We Demand for
Decolonization of Burma
Myanmar Colonialism Defined
******************************************
Dr.
Shwe Lu Maung alias
Shahnawaz Khan, Ph.D. (Wales, UK),
The
Patron and Chief Executive Officer of Arakan Democratic Forces
June
3, 2001, Copyright ©
2001.
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"Comrades,
Of
the three main duties of our Tamadaw
at present, the first is that of defending and protecting the State
and ensuring its security.
Our
State has been in existence as an independent one among the nations
of the world for thousands of years. It is a State that had stood
tall with its own kings all through the eras of Tagaung, Sriksetra,
Pagan, Myinsing, Sagaing, Pinya, Ava and Konbaung ..............
Our
Mother land which Anawrahta, Kyansittha, Bayinnaung, Alaungapaya,
Sinbyushin, and Bogyoke Aung San had built up nurtured and
consolidated through ages, cannot be allowed to be in disorder and
to disintegrate during our time. ..........."
The
above is a piece of excerpt from the address delivered at the
1989-44th Anniversary Resistance Day (Armed Forces Day)
Parade by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services,
Senior General Saw Maung. In 1988, he succeeded the state
power from General Ne Win in the capacity of the
Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
upon the dissolution of General Ne Win's BSPP (Burmese Socialist
Programme Party) following
the 1988 Democracy Uprising.
This
piece of policy address clearly highlights the essence of the
Myanmarese colonialism that has its roots in the past feudal
imperialism.
Arakan
Democratic Forces (ADF) and I standby our philosophy that the State
of Union of Burma, a Republic, was officially born in January 4,
1948 under the Nu-Attlee Treaty. Imposition
of the State of Tagaung, Sriksetra, Pagan, Myinsing, Sagaing, Pinya,
Ava and Konbaung in the place of the
State of our Republic, Union of Burma, is Myanmar colonialism.
Those
days of pre-1948 were feudal, colonial and imperial that practised
tyranny and racism. ADF and I recognize those as our history. While
we honour our heritage a clear demarcation line must be drawn. Our
democratic parliamentary Republic was born in 1948. At the AFPFL
Convention held at the Jubilee Hall, Rangoon, on the 23rd
May 1947, Bogyoke Aung
San, in his address, said, "We want a Republic". It was
agreed and our Republic was born in 1948, but he was killed on the
19th July 1947 by the Myamarese imperialists. Under the
leadership of U Nu, who succeeded Aung San, the new and infantile
Republic survived a series of turmoil, but was
put to an end by General Ne Win through a coup d'état on the
2nd March 1962. General Ne Win, who is known as the
uncrowned king of the Fourth Myanmar Empire, revived Myanmarism and
ruled the country under the Burmese Way to Socialism that was
nothing but a variety of Myanmarese colonialism.
General Saw Maung succeeded him in 1988, promoted himself to
a 5-Star Senior General, and firmly upheld Myanmarism. At the death
of Senior General Saw Maung, Senior General Than Shwe took his place
and ruled the country in the name of the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC).
Today,
Tamadaw (i.e. Myanmarese Armed Forces) continues to
constitutionalize Myanmarese colonialism, of course at the gunpoint
as usual. Please see our ADF Manifesto at ADF web site http://www.shwelumaung.org/central
& http://www.shwelumaung.org/index.html.
This arrogant and belligerent Myanmarism has let the fury of the
feudal past boil over into this modern time. Unfortunate it is. We,
the Rakhaing Nation, have no choice but wage a war against it. Armed
or unarmed our struggle is legitimate.
Under
such lawless colonial condition, we, citizens of Rakhaingpray
(Arakan), in exercise of sovereign authority collectively, would
like to emphasize our territorial integrity with respect to the
1454-border Agreement of our Arakanese King Meng Khari alias
Ali Khan and Myanmar King
Ava Min Khaung. The two sovereign kings signed the border
demarcation agreement with due recognition and respect of each
other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in April 1454 CE (Arakanese
era: the 6 waxing day of TannKhone AE 816). They met at the Mount
Nway Cho Pho Khaung of Arakan Roma Ridge and the border demarcation
line was drawn along the crest of Arakan Roma Ridge from the
Northern tip down to Mawtin Edge (Cape Negris) at the south into Bay
of Bengal. The oceanic island, Haigri, is included in the Arakanese
territories. Violating this border agreement Myanmar King Bodaw
Maung Wyne annexed Arakan in 1784, under the eyewitness of the
British East India Authorities. Upon the victory of the First Anglo-Burman
War, Arakan was handed over to the British as per Rantapo Treaty
signed by the British and the Myanmar on the 24th
February 1826. In that Rantapo Treaty, the territory of our
Rakhaingpray (Arakan) was defined according to the 1454-border
agreement signed our Arakanese King Meng Khari alias Ali Khan and Myanmar King Ava Min Khaung.
Therefore, the world must 'decolonize Burma'. Accordingly, we, ADF,
demands for 'Decolonization of Burma', and 'Governance of our
Rakhaingpray (Arakan) as an UN Trust Territory under the
International Trusteeship System' during the process of
decolonization of Burma.
Please understand.
We, the Rakhaing Nation is a Federating Nation in the Republic that
was born in the name of Union of Burma under the Nu-Attlee Treaty in
1948. Diminishing us,
through the genocidal wars and brutal intimidation, into an ethnic
minority status or a racial minority status is racial colonialism. The
international community must duly recognize this fact and treat us
as a Federating Nation. We, the Citizens of the Republic, shall
fight unto death. Armed or unarmed our struggle is legitimate. As
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "We Shall Overcome Some
Day". SLM.
Copyright ©
2001 by Dr. Shwe Lu Maung alias
Shahnawaz Khan, Ph.D. (Wales, UK), the Patron and Chief Executive
Officer of Arakan Democratic Forces.
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