mosques, must have been that the core of Tachilek's pious Muslim population
is Panthay Chinese--not South Asian.  Until the late 1980s the Panthays, like
all Burmese Muslims, suffered from serous persecution.  Denied nationality by
the "non-indigenous" clause, they were refused national identity cards,
limited in their freedom to travel within Burma, and forbidden to build
mosques, religious schools, and even to use their Chinese or Muslim names in
official business.

Today all that has changed.  The Panthays have been recognized as an
indigenous people of Burma, and in Tachilek are the proud possessors of a
fine new mosque--and madrassa.  In following this policy Slorc clearly hopes
to appears the Muslim element in Asean and silence critics in the Middle
East.  The clever thing is, by choosing the Panthays as recipients for this
largesse, they avoid stirring up the anti-Indian sentiment which lies just
beneath the surface of Burmese political life.  At the same time--and this
can hardly have escaped the wily men in Rangoon--the Panthays, one of Burma's
smallest Chinese-speaking minorities, are benefiting; a fact which will be
noted with distant approval in Peking, Burma's main ally and chief supplier
of arms.
*************************************************************
BURMANET: GUIDE TO "INVESTING IN MYANMAR" AVAILABLE

"Investing in Myanmar 1994" is in print and available in bookstores in
Bangkok.  This is not intended to be an endorsement either of the book or
investing in Burma.  However, those with an interest in the current economic
situation in Burma may find the guide useful, especially for its information
about the current tax and legal structure.

The 82-page guide lists for 160 baht (just under US$7) and is printed by:

     Advanced Communications Co., Ltd, 
     2nd Floor, Block A, Monririn Building
     60/1 Phaholyothin 8, Bangkok 10400
     tel: (662) 270-1740-9 (Ext 611-616)

The publisher is the Union of Myanmar Foreign Investment Commission.

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KHRG: TESTIMONY OF A KAREN POLITICAL PRISONER
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
August 25, 1994


The following account was given by a Karen political prisoner
who was released from Bassein Prison in the Irrawaddy Delta in
June 1994.  He was not arrested in the Delta and it is unclear
why they sent him there, but most of the political prisoners in
that prison are Karen church and community leaders who were arrested
after an armed Karen uprising failed in the Delta in October 1991.
 Since then, SLORC has maintained a reign of absolute terror over
Karen villages in the Delta, completely out of sight of the world
community.  Many of the prisoners he was with are probably presumed
dead by their own families after disappearing 2 or 3 years ago
in the hands of SLORC troops.

This man's name has been changed and some other details omitted
to protect him and his family.  Please use this report in any
way which may help put an end to stories like this one in Burma.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

NAME:     Maung Win Htun SEX: M    AGE: 39        Karen Buddhist
ADDRESS:  Mone Township, Nyaunglebin District, Pegu Division
FAMILY:   Married with children              OCCUPATION:  Small goods peddler

They arrested me on January 29, 1992.  I went to a village called
C---.  There was a family there with a son who wanted to join
the Revolution, and his mother thought I had come from the KNLA
[Karen National Liberation Army] to encourage the village youth
to join, so she reported this to the authorities mistakenly, and
the police came and arrested me.

They took me to Chaung Gone lockup.  I remember that they started
to torture me on February 14, and they kept torturing me until
March 5.  They tortured and interrogated me for long periods.

They asked,  "How many KNLA soldiers went to join the Delta Karen
soldiers?"  I told them I don't know anything about that, because
I don't.  They asked me about General Bo Mya and 101 Battalion
[KNLA] at Kaw Moo Rah.  I said I don't know anything about that
because it's so far from Mone Township and I've never even been
there.  They slapped both my ears at the same time very hard with
their hands.  It made my ears ring and I went completely deaf
for 5 minutes ['boxing the ears' like this can very easily cause
permanent hearing damage].  They punched me and kicked me, and
they dragged me to the river and held my head underwater while
they stabbed the back of my neck.  They held my head underwater
for over a minute at a time.  The worst thing they did was shock
me with electricity.  They put metal caps on 2 of my fingers and
turned on the electricity, and they can control how much voltage
they stab you with.  They turned up the power higher and higher
until it was unbearable.  I felt paralyzed for an hour afterwards,
and it was so terrible that I couldn't do anything, I couldn't
even eat.

I was interrogated by 2 police and 1 army intelligence man.  During
my interrogation they didn't feed me any food for 5 days.  One
of the soldiers came and gave me some food secretly.  The interrogators
beat, punched and kicked me countless times and I got internal
injuries, and you can see that my hand looks abnormal [Maung Win
Htun's left arm is visibly deformed and shorter than his right
arm with a distorted swelling of the bone just below the elbow
and a partly disabled hand, the result of a broken arm during
the beatings which was never treated].  Some of the political
prisoners from the pro-democracy uprisings [probably the 1988
uprisings] had lots of money and they felt sorry for me, so they
said things to cheer me up like "It's okay, you are going against
SLORC, so don't feel small.  We're going to help you as much as
we can".  They gave me some food and money and took care of me
like their brother.  I was at Chaung Gone for 4 months and 18
days, then they sent me to Ye Gyi for 71 days.  Then finally on
August 7, 1992 the SLORC sentenced me to 3 years.

After they sentenced me they sent me to Bassein Jail [Bassein
is the major town of Irrawaddy Division] on August 15.  At the
jail there were so many people from different places, from Maung
Mya, Ma Oo Bin, Bo Kalay, Nga Pu Daw, Hin Tha Dah, Inn Ka Puh
and other places.  There were 2,200 people altogether, male and
female.  While I was there over 300 people were killed by disease.
 When people got sick they weren't given any medical treatment
- only when they were about to die they were sent to the prison
hospital.  Most of the patients died the next day after being
sent.  Most of them were over 60.  A lot were KNU [Karen National
Union] veterans or people who deserted from the KNU.  After the
Delta uprising [in October 1991] the SLORC had arrested them all
again.

When I arrived at the prison they put me alone in a cell as a
political prisoner.  They didn't force the political prisoners
to do labour.  They put us each alone in a small cell.  Early
in the morning they let us go out to go to the toilet, then they
made us go back in at about 7:30 a.m.  At 12 noon we could go
out again for a bath, and then again at 3 p.m.  After that they
locked us up until the next morning.  They fed us twice a day
with enough rice, but the bean soup was very bad.  They just put
a few beans in a lot of water, and they gave us bad prawn paste
that was half paste and half sand.  They just deliberately treated
us badly.  In the evening they gave us rice with boiled water-greens,
just boiled in water without any salt or seasoning.  Whether we
liked it or not we had to eat it.

My cell was about 3 yards by 4 yards with a toilet pot in it.
Sometimes 3 of us had to stay in there, and sometimes I was alone.
I lived in that cell for over a year, and in an ordinary big
cell with many others for over a year.  After sentencing they
never beat or interrogated us.  We were never allowed to talk
to each other, only to the guards, so I don't know much about
the other prisoners.  Even while we were taking a bath we weren't
allowed to talk to each other.

Those who were criminal prisoners, like if they were charged with
rape or something, had to carry away the toilet pots.  These are
oil drums cut in half, and two of them have to carry them away
on a pole.  If they were too weak to carry them they were beaten
like cattle.  As for the old people, they made them catch or kill
300 flies every day.  They said to them, "In jail all the people
must work".  The prisoners with sentences under 5 years were just
made to work in the jail.  Those who had sentences over 5 years
were sent for Yeh Pet labour [this means labour on government
projects such as roads and railways].  Those people had to work
very hard.

They never allowed us to get pens, books, newspapers, magazines
or letters, but it was easy to get them anyway if you could bribe
them.  Some prisoners had money so they paid the guards 450 Kyat
every month, and the guards would get all those things for them.
 If they trusted a prisoner and liked him they'd let him act pretty
freely.  As for me, I was sentenced to 3 years but I was only
in jail for just over 2 years.

After I was released I tried to go back to my family, but I couldn't
even find my village.  My village had been relocated.  I only
saw the poles of the houses, and I had no way to stay there. 
Now I'm still looking for my wife.  I'm trying to find them in
the refugee camps.  I don't know how to get revenge against the
SLORC.  I'm afraid to fight them, and we've been oppressed since
we were young, so all I want is to find my family.  I miss my
family, and I have no money and not even any clothes.  I don't
even want to stay alive anymore.
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ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:

 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
 AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BI: BURMA ISSUES
 BIG: BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 BKK POST: THE BANGKOK POST
 CPPSM: COMMITTEE FOR THE PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
 DA:  DEPTHNEWS ASIA
 FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
 NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)

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