Civil War

CIVIL WAR

Civil war has bled Burma and the people of Burma for more than forty years. Its roots lie in Burma's patchwork of more than 100 ethnic groups. The majority ethnic Burmans live mostly in the central river valleys, and the many minority populations are scattered in a large arc among the mountains and forests of Burma's remote border regions. Just before the British withdrew from Burma, several ethnic minorities agreed to join the proposed union in return for certain guarantees: political equality, respect for and preservation of their traditional languages and cultures, and a federal arrangement whereby they would retain considerable autonomy in their own domains. The formula for Burma's heterogeneous population was to be majority rule and minority rights. The intention was good, but in practice discrimination and various abuses led to a gradual breakdown of trust between the minorities and the new nation's central government, which was controlled by the majority ethnic Burmans. Ethnic groups organized themselves against oppression and attempts at assimilation or annihilation. Some allied themselves with the communist insurgency which began with Burma's independence. In the early 1960s the civil government under Prime Minister U Nu determined to end this debilitating civil war by coming to terms with the country's rebel minorities. A "federal seminar" to reconcile differences was in progress in 1962 when General Ne Win deposed the government and discontinued negotiations. In 1963, peace talks were convened but very soon broke down. The regime accused the various insurgent movements of being insincere, while leaders of the various opposition armies all agreed that Ne Win wanted only their surrender. Ne Win decided instead to resolve issues between his government and the ethnic minorities by crushing them militarily. The military developed a strategy known as the Four Cuts--cutting food, funds, intelligence, and recruits from the resistance. In practice this has meant destruction of crops, forced relocation of villages, looting, rape, and murder. The Four Cuts strategy has been reportedly practiced in all parts of Burma since the mid-1960s. The military government's basic policy on all complex issues is summed up succinctly by large white signs in Burmese and English displayed throughout the country today: "Crush Every Disruptive Element!" The Ne Win dictatorship and the junta which succeeded him have consistently chosen to respond with force rather than negotiation. "In political tactics there are such things as dialogue and so forth," General Saw Maung, the current head of state, has said. "But in our military science there is no such thing as dialogue." When the prodemocracy uprising was crushed in 1988, 10,000-12,000 students fled to take refuge with, and to make common cause with, various ethnic groups along the borders of Thailand, India, and China. Others fled into Thailand. Some became armed guerrillas, others set up schools and medical facilities to serve the minority populations. In November 1988 the refugees from the prodemocracy movement of the cities joined with various ethnic minority forces and expatriate Burmese to create the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB). When SLORC refused to hand over power to the National League for Democracy (NLD) after the League's landslide electoral victory in 1990, and when it was clear that the generals intended to destroy the League, in October 1990 more than 200 representatives elected to parliament met and voted to form a seven-person provisional government to claim power from the junta. When their plans were discovered by SLORC, many were arrested. The designated members of the provisional government escaped to the jungle. On 18 December 1990 the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), led by Aung San Suu Kyi's cousin, Dr. Sein Win, established itself in Manerplaw, the capital of the Karen ethnic minority near the Thai border. Though lacking in resources or military power, this parallel government nonetheless poses a considerable political threat to SLORC, which has no real claim to legitimacy. There in Manerplaw a milestone in the fractious history of modern Burma occurred. The democratically elected parliamentarians of the National League for Democracy, refugee students, and the umbrella organization representing all 21 ethnic groups fighting the military government formed an alliance. The NCGUB stated its goals: to eliminate the militarization of the country, to achieve democratic rights and human rights, and to establish a genuine federal union where the rights of minority groups, including rights of self-determination, are fully guaranteed. Such political accord is unprecedented in modern Burma. If the provisional government and its alliance should survive, it would constitute the best political hope for Burma's future. The fate of the parallel government, the refugee students, and the minority insurgents looks difficult at best. The Burmese army outnumbers the rebels tenfold, and its huge cache of new weaponry is being used to devastating effect. In 1991 many insurgent camps fell to the Burmese military, though there have been rebel victories as well. With the communist insurgency dead, some minority rebels have been bought off with the heroin trade, and three groups have surrendered. The vastly superior numbers and firepower of the Burmese military is pitted against rebel endurance in a struggle that causes, year after year, vast human suffering. General Saw Maung himself admitted that as a result of more than forty years of civil war, the death toll "would reach as high as millions, I think. Indeed, it really is no good."