From Aung Marm Oo – General Secretary of the All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress (AASYC)
Burma, officially known as Myanmar, has an abundance of natural resources. It is the largest country on the mainland of Southeast Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand. It has a total area of 261,969 sq mi (678,500 sq km) and land boundaries of 5,876 km (Bangladesh and India in the west, with borders of 193 km and 1,463 km respectively). China, Thailand and Laos are also neighbors of Burma in the east, with borders of 2,185 km, 1,800 km, and 235 km respectively. Burma is also famous for its diverse ethnicities. In fact, there are about 135 ethnic nationalities residing in Burma.
The current Burmese “Nation-State” or “the Union of Burma” is a relatively recent creation, existing only since the end of the colonial era. Many of the ethnic nationalities oppose the claim that their lands and their people had been brought under the rule of any Burman kingdoms prior to their annexation by the British annexation. Instead, they claim to have governed their own territories independently for centuries or millennia. What is today Burma became a British colony in 1886, following the gradual acquisition of the territory over the course of the three Anglo-Burmese Wars of 1824, 1852 and 1885. From 1886, Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937, when its status was changed to that of a self-governing colony. Burma won independence in 1948 due to the intensive efforts of the ethnic nationalities under the leadership of General Aung San. The Union of Burma was considered the country in Southeast Asia most likely to succeed economically after decolonization. Within a few months of independence, however, the Communist Party of Burma took up arms and shortly thereafter the Karen, one of Burma’s largest ethnic nationalities, rebelled and began their struggle for autonomy.
After the 1947 assassination of General Aung San and most of his cabinet, the individuals who obtained the greatest power and influence in Burmese politics refused to acknowledge the rights of non-Burman ethnic peoples to establish autonomous federal states. In so doing, they violated the spirit and purpose of the Pang Long Agreement, signed between General Aung San and many important ethnic leaders signed on February 12th, 1947. This treaty is the foundation of the political creation that is the Union of Burma, as the ethnic leaders, in the spirit of national unity and solidarity, consent to the incorporation of their peoples into the Union of Burma in exchange for broad autonomy and the possibility of secession after a trial period. Every government of Burma since General Aung San’s assassination, including the present military junta, has refused to acknowledge the Agreement. They have decided that military force rather than the free consent of the ethnic minorities shall be the best means to create a Union of Burma, and demanded that any armed opposition groups surrender unconditionally before conducting a new dialogue, on government terms. This strategy has exacerbated animosity between the military governments and insurgent and minority opposition groups, and fueled Burma’s civil war for almost half a century.
The first independent democratic government of Burma, under Prime Minister U Nu, proved unstable and incapable of dealing with the ethnic issues. General Ne Win, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, staged a coup d’etat in 1962 and installed himself as prime minister of a military government. He nationalized most of the economy and set the country on the “Burmese way to Socialism”. Burma became one of the most isolated countries in the world and Burmese citizens no longer enjoyed their inalienable rights, including the right to participate in politics. Since 1962, the people of Burma have not been permitted to publicize or speak openly about their views on current political issues, amounting to a complete denial of their freedoms of speech, press and assembly. They have been downtrodden by an extremely oppressive dictatorship that views its own people, especially those who voice dissatisfaction or dissent, as enemies of the state.
To make matters worse, members of the ethnic minorities have faced decades of abuse and torture at the hands of the soldiers who occupy their lands. Thousands of their villages have been relocated by force as part of a strategy to isolate them from the ethnic guerrillas. They are frequently subjected forced labour by the military, and their land may be confiscated without compensation by the authorities at any time and for any purpose. Cases of rape of ethnic women by members of the military have been frequently reported. Unfortunately, most ordinary citizens lack the proper education, literacy and political knowledge needed to offer effective resistance when they are being compelled to do what is against their will. Furthermore, it is absurd to even talk about laws in Burma, where laws, even if they exist, cannot be used to take action against the authorities for their wrongdoings.
The military regime has rarely subjected its officers and soldiers to the strict laws enforced against ordinary citizens. The punishments people have received for their involvement in politics or defiance of the authorities are grossly out of proportion to their supposed transgressions. Those who oppose or resist the regime in defense of their homes, lands, people and/or ethnic identity face arrest, threats or acts of violence against themselves or their families, and even murder. It is standard for the military intelligence to seize political activists without warrant and hold them for days merely on suspicion of involvement in opposition activities; furthermore, the activists are usually given no reason for their arrest while they are in custody. Many of those detained are put into prison without a fair trial. Members of opposition parties have also been compelled to resign by the threat of imprisonment.
All future governments of Burma must share the opportunities and power, enjoyed only by Burmans for most of the country’s history, among the diverse ethnic nationalities. It is in fact the responsibility of individuals who have been given opportunities and power by a democratic process to uphold democratic values and ensure that those same opportunities are made available to all citizens, equally and without discrimination. We have to consider deeply that there has been no prospect of peace and political stability in Burma, from independence until the present day, due to the protracted civil conflict. We must recognize that peace and stability are both valuable and mutually dependent: without stability there can be no peace, and vice versa. Thus, we cannot sacrifice one of these valuable objectives in order to achieve the other. The precondition of realizing these ends is solid and mutual trust. By putting trust in one another, each party can take a step forward towards peace and political stability and engage in the tripartite dialogue for national reconciliation. We should look at the experiences of other countries and nationalities, and the amount of time and effort that went into their long, hard struggles for peace and democracy; we need to acknowledge the fact that peace and democracy cannot be achieved within a short time or with minimal effort.
To resolve the political crisis in Burma, we must first realize the primary factors that prolong the nationwide political turmoil. In my opinion, instability in Burma stems mainly from Burman political supremacy: the refusal of past and current governments to grant autonomy to ethnic groups and practice authentic federalism. To oppress dissidents and opposition parties, the military dictators require a substantial amount of money to maintain their military intelligence network and purchase modern weaponry. Thus, they have imposed heavy taxes on civilians that can ill-afford them, and commandeered or nationalized private property; these measures weaken the overall economy of the state and result in the deterioration of the education and public health sectors. The regime also recklessly extracts and exports natural resources and invests the majority of the revenue back into the military machine, thereby sustaining the poverty, underdevelopment, and oppression suffered by the population, and endangering the delicate ecosystems that support their fragile livelihoods.
If we are to overcome the current political crisis in Burma, we must first do our utmost to overthrow the despotic military junta that presently controls the state. Tactics for this goal may include lobbying for international pressure, and buttressing that pressure by drawing worldwide attention to the plight of Burmese people. In addition, Burma’s state-run media has long been trying to mislead ordinary citizens, who have no access to foreign media, by convincing them that democracy and federalism will lead to the breakup of the union. It is of vital importance for the opposition parties to counteract government propaganda and spread democratic concepts among the public, reminding it that federalism is in fact the foundational principle of the modern nation-state of Burma, without which no real ‘union’ can exist.
The release of Daw Aung San Su Kyi, who is the beacon and symbol of the democratic movements in Burma, must be demanded and tripartite dialogue organized as soon as possible, so that a fully inclusive national convention can be held. Then, a new constitution congruent with democratic principles, and acceptable to all of the ethnic groups in Burma, must be drafted and enacted. In this process, we should focus on transitional justice as well. High-ranking positions in office must be open to everyone regardless of his or her race, religion and gender.
In the short-term, every person in Burma needs to be familiarized with the concepts of democracy, human rights and political opposition campaigns; moreover, regional and international organizations and civil society groups should be able to provide assistance to political exiles on Burma’s borders, and bring the plight of the Burmese people to the attention of the international community. It is only with international pressure and public awareness of every man and woman’s right to elect, participate in, and oppose a government that the political crisis in Burma will be successfully addressed.
After a successful restoration of peace and democracy, appropriate reforms should be enacted concerning public health, education, the national economy and environmental protection. The political crisis in Burma cannot be overcome without these essential steps.
N.B: This article was originally written in late 2006 by Aung Marm Oo, who is current General Secretary of the All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress (AASYC). It was mentioned in the News Era Journal (online) on 19th January 2007. In early 2010, he has made small changes and slightly updated the content based on the current political situation of Burma.
