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Martyr's Day in Myanmar: Karen
rebellion
By Nelson Rand
MAE
SOT, Thailand - "Give Us Liberty." That's what the sign
is supposed to say on the guard's hut at the entrance to
the Karen National Liberation Army's 201st Battalion
headquarters. But the sign is old and fading - the last
four letters of "Liberty" are no longer visible, and the
sign reads "Give Us Lib". The sign may be fading away,
but not, according to rebel leaders, the Karen's
struggle for an independent homeland in eastern Myanmar.
"Do not underestimate the determination of the
Karen people," said KNLA Colonel Saw Ner Dah Mya on
Tuesday as his army marked the 53rd anniversary of the
death of their slain leader, Saw Ba U Gyi. Gyi was
gunned down by Burmese government forces on August 12,
1950, becoming a martyr to his people. August 12 has
since become known as Martyr's Day - a day when the
Karen commemorate his death and pay tribute to all of
their fallen soldiers.
"Today we remember all of
our leaders, soldiers, and revolution men who gave their
lives for the people," said KNLA Lieutenant Saw Ba Wah,
who attended the ceremony at the KNLA's 201st Battalion
headquarters. He had many people to remember. Besides
his father who died in battle in 1975, Ba Wah has lost
two cousins, an aunt, and almost 200 friends in the
revolution.
The Karen's struggle for
independence is one of the longest and least known
conflicts in the world. It began in January 1949, a year
after Myanmar - then known as Burma - gained
independence from the British. Under Saw Ba U Gyi, the
Karen demanded an independent state of their own - as
promised to them by the British during World War II as
they fought alongside them in the campaign for Burma.
Rangoon refused, and the Karen have been fighting ever
since.
At the beginning of the war, Karen forces
were within 15 kilometers of the capital Rangoon (now
Yangon). Now they are reduced to small pockets of
resistance operating in mobile jungle units and
controlling small enclaves mostly along the Thai border,
such as the 201st Battalion headquarters of Walaykee
just opposite Thailand's Phop Phra district. But things
may be changing.
According to Colonel Ner Dah,
who commands the KNLA's 201st Battalion, the Myanmar
military is suffering from the country's economic
downfall compounded by US and European Union sanctions.
Yangon was slapped with increased US sanctions last
month because of the detention of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
Ner Dah said he has seen
deterioration in the past three years of the Myanmar
military because of less funding. Even in frontline
areas where government troops battle Karen guerrillas,
the soldiers are poorly equipped. "Some don't even have
boots," he said.
"The SPDC are facing all kinds
on problems," Ner Dah said, using the military
government's official name, the State Peace and
Development Council. "Sanctions are working."
The KNLA supports Suu Kyi and believes that a
peaceful solution could be made between the Karen and
the government if she were in power.
Aung San
Suu Kyi "is not our leader, but we agree with what she's
trying to do for Burma. We have to work together to
achieve our goals ... We respect her as a focal point
for democracy [to bring] self-determination and freedom
for all ethnic groups."
"We want to work
together to have momentum to strike and destroy the
government," he said. "Now is the golden moment for us."
Ner Dah's soldiers commemorated Martyr's Day on
Tuesday with a military parade and wreath laying
followed by a feast. Speeches were read out written by
their leaders who live in the Thai town of Mae Sot -
their sanctuary since the fall of their headquarters of
Manerplaw in 1995. "All Karen people must take
responsibility to help liberate their people," one
speech said. "We need to control our own land," another
said.
Major Saw We, the second-in-command of
Battalion 201, was the only soldier in the ceremony that
was alive when Saw Ba U Gyi was killed. At the time, We
was 14 years old. Today he is 67 and has been a soldier
in the KNLA for the past 33 years. "It is not easy to
get freedom and democracy," he said. "If countries
support us, we can get our freedom. Even if they don't
help us, we will stand on our own feet and continue our
revolution until we die."
Another soldier hasn't
seen his wife in more than 15 years. "After this match
is finished I will go and see her," said veteran
guerrilla Ge Ge.
For now, Ge Ge's best bet is
Aung San Suu Kyi and the international community to end
this "match" and bring peace and stability to Myanmar.
But as the past half-century has shown, it seems that no
political settlement will stand without the inclusion of
the country's ethnic minority groups such as the Karen.
"For us, surrender is out of the question," Saw
Ba U Gyi told his people before he became a martyr to
his cause. Even today, some heed his words.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All
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