THE RISE OF POLITICAL CONFLICTS IN MODERN BURMA (1947-2004)

By: Nehginpao @ Papao

Chapter 1: Introduction- Burma At A Glance: Facts And Figures -


Country name: Union of Burma (1948), Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma (1974), Union of Myanmar (1989)
Government: State Peace and Development Council
System of Government: Military Dictatorship
Area: 261,228 sq miles or 678,500 sq kilometers
Coastline: 1,760 miles
Population: 50 million (approximately)
Population growth rate: 0.56%
Refugees from Burma: Approximately 300,000 in Thailand, 12,000 in China and India, 20,000 in Bangladesh
Internally displaced people: Approximately two million people
Birth rate: 19.65 births/1,000 population
Death rate: 12.25 deaths/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 53.85 yrs for males, 57.07 yrs for females
No.of T.V’s per 1,000 people: No.of doctors per 10,000 people: 2.96
Languages: Arakanese, Burmese, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Shan, Wa, English and more than 100 minority dialects
Religions: Buddhist (89.3%), Animist (0.2%), Christian (5.6%), Muslim (3.8%), Hindu (0.5%)
Burmese Border Refugees: Karenni camps- 20,091(December 2001) Karen camps - 125,118Mon-Resettlement Sites - 138,117Maneeloy Student Centre - 1,767
Inflation CPI: 11.5%
GDP spending: 3. 1 % on military (non-SPDC figures: over 50%) 2.2% education, 0.8% health.
LDC status: since 1987
Natural resources: Tin, plutonium, zinc, copper, cobalt, gold, rubies, jade, limestone, lead, coal, tungsten, teak (80% of world’s reserves), fish (704 metric ton/year), gas, oil, rice, sesame, groundnuts
Agriculture: 68% of workforce employed in agriculture; 15% of arable land; less than 50% of potentially productive land under cultivation
Opium production: 1,300 tons (1988), 2,800 tons (1997), 1,800 tons (1998) (70% of US market)
Administrative areas: Seven States (Arakan, Chin, Mon, Shan, Kachin, Karen, Kayah), Seven Divisions (Irrawaddy, Magwe, Mandalay, Pegu, Rangoon, Sagaing, Tenasserim)
Last election: May 27, 1990. NLD won 392 of the 485 seats contested

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GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE CONFLICTS

Burma is a country situated in Southeast Asia and is surrounded by the Republic of China in the North, India in the West, Vietnam in the East and Indian Ocean in the South. After being invaded three times by the British, Burma was finally defeated in 1886, after which, the country was ruled directly by the Queen of England. At present, Burma has seven states and seven divisions. Shan state is the largest state in the country. During the Second World War, the Japanese forces secretly promised the Burmans to help them free themselves from the clutches of the British rulers, and, therefore, trained about 30 Burmese youths, under the aegis of Burma Independence Army (BIA) led by Aung San, who is considered the father of nation by many. The Japanese were successful in driving out the British forces from the Burman soil, and governed the country (Burma) under military rule till August 1, 1943, when the country was granted independence under Japanese protection. However, after a couple of years, on March 27, 1945, the Burmese army revolted against the Japanese forces and joined the Allied Army (British forces).

The Burmese Army along with the underground civilian group formed the "Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL)," which was led by Aung San. But, not long after its formation, General Aung San and six of his colleague counselors, including his elder brother U Ba Win, were assassinated on July 19, 1947 by his political opponents while the Assembly writing the constitution was in recess. U Saw, the former Prime Minister and a nationalist rival of Aungsan, was found guilty in this killing, and, therefore, was later executed. This sudden development compelled U Nu, a civilian ruler to lead Burma till the country gained complete independence from the British on January 4, 1948. U Nu served as a foreign minister during Ba Maw's government, which ruled Burma under the Japanese occupation. He (U Nu) was also a forerunner in the formation of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) together with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indonesian President Sukarno, Yugoslav President Tito, and Egyptian President Nasser.

Burma is a land of diverse ethnic groups having composite cultures and religions. Due to successive political conflicts and military dictatorships, the country is heading toward the worst stage in its history. There have been a number of cycles in the history of modern Burma that has led to the rise of political conflicts in the country. They may be broadly classified under the following headings- (1) the panglong Agreement & its subsequent events, (2) the 1962 military coup & its aftermath, (3) the 8888 democracy uprising (4) the 1990 general elections, and (5) the Depeyin massacre. Modern Burma in this paper refers to the period from 1947 A.D. onwards. Unlike conflicts in country such as the former Yugoslavia, conflicts in Burma are mainly between the major Burman ethnic dominated government and other ethnic groups of the country. However, as time goes on, more dissident ethnic Burmans also join the movement against its own government. The battle is now mainly between the military junta and the democracy activists of multi-ethnic groups.

Nature of Conflicts

The wavering political environment and the subsequent chaos engendered ethnic, religious, and political conflicts. Generally speaking, the major Burman ethnic group always has a feeling of chauvinism over the other ethnic groups. However, in my interview to Dr. Tint Swe, a Minister for Prime Minister's Office (PMO)-Western Region of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) on March 19, 2004 (ref. http://www.kukiforum.com/news/interview_with_dr_tintswe.htm) said, "It is the political egoism of leaders those who are in power." NCGUB is an exile Burmese government. Meanwhile, although the government does not ban the practice of other religions totally, there are persecutions, discrimination and hatred on ethnic and religious grounds. Moreover, they (the military government) want to prolong their regime indefinitely, ignoring the grievances and demands of other ethnic groups. Keeping in mind the different events that led to political turmoil in the country; let us now study the depth of its intensity and the affects. As mentioned in the beginning, there has been ethnic hatred for a long time, and dates back to as early as the country's independence. In fact, the majority Burmans have a concept of chauvinism. It is their intention to dominate over the other minority groups of the country. It has been evident from the various stages of the government formations that leaders from minority groups were neither invited nor included. One of the reasons of the rise of insurgency problems in the country is due to hatred and discrimination on the basis of ethnicity. For example, in the mid 1940s, the Chins, the Karens and the Mons were looked down by the Burmans as if they were little better than the barbarians or cheap animals. The Karens were particularly despised by the Burmans, who called them uneducated people, eating small animals such as snakes, frogs, monkeys, wild yams, etc. Such awkward attitude ignited ethnic hatred particularly between the Burmans and the Karens. It is interesting to note that the Karens did not participate in the Panglong Conference and the subsequent agreement signed between the British government and the frontier leaders with the participation of some ethnic groups' representatives. Through times, the Karens and other ethnic groups have doubted the sincerity of the Burmans. The Karens were also one of the foremost ethnic groups to go underground and fight the Burmese regime.

Although Burma is not officially declared a theocratic state, there has been persecution and restriction on minorities, belonging to religions other than Buddhism, which is the religion of the majority Burman population. For instance, a church has to seek prior permission for Christmas celebration or any other important religious festivals. If permission is denied, it is not allowed to do anything against the authority's order under any circumstances, or else, one could either be fined or arrested and imprisoned.

In one gruesome incident, a Kuki ethnic village called Nung Kam, a Christian village in Sagaing Division, was bulldozed in the beginning of 1993, as the villagers refused to convert to Buddhism. After it was bulldozed, a new Burman village known as Saya San Ywo was set up with a military platoon guarding the village. It was very unfortunate to see that the neighboring Kuki villages were ordered to supply labor and other basic necessities for the newly arrived Burman slum dwellers. If resisted, the villagers could have faced dire consequences. This very incident was mentioned by P.S. Haokip, in his book "The Kuki Nation (p288)," and the Kuki Students' Democratic Front's (KSDF) memorandum submitted to Amnesty International on October 18, 2000
(ref. http://www.kukiforum.com/news_features/KSDF_Memorandum_to_AI.htm). Meanwhile, an armed group of the Kukis, the Kuki National Army (KNA), which is the armed wing of the Kuki National Organization (KNO), is active in Kabaw Valley of Sagaing Division. The group is committed to achieving its political goal, demanding the restoration of their land, which was annexed by the British in the early 20th century. The acclaimed land is now occupied by mixed ethnic groups. It is important to take into account that more than 20,000 Kukis were driven out from their land in 1967 under the so called "Khadawmi Operation." The indigenous Kuki people were charged with holding bogus national registration cards, which were issued by none other than the Burmese government itself. In this regard, on the 36th anniversary of the operation, the global Kuki Forum, the Kuki International Forum, made a strong statement under the caption, "KIF remembers victims of 1967 Khadawmi

Operation," (http://www.kukiforum.com/news_features/kif_remembers.htm). There are several other reports of similar cases in the ethnic minority populated areas of the country.

Death Flower

David Buhril

The green hills and mountains turned yellow in Mizoram, Manipur and different parts of the North-East states. Mizoram is the epicentre of the dreaded natural phenomena, the gregarious bamboo flowering. They called it the return of horror. Fear, apprehension, and anxieties grow bigger for the villagers with the gregarious bamboo flowering (mautam) threatening them. The gloom blooms. Scientists explained them in hallowed halls and expensive seminars and platform without much solution. What the villagers knew is that the menace has returned. Fear of hunger is immense. Insecurity grows taller and bigger than their hills and mountains. It gnaws them day and night when immediate alternatives and solutions, though desirable, is far from sight. When no one is responsible for the natural phenomena, who would be responsible for the plights of the affected people that will persist for a while? But a while could render them, if not lifeless, helpless and hopeless.

The natural phenomena has been recorded to have happened in 1862, 1881, 1911-12 and 1959 too. All of them resulted in severe famine. According to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests159th Report, the 1959 famine claimed between 10,000 and 15,000 lives in Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and Barak Valley of Assam. In the midst of hunger and helplessness, Mizo National Famine Front converted Mizoram’s sink in misery to gain political mileage, which was also followed by the 20 years of insurgency that wrest the State. The ghost of the death flower returns not only to render the villagers hopeless, but also to rap MNF government who are the surrogate sons of the same flower that bloomed in 1958-1959. On Apri19, 2007, Zoram Kuthnathlawktute Pawl (ZKP), which is Mizoram’s largest workers, labours and farmers union took to the street in Aizawl to protest against the corruption of fund that was allocated to them by the Centre in the wake of the impending famine. The protesting farmers were called “poor” (mirethei) and “peasants from the hills” (thingtlang loneitu), when they arrived at Aizawl to protest. The President of the organisation said that Mizoram will be seeing darker days if their plights are not addressed. Does it make any sense for Zoramthanga who is in blissful hangover after the State hosted chains of fashion show, concert, anthurium festival, supermodel hunt, peace festival and what not. The demands of the protesters are humane and valid as they asked the government to release the funds that were provided by the Centre to counter the famine threat that they are already confronting. They also asked the government to buy their ginger, which MNF has promised to do so for Rs. 10 per kilo from their doorstep. MNF government prepared a three-pronged action plan under the project dubbed Bamboo Flowering and Famine Combat Scheme (BAAFACOS) amounting to Rs. 500 crore to stall the impending famine. The central government has sanctioned an interim amount of Rs. 60 crore pending a thorough examination of the detailed action plan by its experts. The farmers in Mizoram indeed celebrated when the MNF government announced that they would buy ginger from them for that prized price. It encouraged the farmers to grow ginger too. But today, the MNF government is not buying the ginger. Besides, they are not using the funds to reach the affected people’s plights. To add salt to their wounded plights, H Rammawi, Agriculture Minister recently asked the farmers to grow turmeric.

Villagers in Manipur’s Tipaimukh, situated in Mizoram border, are also helplessly watching their hills grow yellow. Everyday, they wake up to be reminded by the threatening colour that put a big question to their life. After confronting the threat of landmines and displacement in the end of 2005 and early part of 2006 respectively, they are now threatened by famine. I was told that in Parbung, one of the biggest villages in Tipaimukh, a little less than 100 families only have enough grains to last them this year out of the 500 families. The cases are worse in other villages. Meanwhile, newspapers in Imphal and Churachandpur reported that Churachandpur PDS food items are not going anywhere beyond Imphal. What about the funds that the government of Manipur received from the Centre to combat famine in the hill districts? Unlike their counterparts in Mizoram, farmers in Tipaimukh have no idea and access to resort to protest language. Does it make any sense for Okram Ibobi Singh whose silence over everything that should matter continues unconcerned?It is fortunate that there is no farmer’s suicide to associate the death flower. In the two states, farmers still practised the primitive jhum cultivation. If we stumble on what Article 48 of the Indian Constitution says, it mentioned that the State should endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines. However, any knowledge and know how with modern and scientific strength and leverage has not even visited the place. The question of that desirable spark staying there is still a big challenge before the state. I don’t know if those people are also counted for the nearly 50 percent of the world’s hungry population that India shelters according to recent UN report. Even if they are not taken into that statistic, the villagers who are feverishly observing the bloom of the death flower are in hunger.