Time For International Community To Think About Myanmar – OpEd
By Kanbawza Win
For the people of Burma the Myanmar army or Thatmadaw is never satisfied of killing and carrying on their business as usual killing the non-Myanmar ethnic nationalities as their conscience may dictates and fancies may please at the height of coronavirus epidemic. Not satisfied of killing the women and children of Rohingya Muslim, it has now turned its wrath on Rakhine Buddhists and Chin Christians. Their daily air strikes in the non-Myanmar area of Western Burma, where the majority of Rakhine and Chin resides have killed more than three scores civilians including women and children playing havoc, was released by Rupert Colville of the UN Human Rights in Geneva on 17th April.
How come, that this ethnic cleansing of the non-Myanmar ethnic nationalities by the Myanmar Thatmadaw for more than seven decades (1948 up to day) starting with the Karen and taking on one by one, the Karenni (Kayah), Kachin, Shan and the Chin still going on today in Rakhine? Raison d’être was that the Myanmar think tank was able to swindle both the East and the West that only Myanmar and its Thatmadaw can put the country together.
No doubt, the Union of Burma composing of all ethnic nationalities was founded way back in 1947 by consensus with the blessings of the British colonialist but since then these Mahar Myanmar think tanks had killed its founding father and now seven decades later his daughter became the de facto leader was brain washed by the Mahar Myanmar think tank and is following their traditional ethnic cleansing policy. The examples set by cruel Myanmar monarchs, whose mammoth statues overshadow Naypyidaw was still evident today. The Divide and Rule policy which the Colonial British taught them was in great use today, as they were able to pacify the East (Shan, Karen and Mon) and North (Kachin and Chin) as they now concentrates on the West. What we could not comprehend is why the international community is supporting the Mahar Myanmar in establishing the 5th Burmese kingdom? Doesn’t they know the nature of the Burmese monarchs when the founder of their last dynasty eliminated the Mon race so much so that Thailand has more Mon people than its original Burma? So also the Karen, the Karenni and the Shan, not to mention the smaller tribes of Lahu, Pa O, Lishu and several others.
The current Mahar Myanmar leaders is desirous to rule over all the non-Myanmar with the result that every major ethnic group is being forced to rebel the Myanmar at one time or another. The struggle in Burma is not at all horizontal as one ethnic would not fight another but vertical i.e. they all fight against the central government run exclusively by the Mahar Myanmar race.
What more is wanted than changing the name of the country name from the Union of Burma to Myanmar, the national flag of five stars representing the non-Myanmar ethnic nationalities is now represented by only one star, the Myanmar. The answer of implementing this ethnic cleansing policy is because they have the largest army in South and Southeast Asia, of nearly half a million battle hardened men somewhat like that of the Nazi. The rational of how they reached this level is because both the East and the West have helped them. E U countries led by Germany help construct several heavy and small arms factories on the West bank of the Irrawaddy, while the East particularly Russia and China including Pakistan and Israel supply them with Air power and sophisticated arms, which they are now using indiscriminately on the Arakanese.
It is time for the International to think of forming the Union of Burma without the Myanmar and let the Myanmar have its own country somewhat like Yugoslavia where 95% of Myanmar are Buddhist with Ma Ba Tha supreme supported by USDP and the Thatmadaw at the background, as all of them are anathema to the Union and secular administration. Let the remaining Ethnic nationalities formed their own Union as they did not have any quarrel among them unless stirred up by the Myanmar. If not, the country will set a new record in the Guinness Books of World Records as the only country in this internet age having a century of civil war (currently is only 72 years of fighting). One also have to remember that the Myanmar monarchs have a long history of ethnic cleansing, ask any Rakhine of what Myanmar Monarch U Aung Zeya did to the Mon or what Bodawpaya did to the Arakanese not to mention the modern civil war of what the Thatmadaw did to the Karenni leader, after tying up the leg was dragged through the town of Loikaw alive, until he was dead or hang up the body of Saw Ba U Gyi of the Karen, while the Chin and the Kachin were good cannon folders in the epic battle of Insein, not to mention of what they did to the Rohingya women and children is well known. Even among the 8888 generations students whose educated leaders known as Harvard mafia could not forget of the Thatmadaw shooting into the Rangoon General Hospitals. The current Myanmar Administrations both the Thatmadaw and its civilian counter part’s version of Federalism means military strength as it had attacked every non-Myanmar ethnic group except the Wa, because that opium producing is too strong for the army. Hence if we want to witness genuine federalism the international community must armed all the non-Myanmar ethnic forces.
Today, the world has witness the superb diplomacy of the Myanmar race as being elected the UN Secretary General U Thant and awarding the Nobel Peace Prize Aung San Suu Kyi and even dictator Ne Win won the Raman Magsaysay Award in 1960 and have swindle both the East and the West. How long will they continue to play their suburb diplomacy when millions of non-Myanmar ethnic nationalities were indiscriminately killed or wounded? Or shall we reward the Burmese Thatmadaw as the only army that dared to defy the UN by mounting an offensive in face of world’s Coronavirus crisis is food for thought.
