Politics
Will there ever be Peace in Burma?
Please look at the map of Burma, what do you see?
Burma Proper, the homeland of the majority of ethnic Burmans, surrounded by seven other ethnic states, the homelands of the ; Shan, Kachin, Chin, Karen, Mon, Arakan and Kayah. Geographically, they are neighbours, therefore interdependent.. Whether Burma is a Federation or some states remaining independent , all the eight ethnic nationalities have to work together on political as well economical issues, and others.
Bogyoke Aungsan realised this so he made an alliance with leaders of other ethnic states and asked them to join with the Burmans, to ask Britain for Independence. He also realised that for a union to be successful, all members should enjoy equal freedom, equality of status and opportunity, and given the right of self-determination. But he was assassinated for his decision.
Other Burman politicians also realised that Burma Proper needed other ethnic states for a union to be viable, but they were chauvinistic, selfish and greedy for power. They wanted other ethnic states to be part of their dreamed country, regardless of the original citizens' rights of choice, they set out to possess the other 7 ethnic states by force, war , bullying and criminal actions, including ethnic cleansing and genocide until to day.
Like Maung Zani, I think although a lot of things are happening in Burma I don't think it is a real change. All these cease-fire agreement is a load of rubbish. The regime has a cunning ulterior motive in mind and just prolonging the time until the sanctions are uplifted, which they desperately want. As for peace in Burma, can there ever be one? As I have said before if Thein Sein and his Generals were genuine, they would withdraw their armed forces at once from all ethnic states. Instead they demanded the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ to pull out its troops from Shan State East, particularly from Mongyawng township, where Burma, China and Laos meet, according to SSA spokesman Maj Lao Hseng.
After fifty years, we have learned a lot about the Generals. Fired by greed for power and obsession the Generals used manipulative, cunning, bullying and deceitful methods to get what they wanted.
At present there are two things they are striving for, the Western sanctions to be lifted and to be accepted by International countries and the UN as a legitimate Government of Myanmar. Once they achieved this they will not care about the Ethnic Nationalities, and will continue to dominate and control if they can.
Peace is possible in Burma only if the Generals can alter their mentality, examine their conscience and admit openly, especially to themselves that they had made mistakes, and have committed awful crimes against the ethnic nationalities of Burma. Khin Nyunt is a reformed person now or is he? Can the hard-line Burmese politicians reform their mind-set and accept that they are no different from other human beings and have no right to treat other people as they have done all these fifty years ? If the Generals and hard-lined politicians do not make an effort to change then it is difficult to imagine how there can be peace in Burma, and the relationship between them and the other ethnic nationalities will forever remain sour.
And, as long as the dictatorial armed forces still occupy the homelands of other ethnic people, there will never be peace , as the ethnic nationals will never be free from suppression and human rights violations. The citizens will never be able to move on. To campaign and call for the withdrawal of the dictatorial armed forces from all ethnic states should be the priority of every ethnic nationals who love their homelands and want to live freely and peacefully in it.
It is now time too or all the ethnic nationalities to remove the fear which has been injected into them, and resume their real identity and take some actions. It is time for every single ethnic nationality to unite under the common cause , freedom, equality and self-determination and fight bravely under one banner until they succeed in removing the dictatorial armed forces from their homelands. If things are allowed to drag on, the junta will gain the upper-hand by having the sanctions removed, and getting the UN, US and international governments to accept that them as the legitmate government of the whole of Burma.
Let's hope the UN and the International Governments are more adept and observant than how they appear.
Good luck to all Freedom Fighters
Young generation urges Shan armies for Shan State development
Shan youth yesterday sent a letter to Shan armies urging them to unite and work together for development and betterment of Shan State.
The letter stated that SSA (South) and SSA (North) should endeavor to regain trust of the people in national affairs and both groups should work in unity to gain confidence of ethnic nationalities in Shan State.
SSA (S) assured the populace on 10 December that its meeting with Naypyitaw on 2 December was only a ceasefire in principle and further details still needed to be discussed as many people expressed their worries about ceasefire agreement that might probably cause the loss of expectations.
When SSA's representatives meet the government officials at the union level to discuss further details of agreement, those Shan youth cautioned SSA not to rush in signing until and unless the solutions might be better than Panglong Agreement, the historic accord which yet to be implemented.
If the ceasefire agreement has been signed, the letter said, SSA should try to establish development programs such as finding solutions for civil wars' victims like the disabled, abused women and children, obtaining the right to set up Shan schools, finding solutions for drug problems in Shan State, requesting the government to release all political prisoners, and maintaining and preserving the environment.
In order to enhance development in Shan State, those youth also suggested that region development programs should open for local people to actively participate.
The proposed recommendations sent to the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political wing of SSA (South), and Shan State Progress Party of SSA(North) were agreed upon among young people, from 35 different townships, in a two-day meeting held on 17 and 18 December.
Shan Youth Exchange, the meeting of about a hundred young people who are involved in different civil societies such as media, education, health, literature and culture, environmental issues and human rights, was organized by Shan Youth Power, a Chiang Mai based nonprofit youth organization that aims to encourage youths to participate in social and democratic development through education, awareness-raising and capacity building.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4310:young-generation-urges-shan-armies-for-shan-state-development&catid=93:general&Itemid=291
Regime ready to meet UNFC now: PaO leader
According to PaO National Liberation Organization (PNLO) president Hkun Okker, Naypyitaw’s chief negotiator U Aung Min has disclosed to him that he is ready to meet the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), the alliance of 11 armed groups, during a meeting with him in Bangkok on Friday, 23 December.
“This is a major departure from its initial ‘group-wise’ approach,” said the 65 year old PaO leader, whose PNLO is a member of the UNFC. “The policy has apparently proved a waste of time and resources with most of the groups that he had met.”
The only group that U Aung Min’s efforts have been successful so far is the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) led by Lt-Gen Yawdserk, whose delegation signed a ceasefire agreement with Naypyitaw appointed Shan State Government on 2 December.
U Aung Min, who is concurrently serving as Minister of Railway Transport, met the Karen National Union (KNU) in Maesot on 21 December and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) in Sangklaburi the next day. At that time he was still reportedly sticking to the group-wise approach stand. “He said the government would hold talks with dialogue only at the third stage of the
3-stage peace process,” said a Karen source.
All the meetings were moderated by Nyo Ohn Myint from the National League for Democracy-Liberated Area (NLD-LA).
The 3 stages are Ceasefire, Development and what is known as “Panglong-like Conference”.
The UNFC, formed in February, is made up of Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Chin National Front (CNF), Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF), Wa National Organization (WNO), National Unity Party of Arakan (NUPA), Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), KNU, NMSP and PNLO.
The grouping has yet to meet and decide on its upcoming historic meeting with U Aung Min.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4303:regime-ready-to-meet-unfc-now-pao-leader&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
SSA won’t sign non-secession agreement
Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ spokesman Sai Lao Hseng says its representatives had made it clear to its Naypyitaw counterparts Saturday, 17 December, that the non-secession clause included in previous agreements with 3 other armed movements would only hamper the peace process Naypyitaw had started.
“On the other hand, we have no problem with the regime’s ‘Three Causes’,” he said. “We had co-founded the Union and we are willing to give it a chance, if the regime is sincere about building a genuine union.”
The said Three Causes are Non-disintegration of the Union, Non-disintegration of National Solidarity and Perpetuation of National Sovereignty, the regime’s avowed political equivalent of the Christian Trinity and the Buddhist Three Refuges.
“How we will decide upon continued union will depend on the wish of the people which will in turn depend on the regime’s sincerity,” he explained. “For that, we would need time to meet and listen to the people.”
Other SSA sources also added that as the next step after the signing of the ceasefire on 2 December is to discuss development, political matters such as the secession issue should be reserved for the third and last step of the process, where regime negotiators had promised to hold an inclusive conference in the style of Panglong in 1947, when Burma, Chin Hills, Kachin Hills and Federated Shan States agreed to form the Union, on the basis of Full Autonomy in internal administration, Democracy and Human Rights.
Earlier, the SSA South had adopted the principle: To struggle for the rights promised at Panglong. It later became Total Independence. Its later statements show that unless the rights of Panglong are guaranteed, the group would never give up on Total Independence principle.
The 1947 constitution had also granted the right of secession to Karenni and Shan States.
The United Wa State Army (UWSA), National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) and the ex-DKBA Kloh Htoo Baw have already signed non-secession agreements with Naypyitaw.
The next meeting between the Restoration of Shan State (RCSS) and Naypyitaw’s union level peace building team will take place on a yet-to-be designated date in January, said Sai Lao Hseng.
Speaking to the media in Rangoon on 9 December, information minister Kyaw Hsan declared there remained only 10 armed movements, according to Modern Journal:
- 2 have signed state-level ceasefire agreements
- 2 others are holding talks at the union level
- 5 others have agreed in principle for a ceasefire agreement
- Only the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) remained the only group to reach an agreement
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4290%3Assa-wont-sign-non-secession-agreement&catid=85%3Apolitics&Itemid=266
Burma Army clearing roadsides of SSA
A 270 strong joint Burma Army force coming from Kengtung, where its Triangle Region Command is based, has been on a mission since Tuesday, 13 December, to clear the immediate environs of the Mongpiang-Kengtung highway of the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ fighters, according to an informed source on the Sino-Burmese border.
“The Burma Army appears to be concerned about eventual link-up between the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in the north and the SSA,” he said. “It may want to the keep the SSA south of the road.”
The UWSA signed the ceasefire agreement with Naypyitaw on 6 September, and the SSA South on 2 December.
The SSA however said it has yet to receive any report from the area to support the information. “Maybe the Burmese troops are not wandering too far away from the roads,” an SSA officer commented.
Asked how the ceasefire agreement actually works at the ground level, Lt-Gen Yawdserk, Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political arm of the SSA replied, “The agreement is that we move freely in the countryside and the Burma Army on the main motorways. But if it wants to move outside the motorways, it has to first notify us. It is understood that we will not be held responsible for any clash that takes place between the two sides outside the motorways if we are not notified in advance.”
The SSA is active in most of the Shan State East’s townships except Markmang, Mongkhark, Mongyang, Mongla and areas under the control of the UWSA and the NDAA (National Democratic Alliance Army), another ceasefire group.
There are 55 townships in Shan State, 11 in the east, including Kengtung and Tachilek.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4283:burma-army-clearing-roadsides-of-ssa&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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