[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
March 27th "Resistance Day" Declara
Subject: March 27th "Resistance Day" Declaration
March 27th 1999 "Resistance Day" Declaration
March 27th marks the day when the Burmese people rebelled against the
Fascist Japanese forces for independence from under their rule. On this
auspicious day, our National Hero General Aung San together with the
Burmese people from every strata of society, insurrected and revolted
against the oppressive fascist Japanese and this day came to be known
and commemorated as "RESISTANCE DAY" in the History of Burma.
After military dictator Ne Win seized power in a coup-d'etat in 1962, he
changed the name to "Armed Forces Day". Though it was the BNA (Burmese
National Army together with the workers, farmers, students, monks and
people from all walks of life) that took a leading role in the
resistance against the fascist Japanese, Ne Win has turned this
important historical day into an ordinary army day, thus dragging its
significance to an inferior level and making it seem like the army alone
had everything to do with it. Actually, Resistance Day belongs to all
the people of Burma and Ne Win should not have changed the name. The
very fact that he changed the name started an era of blood division
between the army and the people.
Another misleading and deceptive fact that caused blood division between
the army and the people of Burma is: The military dictators turning the
slogan "The people are the Father and Mother of everyone" into "The army
is the Father and Mother of the people". Ne Win and his generals tried
their best to create the army into a different class altogether with the
intention of carrying their power torch and handing it down through the
army for future generations to come.
Since 2nd March 1962 coup-d'etat, all that the military dictators have
done for the country within 37 plus years are the following:
1. Killing students, monks, the working people, indigenous ethnic
minorities, women and children numerous times in numberless cases.
2. Forcing and threatening civilians, government office workers and
schoolteachers and students to do and say as they prompt them to.
3. Imprisoning, harassing, torturing people who speak out against the
army or whom they feel that ideas and views do not align with theirs.
4. Severe mistreatment of individuals, mainly targeting students and
opposition party members.
5. Selling the country's rich natural resources to other neighboring
countries in pursuit of foreign currency.
6. Utilizing almost all of the country's possessions mainly with the
ulterior motive of expanding the military forces to stay in power for
their own benefit.
7. Gradually dragging and turning Burma from the richest country in
South-east Asia into the poorest nation in the world.
Ne Win and his generals had controlled and operated the army in an
erroneous way, so the people and the infamous army have become vastly
divided with each passing year. In Burma, the armed forces of today are
disreputable and dishonorable. Initially, when they entered the army,
they may have vowed to give up their lives for their country, but that
is not what people see in them today. People see them as a peculiar
class who are trying to exploit ordinary citizens of their most basic
human rights.
Ne Win and his generals, wishing to cling on to control and power, have
destroyed the role and image of the armed forces. The presence of
division between the people and the army for more than three decades
have ruptured to the extent that the barrel of the gun is pointing
towards its own people; Let alone the army's basic loyalty and
responsibility towards its people to defend and protect them from
internal and external enemies.
Ne Win and his generals should remember that they distorted these
shameless acts, causing anguish and displacement in people's lives and
what they have done to Burma and its people is HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD
and will be recorded as such. They should also take heed that
retribution is just around the corner.
If we look at other countries around the World, have we ever come across
any Government rulers who after controlling power for more than 35
years; never at any time been able to handle or resolve any kind of
political situation; and crying out loud to the world for goodness sake
"To give them another chance" to change their image?
If the military dictators really want worldwide acceptance and amend
their image, they have to work hard to get the genuine support of its
own people inside Burma. To be able to do that, they have to admit that
they have given improper directions and commands in the past. They have
to go back to the period prior to 1962, before Ne Win seized power from
the civilian government.
On 21st October 1958, at the Army Commanding Officers' Conference at
Meiktila Township, under "The policy of the Union and the future
workings of the Defense Forces" the following declarations were passed
and pledged:
1. For justice and peace to prevail, law and order must be adhered to
in the country.
2. To constitute and establish genuine democracy in the country.
3. To constitute a socialist oriented economy.
For justice and peace to prevail:
- The military dictators must give instructions to the army and make
them understand that they have to stop shooting, killing and torturing
the working people and return to the barracks to which they rightly
belong.
- The civilian judiciary court system must be reintroduced. The armed
forces must release control and abolish martial law.
To establish genuine Democracy:
- The military dictators must honor the result of 1990 general elections
in which National League for Democracy won a landslide victory. They
must allow the Parliament to convene and draft the Constitution. They
must also restore the State governing power to its rightful owners.
For the 1958 fundamental beliefs of the defense forces to be
materialized by:
- All political prisoners under detention must be freed without any
preconditions and without any strings attached, since the army does not
believe in democracy in the cell.
- The military dictators must acknowledge the people's genuine desire to
rebel against injustice and inequality, especially when they have to
live under self-seeking and avaricious rulers.
- It is the duty of every soldier in the army to have the courage to
stand up for what they believe is right, fair and just for the people
and for the country they are supposed to protect.
We wish to implore to each and every soldier in the army to understand
the fact that they are working for the people and the country and not
for the military dictators.
It is the principal duty of all the military personnel to repair the
name of the defense forces by respecting and honoring the will of the
working people of Burma. It is also their duty to abide by the duties
disclosed in the policy of the defense forces on 21st October 1958 and
to practice what they have pledged.
We send our sincere greetings to the people inside Burma on this
auspicious historical 54th Anniversary Resistance Day.
In Unity and Solidarity.
Burma Image
San Francisco
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com