[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Editorial : Independence Day - The



Subject: Editorial : Independence Day - The Shan Perspective 

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_004C_01BF5694.75C29C20
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Shan- EU

January 4, 2000

Editorial : Independence Day - The Shan Perspective=20
On the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the Independence Day, it =
should be appropriate to look back into its historical foundation, so =
that we could scrutinize and assess this achievement which has gone =
wrong for most of us, devastating our social fabric and daily =
livelihood.=20

Human relationships, from individuals to families and to those of =
nations, are complex. But to us Shans, the basic rule is a simple one: =
Relationships are strengthened when promises are kept, and they =
deteriorate and crumble when promises are broken. To patch up a broken =
relationship, one cannot simply ignore and avoid referring to those =
broken promises and hope that things will mend themselves.

         Such is the case in the territory now generally referred to as =
Burma or, to a lesser extent, as Myanmar. This area known as Burma today =
has always been populated by different peoples and divided into =
different countries such as the Shan States, the Karenni and Burma. This =
vast expanse of countries that existed between India and China was, of =
course, simply referred to as Indochina in those early days. So when the =
French occupied Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, they called them =
collectively as French Indochina. However, when the rival British took =
the countries further west, they simplified things - or so they thought =
- by naming their whole dominion as British Burma instead of British =
Indo-China. That was how Burma as is known today came to be born and not =
as chauvinistic minded Burmese historians would like us to believe that =
all of British Burma was the Burmese Kingdom of Burma.=20

Even so, the British, in recognition of the actual political conditions, =
kept the different entities under separate administrative rule - and the =
charge of the policy of the divide and rule of the British by Burmese =
chauvinistic nationalists was born. While Burma Proper was under the =
direct rule and control of the British Governor; the non-Burmese =
territories were under indirect control, as the two maps attached to =
this presentation shall show. As such, the Shan States remained a =
self-governing and self-supporting federal state within the British =
Empire.

Thus at the end of World War II, when the British decided to grant =
independence to their whole domain of British Burma, the obvious =
question arose: whether the Burmans and the non-Burmans could continue =
to live together in peace and harmony afterwards?

The solution to this was the Panglong Agreement of 1947 made at the =
conference held by the Shans and participated by Burmese, Kachins and =
Chins in a Shan town called Panglong.. This historic document is =
attached herein.

   The gist of the treaty was that both the Burmese and othe =
nationalities of the former British Burma should live together under the =
following terms and conditions:

1.      Full political autonomy;

2.      Full financial autonomy; and

3.      Democracy and human rights.=20

And to insure observence of these terms, the Right of Secession from the =
Union, was put ino the Union Constitution following the Conference.=20

Thus the Union of Burma, created in 1948, would be alive and well today =
had those promises made at Panglong been kept by Rangoon.=20

However, the Burma Army invaded the Shan States in 1952 on the pretext =
of expelling the Chinese Nationalist forces that withdrew into the Shan =
States after defeat by the communists in 1949. This effectively put an =
end to the terms that were solemnly signed at Panglong five years =
earlier, as evidenced by discussion papers written and published in 1957 =
by Htun Myint of Tonti (Taunggyi) and several others.

The Shan State Government could no longer govern except by approval from =
Rangoon and especially from the occupying Burma Army. Likewise, it could =
no longer function without subsidies from Rangoon despite its immense =
rich natural resources, because all of these were under direct control =
of Rangoon following independence from the British in 1948. Under =
defacto rule of the Burma Army, democracy became a joke and Human Rights =
went no further than the right to submit to whatever the Burmese =
soldiery wished. In short, for all practical purposes, the Agreement of =
Panglong and its articles no longer applied except in name.

However, the Shans, having learned the fruits of federalism by their =
long experience, tried to preserve the Union by introducing amendments =
to the Union Constitution which was admitted even by Burmese legal =
experts, to be federal only in form but unitary in practice. That was in =
1961.=20

This federal reform movement, spearheaded by the Shans, but supported by =
all other nationalities, including Kachins, Chins, Karens, Karennis, =
Mons and Arakanese. It even found support among the Burmese population.  =
Naturally, all but a few thought and hoped the dying Union would be =
brought back to life.=20

All those hopes and dreams were shattered by the military coup in 1962 =
which quickly put an end to the reform of the Union Constitution. Since =
then faked Union Constitutions have been unilaterally put in place by =
the military junta; and still yet again another fake Constitution is =
being drafted at this moment. In addition, there are other =
constitutional drafts being  drawn and considered by several other =
parties.  Furthermore, all the self-styled dictators and would-be-rulers =
have continued to call themselves the Union Government and the whole =
territory as the Union of Burma or, as preferred by the present military =
dictators - the Union of Myanmar. All this despite the glaring fact that =
the Union ceased to exist  in 1962 when the bonds that tied Union =
togther, namely the Panglong Agreement and the 1948 Union Constitution =
were broken.=20

The situation of the country has gone from bad to worst, since 1962. The =
successive regimes of Revolutionary Council, BSPP, SLORC and finally, =
SPDC have not contributed anything whatsoever to the well-being of the =
people. Apart refusing to tread the  reconciliation path politically in =
relation to the raging ethnic conflict and just democratic aspiration of =
the people, the military has only heightened its policy of suppression =
on all sectors of the populace. The present regime, which stems from a =
handful of military clique, have only succeeded in holding on to the =
state power shamelessly and advancing its group's interest, at the =
expense of the whole population.

With this backdrop, the celebration of Independence Day sounds outright =
hollow and meaningless, unless all of us, Burmans and non-Burmans alike, =
could wrest the political power back from this military regime and make =
it meaningful again.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-------



------=_NextPart_000_004C_01BF5694.75C29C20
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2014.210" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT face=3DArial><FONT size=3D2><STRONG>Shan-=20
EU</STRONG></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG>January 4,=20
2000</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT face=3DArial><FONT =
size=3D2></FONT></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT face=3DArial><FONT=20
size=3D2><STRONG>Editorial</STRONG>&nbsp;<STRONG>: Independence Day - =
The Shan=20
Perspective</STRONG> </FONT></DIV>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 35.4pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><STRONG>On=20
</STRONG>the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the Independence Day, =
it should=20
be appropriate to look back into its historical foundation, so&nbsp;that =
we=20
could scrutinize and assess this achievement which has gone wrong for =
most of=20
us,&nbsp;devastating our social fabric and daily livelihood. </FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 35.4pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>Human</B>=20
relationships, from individuals to families and to those of nations, are =

complex. But to us Shans, the basic rule is a simple one: Relationships =
are=20
strengthened when promises are kept, and they deteriorate and crumble =
when=20
promises are broken. To patch up a broken relationship, one cannot =
simply ignore=20
and avoid referring to those broken promises and hope that things will =
mend=20
themselves.</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT =

size=3D2>&nbsp;<B>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Such</B> is =
the case=20
in the territory now generally referred to as Burma or, to a lesser =
extent, as=20
Myanmar. This area known as Burma today has always been populated by =
different=20
peoples and divided into different countries such as the Shan States, =
the=20
Karenni and Burma. This vast expanse of countries that existed between =
India and=20
China was, of course, simply referred to as Indochina in those early =
days. So=20
when the French occupied Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, they called them=20
collectively as French Indochina. However, when the rival British took =
the=20
countries further west, they simplified things &#8211; or so they =
thought &#8211; by naming=20
their whole dominion as British Burma instead of British Indo-China. =
That was=20
how Burma as is known today came to be born and not as chauvinistic =
minded=20
Burmese historians would like us to believe that all of British Burma =
was the=20
Burmese Kingdom of Burma.&nbsp;<?xml:namespace prefix =3D o ns =3D=20
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 35.4pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>Even</B> so,=20
the British, in recognition of the actual political conditions, kept the =

different entities under separate administrative rule &#8211; and the =
charge of the=20
policy of the divide and rule of the British by Burmese chauvinistic=20
nationalists was born. While Burma Proper was under the direct rule and =
control=20
of the British Governor; the non-Burmese territories were under indirect =

control, as the two maps attached to this presentation shall show. As =
such, the=20
Shan States remained a self-governing and self-supporting federal state =
within=20
the British Empire.</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 35.4pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>Thus</B> at the=20
end of World War II, when the British decided to grant independence to =
their=20
whole domain of British Burma, the obvious question arose: whether the =
Burmans=20
and the non-Burmans could continue to live together in peace and harmony =

afterwards?</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 35.4pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>The</B>=20
solution to this was the Panglong Agreement of 1947 made at the =
conference held=20
by the Shans and participated by Burmese, Kachins and Chins in a Shan =
town=20
called Panglong.. This historic document is attached herein.</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>&nbsp;&nbsp;=20
The</B> gist of the treaty was that both the Burmese and othe =
nationalities of=20
the former British Burma should live together under the following terms =
and=20
conditions:</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN-LEFT: 37.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; =
mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 37.5pt"><FONT=20
size=3D2>1.<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; =
</SPAN>Full=20
political autonomy;</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN-LEFT: 37.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; =
mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 37.5pt"><FONT=20
size=3D2>2.<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; =
</SPAN>Full=20
financial autonomy; and</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"MARGIN-LEFT: 37.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; =
mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 37.5pt"><FONT=20
size=3D2>3.<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=20
</SPAN>Democracy and human rights.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>And</B> to=20
insure observence of these terms, the Right of Secession from the Union, =
was put=20
ino the Union Constitution following the =
Conference.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>Thus</B> the=20
Union of Burma, created in 1948, would be alive and well today had those =

promises made at Panglong been kept by =
Rangoon.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>However</B>,=20
the Burma Army invaded the Shan States in 1952 on the pretext of =
expelling the=20
Chinese Nationalist forces that withdrew into the Shan States after =
defeat by=20
the communists in 1949. This effectively put an end to the terms that =
were=20
solemnly signed at Panglong five years earlier, as evidenced by =
discussion=20
papers written and published in 1957 by Htun Myint of Tonti (Taunggyi) =
and=20
several others.</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>The</B> Shan=20
State Government could no longer govern except by approval from Rangoon =
and=20
especially from the occupying Burma Army. Likewise, it could no longer =
function=20
without subsidies from Rangoon despite its immense rich natural =
resources,=20
because all of these were under direct control of Rangoon following =
independence=20
from the British in 1948. Under defacto rule of the Burma Army, =
democracy became=20
a joke and Human Rights went no further than the right to submit to =
whatever the=20
Burmese soldiery wished. In short, for all practical purposes, the =
Agreement of=20
Panglong and its articles no longer applied except in name.</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>However</B>,=20
the Shans, having learned the fruits of federalism by their long =
experience,=20
tried to preserve the Union by introducing amendments to the Union =
Constitution=20
which was admitted even by Burmese legal experts, to be federal only in =
form but=20
unitary in practice. That was in 1961.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><B>This</B>=20
federal reform movement, spearheaded by the Shans, but supported by all =
other=20
nationalities, including Kachins, Chins, Karens, Karennis, Mons and =
Arakanese.=20
It even found support among the Burmese population.<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>Naturally, all but a few =
thought and=20
hoped the dying Union would be brought back to =
life.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT size=3D2><B>All =
</B>those=20
hopes and dreams were shattered by the military coup in 1962 which =
quickly put=20
an end to the reform of the Union Constitution. Since then faked Union=20
Constitutions have been unilaterally put in place by the military junta; =
and=20
still yet again another fake Constitution is being drafted at this =
moment. In=20
addition, there are other constitutional drafts being<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>drawn and considered by =
several other=20
parties.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>Furthermore, all =
the=20
self-styled dictators and would-be-rulers have continued to call =
themselves the=20
Union Government and the whole territory as the Union of Burma or, as =
preferred=20
by the present military dictators - the Union of Myanmar. All this =
despite the=20
glaring fact that the Union ceased to exist<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>in 1962 when the bonds that =
tied Union=20
togther, namely the Panglong Agreement and the 1948 Union Constitution =
were=20
broken.&nbsp;</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><STRONG>The=20
</STRONG>situation of the country has gone from bad to worst, since =
1962.=20
The&nbsp;successive regimes of Revolutionary Council, BSPP, SLORC and =
finally,=20
SPDC have not contributed anything whatsoever to the well-being of the =
people.=20
Apart&nbsp;refusing to tread the&nbsp; reconciliation path politically =
in=20
relation to the raging ethnic conflict and just democratic aspiration of =
the=20
people, the military has only heightened its policy of suppression on =
all=20
sectors of the populace. The present regime, which stems from a handful =
of=20
military clique, have only succeeded in&nbsp;holding on to the state =
power=20
shamelessly and advancing&nbsp;its group's interest, at the expense of =
the whole=20
population.</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt"><FONT =
size=3D2><STRONG>With=20
</STRONG>this backdrop, the celebration of Independence Day sounds =
outright=20
hollow and meaningless, unless all of us, Burmans and non-Burmans alike, =
could=20
wrest the political power back from this military regime and make it =
meaningful=20
again.</FONT></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal=20
style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: justify; TEXT-INDENT: 19.5pt">
<HR>
</P></FONT></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_004C_01BF5694.75C29C20--