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BURMA - THE PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IDE
- Subject: BURMA - THE PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IDE
- From: m.win@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 05:01:00
Subject: BURMA - THE PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IDENTITY
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BURMA - THE PROBLEM OF NATIONAL IDENTITY
=20
Is "Myanmar" a collective identity accepted by all non-Burmans?
By: Sai Wansai=20
The views of successive Burmese governments, including the present =
regime, SLORC/SPDC, concerning national identity have never been clear. =
They have been at a loss even as to what sort of name they should adopt; =
that is the reason why they are still using "Bamar" and "Myanmar" =
interchangeably for what they would like to be termed a common =
collective identity, in other words, national identity. The reality is =
that when one mentions "Myanmar", "Bamar", "Burmese" or "Burman", such =
words are usually identified with the lowland majority "Bamar"and have =
never been accepted or understood by the non-Bamar ethnic nationals as a =
common collective identity to which they also belong.
=20
It is, however, advisable to look into the existing historical facts =
that Burma or Myanmar has never been a monolithic political entity in =
any sense of the words. =20
The country we all know as Burma or Myanmar, as termed by the Burmese =
military regime, is a country made up of at least three countries, =
namely: Burma Proper, Karenni State and Shan States. The Shan and the =
Karenni joined Burma in their struggle for self-determination from the =
British and jointly attained independence on January 4, 1948.
However, in 1962 the Burmese military sized state power in a coup and =
declared the Union Constitution abolished. In so doing, the Burmese =
terminated the only existing legal bond between them and the other =
ethnic nationalities. The declaration of the suspension of the =
Constitution was in effect a self denunciation that Burma had overnight =
become an aggressor-nation instead of partner. Thus, in a =
legal-constitutional sense, the Union of Burma ceased to exist.=20
Meanwhile, the Burmese military regime has changed the name of Burma to =
Myanmar. Its aim is to create a national identity for every ethnic group =
residing within the boundary of the so-called Union of Myanmar. But =
since the name Myanmar has always been identified with the lowland =
"Bamar", the SLORC/SPDC's effort is only doomed to fail in trying to =
establish a common national identity among the non=AD-Bamar ethnic =
nationals. On top of that, this national identity was not chosen with =
the consent of the non-Bamar ethnic groups, but coercively thrusted down =
their throats by the hated Burmese military dictatorship.
This writer has never heard anyone mentioning that he or she is a Bamar =
Myanmar, Shan Myanmar, Kachin Myanmar, Karen Myanmar and so on. In the =
United States, by contrast, it is normal that one considers or accepts =
oneself as an American, Chinese American, Japanese American, =
Afro-American and so on. The point this writer is trying to make here is =
that the successive Burmese governments' nation-building process has =
totally shattered and failed to take root after all these years. The =
armed resistance of almost all the non-Bamar ethnic groups is a stark =
reminder and living evidence of this failure. The ceasefire deals which =
have been arranged with some of the resistance armies are also not a =
solution. They have, as noted by Bertil Lintner, simply frozen the =
ethnic conflict for the time being. They have failed to solve the =
underlying political problems and grievances.
The hard reality is that the denial of the right to self-determination =
is the crux of all the problems encompassing Burma today. All along the =
Burmese military has been implementing its own version of =
"nation-building" without tolerence to the notion of "Unity in =
Diversity". Its "win - lose" oriented conflict resolution has not =
produce positive result during the last five decades and it won't =
possibily do for the future. It is astonishing that the ruling military =
clique has not given a thought to embrace the approach of "win -win" =
outcome to manage the conflict.
The rebuilding of the shattered Union will need a political dialogue =
where comprehensive issues will be addressed and discussed in a sincere =
and open manner by all ethnic groups on an equal footing. Only then will =
we have a fighting chance of ever establishing a "national identity" in =
a true sense, embraced by all ethnic groups, Bamar included.
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<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><FONT face=3DArial>
<DIV align=3Djustify><STRONG><FONT color=3D#0000ff size=3D3>BURMA - THE =
PROBLEM OF=20
NATIONAL IDENTITY</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT color=3D#800000 size=3D3><STRONG>Is "Myanmar" =
a collective=20
identity accepted by all non-Burmans?</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify> </DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>By: Sai Wansai =
</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify> </DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>The views of successive =
Burmese=20
governments, including the present regime, SLORC/SPDC, concerning =
national=20
identity have never been clear. They have been at a loss even as to what =
sort of=20
name they should adopt; that is the reason why they are =
still=20
using "Bamar" and "Myanmar" interchangeably for what =
they=20
would like to be termed a common collective identity, in other words, =
national=20
identity. The reality is that when one mentions "Myanmar", "Bamar", =
"Burmese" or=20
"Burman", such words are usually identified with the lowland majority =
"Bamar"and=20
have never been accepted or understood by the non-Bamar ethnic nationals =
as a=20
common collective identity to which they also =
belong.</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>It is, however, advisable to =
look into=20
the existing historical facts that Burma or Myanmar has never been a =
monolithic=20
political entity in any sense of the words. </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: =
justify"><EM><STRONG><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: =
DE">The=20
country we all know as Burma or Myanmar, as termed by the Burmese =
military=20
regime, is a country made up of at least three countries, namely: Burma =
Proper,=20
Karenni State and Shan States. The Shan and the Karenni joined Burma in =
their=20
struggle for self-determination from the British and jointly attained=20
independence on January 4, 1948.<?xml:namespace prefix =3D o ns =3D=20
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" =
/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></STRONG></EM></P>
<P align=3Djustify class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: =
justify"><STRONG><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: =
DE"><EM>However,<SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>in 1962 the Burmese military =
sized state=20
power in a coup and declared the Union Constitution abolished. In so =
doing, the=20
Burmese terminated the only existing legal bond between them and the =
other=20
ethnic nationalities. The declaration of the suspension of the =
Constitution was=20
in effect a self denunciation that Burma had overnight become an=20
aggressor-nation instead of partner. Thus, in a legal-constitutional =
sense, the=20
Union of Burma ceased to exist. </EM></SPAN></STRONG></P>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>Meanwhile, the Burmese =
military=20
regime has changed the name of Burma to Myanmar. Its aim is to create a =
national=20
identity for every ethnic group residing within the boundary of the =
so-called=20
Union of Myanmar. But since the name Myanmar has always been identified =
with the=20
lowland "Bamar", the SLORC/SPDC's effort is only doomed to fail in =
trying to=20
establish a common national identity among the non­-Bamar ethnic =
nationals.=20
On top of that, this national identity was not chosen with the consent =
of the=20
non-Bamar ethnic groups, but coercively thrusted down their throats by =
the hated=20
Burmese military dictatorship.</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><BR><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>This writer has never =
heard anyone=20
mentioning that he or she is a Bamar Myanmar, Shan Myanmar, Kachin =
Myanmar,=20
Karen Myanmar and so on. In the United States, by contrast, it is normal =
that=20
one considers or accepts oneself as an American, Chinese American, =
Japanese=20
American, Afro-American and so on. The point this writer is trying to =
make here=20
is that the successive Burmese governments' nation-building process has =
totally=20
shattered and failed to take root after all these years. The armed =
resistance of=20
almost all the non-Bamar ethnic groups is a stark reminder and living =
evidence=20
of this failure. The ceasefire deals which have been arranged with some =
of the=20
resistance armies are also not a solution. They have, as noted by Bertil =
Lintner, simply frozen the ethnic conflict for the time being. They have =
failed=20
to solve the underlying political problems and =
grievances.</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify> </DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>The hard reality is that the =
denial of=20
the right to self-determination is the crux of all the problems =
encompassing=20
Burma today. All along the Burmese military has been implementing its =
own=20
version of "nation-building" without tolerence to the notion of "Unity =
in=20
Diversity". Its "win - lose" oriented conflict resolution has not =
produce=20
positive result during the last five decades and it won't possibily do =
for the=20
future. It is astonishing that the ruling military clique has not given =
a=20
thought to embrace the approach of "win -win" outcome to manage the=20
conflict.</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify><BR><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>The rebuilding of the =
shattered=20
Union will need a political dialogue where comprehensive issues will be=20
addressed and discussed in a sincere and open manner by all ethnic =
groups on an=20
equal footing. Only then will we have a fighting chance of ever =
establishing a=20
"national identity" in a true sense, embraced by all ethnic groups, =
Bamar=20
included.</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify> </DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>
<HR>
</STRONG></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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