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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
       




       
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