Information Sheet No.B-1177(I)

[OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx]

MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE
YANGON

Information  Sheet
No.B-1177(I)                  9th December 1999

Special Feature

        This office is presenting one of the chapters from the 21st Edition 
of the booklet "Political Situation of Myanmar and Its Role In The Region" 
for your information.
        Confusion Over The Name Of The Country - Myanmar Or Burma

    Refusing to call a nation by its proper official name may seem 
insignificant to some but generates resentment among a very high majority of 
the Myanmar population. The subject is concerned with the recognition of the 
country by its original name. Of course, there are a few politicians in 
Myanmar who for certain political reasons prefer to retain the name Burma 
given by the former British Colonial
Administration.

    Myanmar and its capital Yangon are not new names created by the State Law 
and Order Restoration Council. In fact, Myanmar and Yangon are the original
names that were renamed Burma and Rangoon by the British Colonial 
Administration. In spite of the fact that in the Myanmar language people use 
the names Myanmar and Yangon, unfortunately, none of the successive Myanmar 
Governments took the trouble of reinstating the original names. The SLORC
administration did so with two main purposes: to provide a feeling of release 
from the British colonial past and to give a previously divided and fractious 
country a sense of national unity under the new banner of "The Union of 
Myanmar".

    In the Union of Myanmar there are 8 major national races with some 135 
ethnic minorities and among the 8 major nationalities Bamar is the largest 
national race
constituting 70% of the whole population. In this regard, when the British 
Colonial Administration colonized Myanmar in the late 1800 it is presumed 
that Britain renamed it Burma since Bamar or Burmans (the British usage) were 
the majority in the country which they occupied. In a cave temple built in 
the Bagan area is a stone tablet bearing a date equivalent to AD 1190. It is 
one of the first known references to
'Myanmar'. In contrast, the name 'Bamar' did not appear during this and 
subsequent periods. The first reference to Bamar was only found in artifacts 
and buildings dating from the KONBAUNG Period (18th and 19th centuries). 
Moreover, it is quite  nteresting to know that China since ancient times has 
referred to Myanmar as Myan-Tin in the Chinese language. It never referred to 
Myanmar as Burma-Tin or Bur-Tin as the British Colonial Administration had 
re-named it. 

    A few years ago in Yangon there was an interview between the media people 
and some of the leaders of the ethnic races (former insurgent groups) and 
this question of name-change was raised by some of the media people. The 
ethnic leaders' response was that they now feel they are not left out but are 
being equally given a national  identity under the name Myanmar. Naturally, 
the ethnic group still opposing the Myanmar Government will say things 
different because they have aligned themselves with the political party which 
refuses to recognize the country by its original name.
 
    The party (National League for Democracy) stated that the name-change is 
not a priority and it has to be done with a vote. It is quite amazing for 
someone to say such a thing since national unity is and always would be a top 
priority in any country in the world. It would be highly pertinent to ask, if 
the British Colonial Administration had implemented the name-change with a 
vote. If General Aung San Myanmar?s
national leader had not been assassinated in 1947, before Myanmar regained 
her independence, the national leaders of the time would have definitely 
reinstated
the original names. For the new names imposed by the British, are not only 
phonetically wrong but nationally and historically misrepresented.

    Anyhow, since the United Nations has recognized Myanmar by her original 
name it is the obligation of all U.N. member countries to accept it  whether 
they approve of it or not. If the situation had been reversed, certainly,  
these same nations would be
urging the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to impose sanctions and   
embargoes on countries not recognizing and implementing the U.N. resolution or
mandate.