🌏MYANMAR- (Archives)

Myanmar is seemingly coming back into international focus with its mention in the recent meeting of ‘QUAD’ in Tokyo, Japan…

Republished from Archives:

MONDAY, MAY 10, 2021
Myanmar: Genesis or a recurrent violent Cycle?  ( From Archives)

Myanmar is going through a violent transformation. At the bottom of the vortex is the mixed culture and diversity of Myanmar. Myanmar is an aspiration of many diehard minority ethnic groups that are constantly in a fight, and many of them are living for generations on the periphery at borders in jungles. They are ready to lay their lives for their land. Many of them are demanding independent statehood. There are many ethnic political groups with their own armies fighting for self-rule and rights. British invaded and ruled Myanmar in the 20th century.

The ethnic minorities never got the autonomy they promised by the British or the military junta that came to power afterward. The British ruled by the divide-and-rule method with certain ethnic groups being favored over others, creating clashes.

The British are driven out of the country, but the legacy of entanglement they left behind is taking time to straighten out.

The demands for autonomy are impossible to meet out as this will break Myanmar. As there is no alternative to keep these fractions from breaking up, Myanmar is slipping into a military-controlled regime from time to time with violence enveloping all the logic. This is for the first time that the majority of commons of Myanmar have now united with the ethnic minority armed groups to demand democracy to be restored as the military junta is unable to provide peace and life essentials along with the fulfillment of aspirations of people.

All the turmoil, violence with irrepressible public resistance seemingly culminating into a national front comprising of the National League For Democracy NLD of Aung San Suu Kyi and others. This national front is known as the National Unity Government, with elected parliament members of NLD, anti-coup protest leaders, and representatives of ethnic minority organizations.

Its responsibility is immense, and the world would watch anxiously how it would cope with fractions and pressure from the junta.

Myanmar comprises eight major national ethnic races with as many as 135 ethnic groups. There are hundreds of different languages and dialects. Each ethnic group also includes sub-ethnic groups. The Burmese population is the ruling majority that gave the country its name.

This complex nature of identity-conscious ethnic groups, their aspirations, and the dominating junta rule keeping them and the common people of Myanmar suppressed is at the center of the conflict.

The world could not comprehend the mute vindication of the Rohingya genocide by an opposition leader like Aung San Suu Kyi for this reason only.

The ethnic groups not only control the geographical area at the borders but also administer.

This time, they are trying to evolve to a quasi-federal-style nation where the state’s aspiration and their ethnic diversity will not be encroached by the dominant Burmese race and the military rule.

Myanmar is full of natural resources. It’s the second-largest country in Southeast Asia with land and coastal area in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. Its importance is highlighted in the emerging importance of the Indo-Pacific region. Myanmar shares a 2192 km border with China. 1311 km border with India and 2096 km border with Thailand. It supplies oil to China.

The major 8 national races are Kachin, Kayin (Karen), Kayah, Chin, Mon, Bamar, Rakhine, and Shan. The Bamar forms the largest block constituting 70% of the whole population.

Kayin-Karen groups reside primarily in Kayin State located in Southern and southeastern Myanmar. The Karen account for approx. seven percent of the Burmese population. The Karen insurgent groups are led by Karen National Union KNU.

Their ambition was to create a separate Karen homeland, but since 1976, they have been calling for a federal system.

Kayah or Karenni are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group of the Kayah State of Myanmar. The British promised a separate homeland to these people.

Chin – These are the Sino-Tibetan ethnic group of the Chin state of Mynamar which lies near to the state of Mizoram, India.

Mon – The Mon inhabit lower Myanmar’s Mon State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Tanintharyi region, Bago region, the Irrawaddy Delta, and several areas in Thailand.

The Mon primarily brought in the Southeast Asian culture. They are the oldest ethnic group and reigned in the 15th century. They founded many cities. The Mons from Myanmar are called Burmese Mon or Myanmar Mon.

In 1948, after Myanmar became independent, U Nu, the first prime minister of Burma, refused the Mon self-determination

Bamar – The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy River Basin and speak Myanmar’s official Burmese language. The Burmese-speaking people came from present-day Yunnan, China.

Rakhine – They are a Southeast Asian ethnic group residing in the Rakhine state. Since 2012, there has been a violent conflict between the Rakhine (Buddhists) and the Rohingya (Stateless Muslim ethnic group) who also live in Rakhine.

Shan – The Shan are the biggest minority group of Myanmar and numbered up to 4-6 million. There are two main Shan armed insurgent forces operate within Shan state- The Shan State army/special region 3 and Shan State Army/ Restoration Council of Shan State.

Kachin – They are the tribal people of northeastern Myanmar and contiguous areas of India ( States of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland) and China (Yunnan province). Kachins are originated from the Tibetan plateau. They speak a variety of languages of the Tibeto-Burman group. Most of the area inhabited by the Kachin became a distinct semiautonomous unit within the country. Kachins are mostly Christian, having been converted by missionaries in the 19th century.

Kachins are still in conflict with the Burmese military army over autonomy and administrative control over the region.

HISTORY

In the 16th century, Myanmar was ruled by Bayinnaung whose kingdom was stretched over all Myanmar (Then Bramhadesh or Burma ), Thailand, and Laos. Burma or Myanmar first burst on the international scene when in the 18th century Burmese general Maha Bandula conquered the present state of Assam of India. India was under British rule then. It took 3 wars to annex the then Burma to India as another state.

The British used Burma as a market and as a back door entry point to China. Burma became a province of India in 1886. The Burmese guerrilla-styled armed struggle to gain independence was suppressed.

Even the peace-loving Buddhist monks also joined the armed rebellion against British rule. Soon in the 1920s, students started protests and strikes against the tax system imposed by British rule. Rangoon University became a center of radicalism. This period saw the emergence of the first Burmese national hero, Aung San, who was nobody else but the father of a famous Myanmar political leader and the Nobel Peace prize winner, Aung San Su Kyi As Burma was attached to India as an additional state, the British rulers employed many Indians in administrative services and in trading.

There was a sizeable chunk of Indians into the then Myanmar population. At the start of World War II, British administrators separated Burma from India. The opportunity to gain autonomous status as a favor for the participation in the world war against Germany and her allies on behalf of the British side was rejected by the Burmese movement of Thakins acting against British rulers.

The youth of the country was attracted towards communism and soon, Aung San co-founded the Burmese Communist Party. Japan advised them for a national uprising and promised to give the necessary military training. Aung San and 29 other comrades joined the training. But Japan had other imperialist plans in mind and soon invaded Burma in 1942.

Aung San’s sharp mind caught the crux of the situation and immediately allied back with the British to throw out the Japanese in 1945. They successfully expelled the Japanese from the country. And, soon, Aung San started to demand an autonomous state and independence from British rule. However, the promises made by the British to many ethnic groups of the independent state started to turn into obstacles.

Some British were of the opinion that separate statehood and autonomy should be given to Karens, Kachins, and other hill people.

These prospects amounting to secession from Myanmar plunged the politics into chaos. Back in London, the British House of Commons held its first debate on Myanmar. The Tory MP’s not letting go of Myanmar from the British clutches asked the government to win back the confidence of the people by arresting Aung San and his comrades. But Prime Minister Clement Attlee made it clear that the British government must work with Aung San towards a road map for independence.

The difference in the opinion resulting in delay saw a paralyzing wave of strikes against the British rule. Finally, Governor Rance offered provisional government status to Burma with Aung San as its Vice-Chairman.

Aung San accorded minister posts to many dissidents and rebels into his ministry. The Indian politicians always supported Aung San. Particularly, Jawaharlal Nehru had very cordial relations with Aung San. There were more than 10000 Indian troops stationed in Burma then. Nehru promised Aung San that they would be called back whenever Aung San wishes to.

They had also planned to convene a conference of Asian leaders in 1947. Meanwhile, the Communists were expelled from the alliance as they continued to oppose the formation of the interim government.

The events that took place so far were rightfully in the appropriate direction. An experienced politician, a fighter, a diplomat, and a democratic leader was ready to take over the reins of the country trying to dissuade all the opponents.

Considering all the prospects, Aung San rightfully decided to go for elections. He declared elections in March 1947. Everything was moving in the right direction. But destiny has some other plans. A Burmese delegation headed by Aung San soon departed for London.

Attlee agreed to recognize the newly formed interim government as a dominion. The Attlee-Aung pact could not satisfy all the delegates, and the first seeds of a calamitous future were sown. U Saw a member of the delegation and none less than prime minister serving British Burma from 1940-42 was the chief dissenter. U Saw refused to participate in signing the Aung San-Atlee Agreement. Once back in Burma, Aung San reached an agreement on autonomy within the Union of Burma with Kachin, Shan, and Chin.

All were accorded the right to think of parting from Burma after 10 years. A British officer Noel Stevenson not liking the refusal of full state status to Karen people make the Karens boycott the talks. U Saw and Karen fractions boycotted the elections held on April 7, 1947. Aung San’s AFPFL won a landslide victory. Another event that took place simultaneously disturbed the satisfying democratic process.

A large cache of arms was stolen or taken out from an ammunition depot run by the British. Rumors started to fly thick and fast in the air that the opposition was preparing to overthrow the newly formed government with the help of the British.

On that eventful day of July 19, 1947, Aung San and his cabinet were gunned down in broad daylight at Rangoon in the Secretariat building. The Burmese journey to a glorious democracy ended with that. U Saw was hanged for the conspiracy and aid to murder Gen.Aung San. The aspiration of Burmese people eliminated within just six weeks of its birth, plunging the country into never-ending spirals of autocracy visiting in different avatars.

U Nu, Aung San’s closest colleague took over the reins, and finally, Burma became officially independent on Jan 4, 1948. Nu’s vision was pretty clear and despite being torn by internal strife, insurgencies, and the rise of Komintang Chinese nationalist forces in Northern Burma, he led the country on a non-aligned path. But the growing unrest in the ethnic minorities and political schisms within the ruling AFPFL, the country underwent a dramatic transition due to military intervention in politics. The Army took over for the first time under Gen.Ne Win and he formed a ‘caretaker government.’ Ne Win purged communist sympathizers and forced minority states to comply with his government.

The elections of 1960 saw U Nu back as prime minister, but this Ne Win staged a coup to bring the country under military dictatorship.

The constitution was suspended, opposition political parties and student unions banned, the press was muzzled and the country was closed off to the rest of the world. Human rights abuse intensified and all dissent was crushed. Ne Win purged the country of Indian traders who formed the backbone of the economy.

Major industries were nationalized, driving the country to ruins. In 1987, the UN admitted Burma to the club of least developed countries.

In 1988 Ne suddenly announced stepping down from power.

Driven by economic desperation and smelling a change, demonstrations started all over again to be brought under control by troops. Over 3000 people got killed. Thousands displaced.

The times were ripe for another intervention to propel Burma further towards elusive democracy. This time the necessary intervention came in the form of Aung San Suu Kyi. Her arrival on the Burmese soil was really a blessing on the violent & unstable backdrop. She was no one else but the daughter of Gen. Aung San.

She came to Rangoon to nurse her dying mother. She was approached by the Burmese people to join and lead the democracy movement. The military imposed martial law.

In 1989, Burma renamed Myanmar with the Capital Rangoon becoming Yangon. Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. In 1990, a multi-party contested election was held, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won overwhelmingly.