Burmese Ethnic Groups Call for another Panglong Agreement

By AYE LAE
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org

February 12, 2008 - On the 61st anniversary of its signing, various ethnic leaders in Burma have called for another Panglong Agreement to help achieve a federal democratic system in the country.

“We want a conference such as in Panglong, but involving all the ethnic groups working together for peace,” Nai ong Ma-Nge, a spokesperson for the New Mon State Party said.

February 12 is Union Day in Burma, a date that commemorates the 1947 signing of the Panglong Agreement between the central government, led by Bogyoke Aung San, and various ethnic groups, to set up an independent state after British colonial rule.

The conference was held in Panglong town in Shan State, and was attended by members of the Executive Council of the Governor of Burma, representatives of Shan State, the Kachin hills and the Chin hills.

However, the ethnic groups felt that the constitution in 1948 failed to guarantee equal rights and self-determination as agreed upon at Panglong, and took up arms against the central government.

“We have wasted so much time,” said Mahn Sha, general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU). “In the past 61 years, nothing has changed for us. We have been broken apart by the divide and rule policy of the authoritarian government.”

Since the failure of the Panglong Agreement, the country has been embroiled in a civil war. The current military government has negotiated ceasefire arrangements with some armed groups.

Some significant ceasefires have been agreed in recent years, such as with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Shan State Army North (SSA-N). However, there are non-ceasefire groups who are still fighting, albeit on a small scale and only sporadically in localized areas. These include the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the Karenni Army (KA), Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF), the Shan State Army South (SSA-S) and the Shan State National Army (SSNA).

“We know the Burmese government would fear us if we were able to unite, as it would then give us more negotiating rights,” Shan State Army South leader Col Yod Serk told the English language daily Bangkok Post.

“No conditions would be set for the talks until all sides agree to a dialogue,” the report quoted Yod Serk as saying. “The goal is to get everyone on board, shake hands or clink glasses. That would be a hopeful beginning”.

However, Burma’s ethnic armed groups have a history lacking unity in the fight to overthrow the Burmese military rulers. Some ethnic leaders agree that unity within the various ethnic groups is weak and needs to be stronger.

A Rangoon-based ethnic politician, Aye Thar Aung, secretary of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), said, “We all know that the military government doesn't to us to unify. If we recognize what our weak points are, we could find a way to achieve unity among the ethnic groups.”