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THE PANGLONG AGREEMENT, 1947



                   THE PANGLONG AGREEMENT, 1947
 
 
A conference having been held at Panglong,attended by certain
Members of the Executive Council of the Governor of Burma, all
Saohpas and representatives of the Shan States, the Kachin
Hills and the Chin Hills:
 
The Members of the Conference, believing that freedom will be
more speedily achieved by the Shans, the Kachins and the Chins
by their immediate co-operation with the Interim Burmese
Government:
 
The Members of the Conference have accordingly, and without
dissentients, agreed as follows:-
 
 
1. A representative of the Hill Peoples, selected by the
Governor on the recommendation of representatives of the
Supreme Council of the United Hill Peoples (SCOUHP), shall be
appointed a Counsellor to the Governor to deal with the
Frontier Areas.
 
2.   The said Counsellor shall also be appointed a Member of
the Governor's Executive Council, without portfolio, and the
subject of Frontier Areas brought within the purview of the
Executive Council by Constitutional Convention as in the case
of Defence and External Affairs. The Counsellor for Frontier
Areas shall be given executive authority by similar means.
 
3.  The said Counsellor shall be assisted by two Deputy
Counsellors representing races of which he is not a member.
While the two Deputy Counsellors should deal in the first
instance with the affairs of the respective areas and the
Counsellor with all the remaining parts of the Frontier Areas,
they should by Constitutional Convention act on the principle
of joint responsibility.
 
4.  While the Counsellor, in his capacity of Member of the
Executive Council, will be the only representative of the
Frontier Areas on the Council, the Deputy Counsellors shall be
entitled to attend meetings of the Council when subjects
pertaining to the Frontier Areas are discussed.
 
5. Though the Governor's Executive Council will be augmented
as agreed above, it will not operate in respect of the
Frontier Areas in any manner which would deprive any portion
of these Areas of the autonomy which it now  enjoys in
internal administration. Full  autonomy in internal
administration for the Frontier Areas is accepted in
principle.
 
6.   Though the question of demarcating and establishing a
separate Kachin State within a Unified Burma is one which must
be relegated for decision by the Constituent Assembly, it is
agreed that such a State is desirable. As first step towards
this end, the Counsellor for Frontier Areas and the Deputy
Counsellors shall be consulted in the administration of such
areas in the Myitkyina and the Bhamo District as are Part II
Scheduled Areas under the Government of Burma Act of 1935.
 
7. Citizens of the Frontier Areas shall enjoy rights and
privileges which are regarded as fundamental in democratic
countries.
 
8. The arrangements accepted in this Agreement are without
prejudice to the financial autonomy now vested in the
Federated Shan States.
 
9.   The arrangements accepted in this Agreement are without
prejudice to the financial assistance which the Kachin Hills
and the Chin Hills are entitled to receive from the revenues
of Burma, and the Executive Council will examine with the
Frontier Areas Counsellor and Deputy Counsellors the
feasibility of adopting for the Kachin Hills and the Chin
Hills financial arrangements similar to those between Burma
and the Federated Shan States.