Ethnic groups: No Panglong Agreement, no Union of Burma

“Non-Burmans could struggle on their own,
but no one can predict how long it will last.
But if you join hands with the Burmese,
independence at the same time is assured,”
--Aung San, at the Panglong Conference, 12th February 1947

By Hseng Khio Fah
Shan Herald Agency for News

The exile Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) released a statement marking the 62nd anniversary of the historic Panglong Agreement today that were it not for the Agreement, there would not have been the Union of Burma.

“The statement reflects the background of how the Union Day come into being,” said Saw David Taw, ENC Joint General Secretary.

The said treaty between the non-Burman leaders and Aung San was the basis for the Union, he added.

Aung San and his delegation had gone to England in January 1947 to demand Independence. As a result, Burma was promised freedom which did not include the Frontier Areas, as the non-Burman States were known at that time.

He returned to Burma to convince the ethnic leaders to join hands for Independence. On 8 February evening he delivered a speech at Panglong promising adequate safeguards for non-Burman rights should they decide to join Burma.

Aung San said, “Non-Burmans could struggle on their own, but no one can predict how long it will last. But if you join hands with the Burmese, independence at the same time is assured,” according to a SHAN report in 2000.

Later on 12th February 1947, the Panglong agreement was signed between leaders of the Frontier Areas and Aung San to unite and jointly fight for independence, and to establish a sovereign country, composed of co-independent equal states, in accordance with the principle of the Right of Self-determination.

Likewise, Shwe Ohn, 87, a participant at the Panglong Conference, wrote in his Toward the Third Union of Burma (1993), to the following effect:

What would have happened if the Panglong Agreement was not signed?
The answer is clear. The country would have been divided into two parts: Burma and the Frontier Areas. The former would become independent in 1948, while the latter would continue to remain under British rule.

How long would that rule be?

The Federated Malay States, also under British rule, became independent in 1957 without having to fight for it. By the same taken, I believe the Frontier Areas, in which Federated Shan States was a part, would also be an independent country by now.