Shan army set to cast a wide net

(SHAN) - The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political arm of the Shan State Army (SSA) South, must do its utmost to form alliances with all the diverse groups both within Shan State and the rest of Burma, according to Chairman Yawd Serk.

“It’s time to win the SPDC’s former allies over,” he declared on 3 June, toward the end of a two-day bi-annual meeting in Loi Taileng, opposite Maehongson’s Pang Mapha district. “That doesn’t mean they have to become part of the RCSS/SSA. We can agree on an appropriate name.”

He was speaking in relation to the deteriorating relations between Naypyidaw and the ceasefire groups, following the former’s demand, at first, for the latter to lay down arms and, after their refusal, to transform themselves into border security forces under the Burma Army’s command. Most of the ceasefire groups, except for a few, have been against the call, saying their demands for greater autonomy have not been met.

“I know we all want to set up a single movement,” he continued. “But the prevalent call from all is for alliances. So let us become allies with others and go through a trust-building process like forming joint commands and joint military exercises. As trust grows, we can, by common consent, form a single movement later.”

The SSA, together with 3 other groups, namely,

Lahu Democratic Union (LDU),
PaO National Liberation Organization (PNLO) and
Tai Coordination Committee (TCC),

has already formed the Shan State Congress (SSC).

The 6 State Military Alliance with:
Arakan Liberation Party (ALP),
Chin National Front (CNF),
Kachin National Organization (KNO),
Karen National Union (KNU) and
Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP)

was formed earlier. “The military alliance has been dormant for some time,” he conceded. “But with the 2010 elections coming up, there is a strong need to bring it back.”

The SSA, together with most of the opposition movements, regards the elections being planned by Naypyidaw as illegitimate.

The meeting also resolved to form alliances with “any group either political or military that recognizes the SPDC military clique as enemy.” The resolution followed a statement made by the 12th Strategic Consultation Meeting (SCM) on 6 April to form a broad-based alliance against the 2008 Constitution and the 2010 planned election that, it said, would only “entrench the military rule.”

The SCM was formed by the

National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB),
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB),
Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC),
Women’s League of Burma (WLB),
Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB),
Student and Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB) and
Nationalities Youth Forum (NYF).

The SSA currently appears to be the strongest anti-Naypyidaw armed movement. The population of Loi Taileng, its main base alone, is over 13,000, of which less than 3,000 of them are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), according to the report submitted at the meeting.

There are four other SSA bases along the Thai-Burma border:

READ MORE---> Shan army set to cast a wide net...

Monk calls for unity among religious leaders - Abbot U Nyanissara

(DVB)–A prominent Burmese monk who organised relief efforts following cyclone Nargis last year has called for religious leaders in Burma to join hands in solving the country’s problems.

Speaking from Norway, midway through a European trip which included the Buddhist Union’s Buddha’s Day celebration in France last month, Abbot U Nyanissara called for unity amongst monks.

“We, all religious leaders, should walk together on a path that we see from the same point of view,” he said.

“If you look at all the rivers with different names in Burma and also look at the rivers in Europe, you can see they all come from the same origin.”

Buddhist religious discipline instructs monks to keep out of politics.

This has been broken in the past, however, most notably in September 2007 when monks took to the streets in Burma to protest the hike in fuel prices, triggering what has become known as the Saffron Revolution due to the colour of monks robes.

Refraining from direct political rhetoric, U Nyanissara called for calm in the face of upheaval.

“We all should take the example of water and work together with everyone to keep the minds of human beings clear and to cool down their angers,” he said, adding that he gave the same message during his speech at the Buddha’s Day celebration in Paris.

His visit to Norway, he said, was due to his wish to visit the country of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel prizes.

Reporting by Moe Aye

READ MORE---> Monk calls for unity among religious leaders - Abbot U Nyanissara...

Ethnic groups should ‘drive junta out’

(DVB)–An official from Burma’s largest armed ethnic group, who signed a ceasefire deal with the government in the 1990s, has said that the junta is conspiring against Aung San Suu Kyi and should be driven out of office.

Suu Kyi is on trial today for sheltering US citizen John William Yettaw, who intruded onto her compound on 4 May and spent two nights.

The government alleges that she breached rules of her house arrest and, if found guilty, could be sentenced to five years in prison.

An official from the United Wa State Army (UWSA), who control much of Burma’s opium trade and have an army of some 20,000 troops, said that the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) cannot be trusted.

“[The SPDC] is now playing their dodgy tricks to conspire against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is well respected by the international community,” he said.

“I have never heard in any country’s law about a person whose territory was violated being put under charges.

“I think it’s about time we [all ethnic groups] should join hands together and drive these bastards out.”

He added that the government’s request that the UWSA reduce troop numbers and transform themselves into border patrol troops would not be heeded.

“The plan is all about winning from their side,” he said.

“We wouldn’t agree with them having their people…give us directions because it’s senseless.

“Our army should be run only by us, directed by us.”

Reporting by DVB

READ MORE---> Ethnic groups should ‘drive junta out’...

Generals Call the Ceasefire Groups’ Hands

By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News

If the ethnic ceasefire groups agree to follow proposals by Burma’s military junta to transform their battalions into border guard forces, they will be left with no room to maneuver politically. Either way, stability across the country is under threat.

The dilemma facing several of Burma’s ethic armies comes after high-ranking officers from Naypyidaw made several visits to the ethnic groups’ bases last week to outline blueprints for the post-election period that would entail the former insurgents submitting to the command of the Burmese army, also known as the Tatmadaw.

Among the groups that sat with the junta officials last week is the largest armed ethnic group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a 20,000-strong army based in Shan State which is closely associated with the drugs trade.

Other groups include the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a Kokang group called the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the National Democratic Alliance Army, which is based in Shan State.

According to a copy of the blueprint obtained by The Irrawaddy, none of the ethnic ceasefire groups would retain the right to manage day-to-day affairs independently and its command structure would have to share—and, in certain positions, be submissive to—the Tatmadaw’s regional commanders.

Under the plan outlined in the leaked blueprint, one Burmese officer would share command of each ethnic ceasefire group battalion alongside two ethnic commanders. Burmese military personnel would also assume several other significant posts in each battalion.

According to the junta’s guidelines, the ceasefire groups have to respond to the proposal in the coming months. Military training for the ceasefire groups has been penciled in for October.

“The ceasefire groups should think carefully about their future,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst based on the Sino-Burmese border. “This is a crucial time for them.

“If the junta’s plan comes to fruition, there will be no more UWSA or KIA—only political wings, such as the UWSP [United Wa State Party] and the KIO [Kachin Independence Organization].”

Observers say that if the ceasefire groups do not accept the Tatmadaw’s border guard force proposal, the fragile ceasefire agreements between many of the ethnic groups and the junta could be broken; and the border trade zone along Burma’s eastern border could suddenly become a battleground again.

Aside from the UWSA, the other ethnic ceasefire groups are not as strong nowadays as they were before they entered into ceasefire agreements. The Tatmadaw now has several outposts positioned in the ethnic group-controlled areas.

However, according to Khuensai Jaiyen, the editor-in-chief of the Shan Herald Agency for News, ceasefire groups such as the Shan State Army (North) would still be a force to be reckoned with if they were called into action, even though they have a much smaller army than the UWSA.

According to intelligence sources, junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe has indicated to his officers that handling the ethnic ceasefire groups would be one of their biggest challenges in the coming years.

“Apart from non-violent dissidents such as Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD [National League for Democracy], the generals in Naypyidaw see this as another threat to their administration since there are no concrete political solutions to ceasefire agreements,” said a political observer in Rangoon who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said that facing down the ceasefire groups would be different from Suu Kyi and other dissidents. “If the junta wants to crack down on the non-violent opposition, they can simply open more prison doors. But the ceasefire groups—like the junta—also know how to use firepower to get their way,” he said.

The issue also encompasses geopolitical concerns for the regime. China, being Burma’s northern neighbor and one of its biggest trade and military partners, enjoys a strong influence on all the ceasefire groups based near the Sino-Burmese border, especially the UWSA and the KIA.

China is scheduled to build a strategic oil and gas pipeline stretching from western Burma to Yunnan Province, passing through much ethnic territory.

China, as former comrades-in-arms, would not ignore the UWSA and the Kokang if they were in crisis, said Aung Kyaw Zaw.

In recent years, the question of Burma’s stability, development and national reconciliation has become a main concern for Beijing.

In April, Chen Bingde, the Chief-of-Staff of the People's Liberation Army, told the visiting Burmese general Tin Aye that Beijing hoped Burma could achieve social stability, economic development and national reconciliation.

However, at last week’s meeting between junta officers and the UWSA, one of the Wa leaders reportedly rebuked the Burmese regime’s offer angrily, calling it a recipe for disunity.

Other ethnic leaders are going to have to make big decisions in the near future—decisions that could tread dangerously close to plunging the region into instability and bloodshed.

READ MORE---> Generals Call the Ceasefire Groups’ Hands...

The Thai Divine Comedy

By Thanong Khanthong
The Nation Blogs

Have you ever experienced Paradise, Hell and Purgatory in the City of Angels? Let me show you around Bangkok because I do at times venture beyond my home in the Sukhumvit area to visit Old Bangkok.

Paradise

You start at Phanfah Leelas Bridge, a distinct point that leads you to the gateway of Paradise. King Rama III statue offers you a golden key for you to enter into the realm of the Paradise, where at the night time the angels descend to dance and pick up flowers. You can smell Paradise, the fragrance that is not of this world, as you watch the Stupas and the Loha Prasath behind.

There Paradise interacts with you in several dimensions, with the lure of aesthetics. If you could make your way up to Paradise, the background scenary behind the Rama III statue would have been the physical structure where the Angels take their residence.

Rama III built most of the permanent structures of Bangkok so that angels and the Thais mingle together in harmony. Here is the gateway and corridor to the inner parts of Paradise that is Bangkok.

The grandeur of Loha Prasat (the Iron Castle).

That's the outer layer of Paradise. But Paradise is also hidden in your consciousness. As you experience the beauty of the Stupas and the Loha Prasat and the temples which moves your yearning for Paradise, that Paradise gradually permeats your own consciousness in a struggle for self-realisation. You finally come to terms with your self, your elusive self.

That which is Paradise is your process of understanding or the denial of all happiness, which charaterises the self, so that you confront the self in the most critical moment.

Between the self and no-self, which path do you choose?

Then you walk on along the Rachadamnoen Road. It is about midnight. You pass the Democracy Monument. How many people have died in futile for this worthless landmark that signifies greeds and crude power in this land? How many military strongmen come and go as the Democracy Monument is forever cursed with their arsenals buried around? How many politicians have promised us with the loots before ending up with rampant corruption? How many times do the poor have to shed their tears just to get a fair share of their life on this earth?

Hell

Along the pavements, you see Hell and all the sufferings that go with it. Homeless people lie on the benches or on the tiny space close to the shop glass. They do not have any other places to sleep.

Prostitutes, in their forties or fifties, gesture to you with their sign language. This is their turf. When dark night descends on Rachadamnoen, they come out to reclaim their territory. They perform the oldest trade of this world just to survive, with a heart that is beyond the sufferings of any human descriptions until it becomes normal.

You see people getting lost with their way because they cannot afford even Bt200-bt300 for a night say in one of the cockroach motels in the dark backstreets, where rats are scurrying around looking for their stench food.

A homeless man resting in front of Silapakorn University.

The sufferings you encounter manifest Hell in its physical form. But Hell is also your obsession with the self. The homeless and the prostitutes suffer from all kinds of physical abuse. They struggle to keep their self moving. They only have the will to live, to protect the self. The Hell in your consciousness is your denial of the sufferings from the outside and the struggle of for the maintaining of your happiness from the inside.

But as an observer of Hell, you at once set yourself apart from the sufferings before your eyes. You start to doubt whether your comfortable life in a four-cornered office room is better than theirs? Your continuation to have obsession with the self does not make you having any status any better than them. For we all are born and have to go through the cycle of birth and death, in an eternal struggle for existence.

Those people in rags and ruins have no more strength left to have obsession with the self as they only need a few breath of strength to keep their sheer existence. The Hell that is in your consciousness returns to haunt you as the self perpetuates the state of ignorance and comparison between good and bad, peace and suffering.

You have almost forgot the Paradise, the real Paradise that you have walked past almost a kilometre behind, the real Paradise that points to redemption.

Purgatory

The Triology would not come full cycle without your final confrontation with Purgatory. Purgatory signifies your aimless travelling through time. You are now in the human world, lying perhaps on the edge of this world.

In Buddhist terminology, Purgatory is a region where you place three circles together. You see vendors of fake Buddhas and second hand or third hand garments and electronics products. You can also buy a mobile phone there, with the service excellence of a mouth-to-teeth technician. You can have your future read by the palm of the astrologers of the land. You can eat a plate of phad thai or khai dao with garlic pork at Bt15 or Bt20. You can buy a buay drink to water down your thirst after a long walk. This is the medieval market of Siam, cut off from the Finance Ministry's tax arm. Prices are in the low range. You can buy an antique clock or watch for a couple of hundred baht.

Street vendors are normal sight in your peripatetic travel through Purgatory in Old Bangkok.

You aren't sure how these people can make a living with their medieval trade because in the afternoon of that day, you just have a nice meal at Siam Paragon. As you pass the court buildings opposite Sanam Luang, you feel tired with the weighing down of the sights on your mind.

After Paradise and Hell, you could have thought that you find the answer to your true self. But no, you're still wandering without any direction. If you're not sure with Paradise and reject Hell altogether, you'll be left in a state of flux, of not knowing where else to go to or what else to do.

Finally, you stop at the City Pillar at the corner opposite Wat Phrakaew. You pay homage to the City Pillar, that provides strength and power to the longliveity of this Kingdom. You glance at Wat Phrakaew, which stands as a testimony of the ultimate Paradise. You pay your utmost respect to the ultimate sacred site of Bangkok, while the nihilism that goes around Wat Phrakaew is intensifying on the bedrock of ignorance.

The Emerald Buddha Temple: Paradise lost, and Paradise regained.

There, you at once come to term with your self for the third critical moment of your brief travel in search for the lost meanings. Between Paradise, or the redemption of your soul, Hell, your preoccupation with the ignorant self, or Purgatory, your travelling through time without any meanings or purposes, what path would you choose?

As you return home, you feel tired with the dark vision, your confused mind and also your realisation of your potential to break away from your consciousness. The interplay between Hell, Purgatory and Paradise allows you to at once realise the sufferings, the peripatetic travelling through time before you arrive at the crucial juncture of whether you will enter the gate of absolute serenity, where the self is no longer what it is.

The final destination is to laying down, like the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, in a state of absolute serenity.

***************************

If you find my guided tour of the City of Angels of some thought, then you may see the light of how we all can break away from this sufferings by helping the poor first. Helping the poor does not mean that you have to demolish Paradise. You have to get it right at the Purgatory level first. This has to do with the police, politicians, military, prosecutors. When the poor is better, we all have shared meanings in the Purgatory as we look for the final exit to Paradise.

With this, I lay my case. I have taken you all to the epic journey in the spirit of Dante's Divine Comedy and Milton's Paradise Lost. I have to pay tribute to my deceased teacher Montri Umavijani and the Illustrious One, my beloved uncle, who both gave me the wisdom to see through the Three Worlds.

############################################

How the concept of Three World provides a way out for Thailand.

In Hell, we have 40 million Thais living in tough conditions and engaging in agriculture. If we can improve their standard of living, we'll get rid of yellow, red and blue or any shades of colour. We'll achieve unity or political symmetry.

But so far the businessmen, politicians, traders, financiers, bureaucrats or local authorities take advantage of them so that they remain poor. It is very difficult for legislation aimed at improving the welfare of the poor get passed by Parliament. The poor are being taken advantaged by the modern sector, which is far smarter.

The Monarchy can only involved in development projects and provide moral guideance. But it does not have the resources nor is it a direct job of the Monarchy to engage in economic development. So the poor Thais are cursed to live in Hell.

Thaksin does not see it through, he only tries to take advantage of the poor for his own political gain. Much worse, there has been a smear campaign to suggest that the Monarchy has been taken advantage over the poor.

The rest of us are moving about in Purgatory, including all the systems of government and the institutions and the modern sector. We fight for the resources, for the concessions, for a larger pie of the GDP. We go about to get rich and to take advantage over others. We do not care how the country will suffer in the end. We blame each other because we don't know the roots of the problem. Power play occurs at this level in the pursuit of self-interest and greeds. All the problems happen here in Purgatory.

Thailand does not now where it is going, except to serve the short-term greeds.

Paradise is in our heart. His Majesty the King is already there by virtue of Detachment.

To enter Paradise, you must have detachment. Everybody can enter Paradise. Detachment is self-less or not craving for materialism or wanting something that does not belong to us, or not wanting to take advantage over other people, other animals, or refraining from harming the natural resources and environment.

Once you have detachment, you have concentration to see through the Three Worlds. Concentration is the process of learning, of discerning, of separating reality from illusion, of understanding the essence of nature, of seeing Dharmma.

Non-detachment stands in the way of everything, the worst of all is ignorance.

Once you have the detachment (not me, not mine) and concetration (process of learning and discerning) to see through the Three Worlds, you'll achieve wisdom (complete understanding). You may call this wisdom as enlightenment or nirvana, depending on the gradation of your own barami or intelligence or perseverance or your pure heart.

This is the Thai Utopia, a universe of ideas complete in itself.

#######################################

READ MORE---> The Thai Divine Comedy...

Burmese oppositions aligned to form a ‘United Front’

by Ko Wild

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Several Burmese opposition groups during a meeting last week in Thai-Burmese border had decided to form an inclusive united front to strengthen unity and consolidate.


The meeting held from April 2 to 4 was attended by representatives of pro-democracy organizations, including women’s and ethnic united fronts and the coalition government in exile.

"We badly need unity and consolidation at this juncture. We need to pave the way for setting up of a sole, unified and consolidated united front, which will be more effective. We will oppose the 2010 election, but how. So we discussed these at the meeting," Pado David Taw, Joint-Secretary (1) of the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) said.

The meeting was attended by 58 delegates representing seven alliance organizations namely the 'National Council of Union of Burma' (NCUB), 'Ethnic Nationalities Council' (ENC) (Union of Burma), 'Women’s League of Burma' (WLB), 'Forum for Democracy in Burma' (FDB), 'Students and Youths Congress of Burma' (SYCB) and the 'Nationalities Youth Forum' (NYF).

The goal of the meeting was to explore and adopt a common programme for the Burmese democracy movement.

The meeting decided to form a 14-member working committee from among the delegates; to draw and adopt the basic principles for forming the alliance. But it did not set a deadline for completing these basic principles.

Pado David Taw said that one of the common programmes adopted in the meeting was the 'elimination programme' of the new 2008 constitution. This is fundamental for the implementation of democratic transition and conforms to the principle with the four-point agenda being called for by the NLD and political forces for 'reviewing the constitution'.

"In fact, the stand of our revolutionary forces is total elimination. But as for the NLD, its stand is reviewing the constitution. We concluded that it was difficult for the NLD to call for total elimination explicitly. So we added one more point in the agenda in keeping with their demand," he said.

The timing of trying to set up a single united front by merging all the seven separate alliance organizations coincides with the pressure being mounted on the oldest revolutionary group among them, the 'Karen National Union' (KNU), to enter into a dialogue with the Burmese junta by the Thai government.

But KNU Central Executive Committee member Pado David Taw said that KNU will only discuss political affairs with the regime, not territorial and economic issues so that it will not reflect on the stand and expansion of the alliance organizations.

Pado David Taw also said that the KNU delegation led by 'Karen National Liberation Army' (KNLA) Chief of Staff Gen. Mutu Saypho and comprising KNU Vice-Chairman Pado David Tarkapaw and General Secretary Naw Zippora Sein held discussions with Thai officials on Monday.

But who represented the Thai side and the subject of the meeting are not yet known.

READ MORE---> Burmese oppositions aligned to form a ‘United Front’...

Equal rights essential to revive Union Spirit: Ethnic leaders

By Salai Pi Pi

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burma's ethnic leaders have said the essence of Unions Day has been degraded and have urged the ruling junta to revise the Constitution to ensure the rights of ethnic people, which will re-establish the true spirit of Union Day.

Dr. Lian Hmung Sakhong, Vice-president of the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) in exile, said the revision of the Constitution and tripartite dialogue with the National League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic nationalities could revive the true spirit of the Union Day in Burma.

"If the regime wants to see unity, they must revise the junta drafted and endorsed Constitution to ensure the rights of ethnic nationalities," Dr. Sakhong told Mizzima, adding, "The junta should also call for tripartite dialogue with NLD and ethnic groups."

However, in order to hold a tripartite dialogue, Sakhong said, "Initially, the regime must release all political prisoners, including Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Shan ethnic leader Khun Htun Oo."

The ethnic leader's call came following Burmese military supremo Senior General Than Shwe's message on the 62nd anniversary of Union Day, published by the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar yesterday.

In his message, Than Shwe said the Union Day marks the signing of the 'Panglong' agreement between Burmese independence architect General Aung San and ethnic leaders to form the Union of Burma in 1947 and urged the people to nurture the Burmese spirit regardless of where they were.

"Only the Union Spirit is true patriotism that will ever protect and safeguard all the national races," the paper quoted Than Shwe as saying.

Sakhong, however, said the Union Spirit could not be obtained in the absence of equal rights for ethnic nationalities. "Words are not enough, and action needs to be taken," he said.

Meanwhile, veteran Arakanese politician Aye Thar Aung said, with the military junta's Constitution, which largely fails to recognize the rights of ethnic nationalities, unity among all nationalities in Burma is be a dream, which cannot be realized.

"The Constitution will not lead to unity as it failed to include self-determination rights of ethnic groups," said Aye Thar Aung, who is also the Secretary of the Committee Representing People's Parliament (CRPP), a group formed with the Members of Parliament elected in the 1990 election.

"If they [the junta], really want to build unity, the Constitution must include the equal rights of ethnic nationalities," Aye Thar Aung added.

He added that the regime by refusing to accept proposals from ethnic representatives on equal rights at the National Convention, proved their unwillingness to recognize the rights of ethnic nationalities.

Burma, on February 12, will mark the 62nd anniversary of the Union Day, on which date General Aung San and ethnic leaders in Panglong Town of Shan state, signed the historic 'Panglong Agreement' to form the Union of Burma.

General Aung San along with his eight other colleagues were assassinated on July 19, 1947. However, Burma gained independence from the British colonial rule on January 4, 1948.

Barely a month later, the ethnic Karen group began to revolt demanding rights of self-determination. Burma has been plagued with civil war since then.

The ethnic nationalities' aspiration of a federal state was further crushed in 1962, when General Ne Win took over in a military coup and re-wrote the Constitution in 1974. The new Constitution introduced a unitary system and denied the existence of a multi-party system, giving way only to Ne Win's Burmese Socialist Programme Party (BSPP).

"We do not want a unity that is forcibly built without regard for the rights of ethnics' self-determination," Sakhong said.

READ MORE---> Equal rights essential to revive Union Spirit: Ethnic leaders...

Taking a UNITED Stand

The Irrawaddy News

The Irrawaddy spoke recently with Brig-Gen Johnny, the commander of the 7th Brigade of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the military wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), about the challenges facing the Karen struggle after 60 years of resistance to Burmese rule.

Brig-Gen Johnny
(Photo: Zarny Win/The Irrawaddy)

A ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of Karen Revolution Day was held at the base camp of KNLA Brigade 7 in Karen State on January 31.

Question: What is your resolution for 2009?

Answer: We have to work together with Buddhist monks, students and opposition groups inside and outside Burma to boycott the junta’s election in 2010, because if the Burmese regime wins the election, we will remain under the military’s boot for a long time. So all ethnic groups, monks and students should be united and fight to overthrow the Burmese regime.

Q: How do you plan to achieve this goal? By military means?

A: Political conflicts must be solved by political means. So, [the KNU] has always kept the door open for talks with the Burmese regime. But so far, the regime has ignored this approach. So we must continue to bear arms and fight against them.

We are not holding weapons to fight against Burmans, but to fight against the rule of the dictatorship and against Burman chauvinism. That is why we believe we have to work together with Burmese opposition forces.

We will continue to fight back militarily in any way that we can. If the Burmese army attacks us, we will fight back.

Q: What are your views on the divisions within the KNU?

A: Our weakness is that we don’t understand each other. We don’t have unity. And due to the long period of the resistance and manipulation by the Burmese regime, many of our comrades have split and surrendered to the Burmese regime.

Our enemy tries to divide us everyday. We know that, but we still allow ourselves to be divided. For example, Htein Maung [leader of the breakaway KNU/KNLA Peace Council], knew that the enemy wanted to divide us, but still, he played along. It’s not that our enemy is clever; it’s because we are not clever that this is what happens.

But in the end, the KNU will write its own history.

Q: How do you think that unity within the KNU can be restored?

A: First of all, we must always be careful, because our enemy is constantly trying to divide us. We don’t need to listen to them. We have our own policy. If we follow our policy, we will definitely reach our goal.

Our leaders, like [slain former KNU Secretary General] Padoh Mahn Sha, have done a lot for their people. We who are alive have to carry on with our unfinished duty. If we don’t, we will betray our leaders and our comrades who have sacrificed their lives for the Karen people.

Q: In your opinion, what do the Karen people need most to reach their goal?

A: We have to be united. We have to understand and respect each other. And we must not listen to our enemy. If we work together with love, we will definitely reach our goal.

Q: What do you think about diplomatic efforts to achieve change in Burma?

A: The international pressure is right. But we also have to do our duty. We are the key to freedom in Burma. We can’t rely on the international community alone.

It is the duty of all the repressed people of Burma to become involved in the democracy movement. If we all realize that it is our responsibility to take part in the democracy movement, the goal of our struggle will not be far away.

READ MORE---> Taking a UNITED Stand...

NCUB Plans to Form Parallel Government in 2009

By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News

The National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), an umbrella organization of Burmese opposition groups, announced on January 1 that it will found a parallel government as part of its action plan for 2009.

In a special New Year statement, the NCUB said that it would establish a “National Unity Government” and “National Unity Parliament” to counter plans by Burma’s ruling military regime to hold an undemocratic election in 2010.

“As a tactic to challenge the junta’s legitimacy, we will form a parallel government,” Nyo Ohn Myint, a member of the NCUB’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

He added that plans to create a new government would go into effect after a forthcoming conference of the Members of Parliament Union (MPU), a group consisting of MPs elected in Burma’s last election in 1990. The MPU’s annual conference is scheduled to take place on January 19 in Dublin, Ireland.

Nyo Ohn Myint added that the parallel government will include both elected MPs and representatives of ethnic groups who have their own territories and armies.

The NCUB statement has excited controversy among Burmese exiles, many of whom question the value of forming a new parallel government when the democratic opposition already has a government in exile, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB).

The NCGUB was formed by exiled MPs elected in 1990 and is led by Dr Sein Win, the cousin of Burma’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Founded in December 1990 in Manerplaw, the former headquarters of the Karen National Union, the NCGUB now operates out of Washington, DC.

Nyo Ohn Myint denied that the new National Unity Government would function in the same manner as the NCGUB, saying that it would not merely consist of a prime minister and five cabinet ministers like the NCGUB.

He also questioned the NCGUB’s leadership because of its failure to cooperate with the NCUB’s efforts to challenge the Burmese junta’s seat at the United Nations.

Responding to criticism about its effectiveness, the NCGUB accused the NCUB leadership of embarking on a meaningless campaign without any attempt to form a consensus among members of the umbrella group.

Khun Marko Ban, the NCGUB’s federal affairs minister and a member of the MPU, said that the NCUB’s secretary-general, Maung Maung, did not even inform all concerned parties before issuing the New Year statement.

“Even though I am an executive member of the NCUB, I knew nothing about the statement until after it was released,” said Khun Marko Ban, who is also President 3 of the NCUB.

“We need to respect the organization’s consensus principle and ensure that this does not happen again,” he added.

The NCUB was formed in September 1992 by four organizations: the MPU, the ethnic-based Democratic Alliance of Burma, the National Democratic Front, and the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area).

Khun Marko Ban said that at its last conference in February 2008, the MPU initiated reforms that would make the NCGUB more proactive in the future. The MPU, which elects the NCGUB’s cabinet, will choose a new lineup at the conference in Dublin, he added.

READ MORE---> NCUB Plans to Form Parallel Government in 2009...

The task of unification

by Dr. Sein Myint
Mizzima News
25 November 2008

The world's most renowned scientist of the 20th century, Albert Einstein, successfully revealed the nature of light with his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905 and postulated the curvature of spacetime in his Theory of General Relativity in 1916, integrating his work with Sir Isaac Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation, first conceived of over two-hundred years previously.

While high-profile searches for the unification of the four forces of nature continue through such mechanisms as the gigantic Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, the low-profile political quest for the "unification" of exile-Burmese democratic forces is subtly underway in the small town of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

It is most encouraging to learn that some exile student leaders from 1988 living in the United States and other countries have come together and are working under the process of unifying the exile democratic movement under a motto of 'One Voice One Goal,' as expressed by a former All Burma Students Democratic Front leader. And there is no shortage of endorsements and support from other exile democratic communities across the globe for their endeavors and efforts.

The unity talked about among exiles is long overdue, and time – a commodity that many exile opposition leaders took for granted for so long – is now running out. Soon after the 2010 elections in Burma, the legitimacy and mandate that the National League for Democracy (NLD) obtained through the 1990 elections will no longer be as effective a weapon as before.

The MPs elected in the 1990 election inside the country will soon be joining the Veteran Politicians club, currently comprised of ex-MPs from the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League era that lost their legitimate posts after General Ne Win's military coup of 1962.

In order for any exile organization to be named as a Federal Democratic Government, it should be based and founded upon democratic principles and must be supported by a broad grassroots-based exile community residing across the globe. And it should be well structured and organized, comprising dedicated, committed, honest and trustworthy team players, who are democratically elected by the various exile communities as their representatives.

However, today there are many exile democratic groups and organizations currently operating under diverse banners, with leaders pursuing their own political agendas and maintaining an egotistic stature – instead of promoting, as they should, unity in spirit and political magnanimity.

One shining example of unification across divides can be seen in the current actions of US President Elect Barack Obama, who has repeatedly made statements to the effect that he will reach out across party and personal divides when forming his future cabinet. Already, his principle Democratic Primary rival, Hillary Clinton, has been offered the post of Secretary of State.

Sadly, many of our compatriots are still wavering on priorities and lingering on self interests rather than the public interest, with many having long been living off welfare from sympathetic donors.

Under such circumstances, the emergence of a frustrated younger generation is inevitable, as many of them are well educated in Western universities and have lived long enough to appreciate the ways and functioning of democratic societies. Yet, they are still committed to the well-being of their fellow countrymen and women in their impoverished homeland, dedicated to the restoration of democracy and basic human rights and now ready to take on the task of unification.

Many of them still well remember how dear the whole population had to pay for the failure of uniting key political players at the critical juncture surrounding 1988. History cannot be allowed to repeat itself.

But the military regime is now well entrenched and more powerful than before, on course with a plan to rule for many years. Since the democratic opposition inside the country has been continuously marginalized for nearly two decades, all exile democratic leaders are imbued with the political responsibility and moral obligation to unite under a common umbrella group and to work for a common goal.

Dr. Sein Myint serves as the director of Policy Development of Justice for Human Rights in Burma, located in Maryland, USA. He is an Honorary Member of Amnesty International Chapter 22 in Washington D.C.

READ MORE---> The task of unification...

Rohingya unity meet successfully concluded

Kaladan Press

Chittagong, Bangladesh: A Rohingya unity meeting was successfully concluded on January 7, 2008, on the Bangladesh- Burma border.

At the meeting, a total of 14 Rohingya leaders participated from major political parties and other organizations and discussed the deteriorating situation of Rohingya people in Arakan and the current political situation in Burma, said a participant.

The meeting was chaired by a professor, a Rohingya researcher.

The meeting unanimously adopted the following resolutions. These are:

1) to form a single organization to represent and serve the cause and case of the Rohingya people,

2) a five-member" Working Committee" has been formed to work on necessary unification process for emergence of one single political organization by March 31, 2008, according to a political party leader.

Besides, a five-member "Advisory Body" has also been formed to give necessary advice from time to time to the "Working Committee"

"We are very optimistic to form a single organization to represent the whole Rohingya community to serve the Rohingya people," one of the participants said

The meeting was concluded at around 5 pm while it started at noon.

READ MORE---> Rohingya unity meet successfully concluded...