Thursday, February 27, 2014

Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News

Shans watching Scotland’s referendum

Posted: 27 Feb 2014 06:02 AM PST

When Shans think about Scotland, 3 men come into mind:
The first is William Wallace (with the face of Mel Gibson, who played him in the Oscar winning Braveheart in 1995) whose 13th century revolt against the British beat the path for Scottish rebels who followed him later.

Mel Gibson, playing William Wallace in Braveheart (1995)
The second is Robert Bruce who is immortalized in the King and the Spider story, which goes like this: Bruce was taking refuge in a cave after being beaten time and again by the British. He was thinking of giving up the struggle, when his eyes were caught by a spider that had fallen down from the cave's ceiling. It climbed laboriously up but again it fell back to the ground. Fascinated, Bruce watched the spider that refused to accept defeat but went back to his struggle every time he fell back, until at last he succeeded. Fired by the spider's example, Bruce returned to the resistance against the British until he too won.

Later on Scotland became a member of the United Kingdom, not unlike Shan State, through a treaty signed between it and England.
Robert Bruce and the Spider
Now 8 centuries after Wallace, many Scots that included Sean Connery, famous for his role as the lady killer British spy 007, are pushing for Independence despite London's decentralization policy.

The result is that on Thursday, 18 September, all Scots over the age of 15 will be offered the choice between "Yes Scotland" and "Better Together" aka "OK UK" in the referendum, according to 1 February report by the Economist.

Many are still undecided, but the "Yes Scotland" Scottish National Party (SNP) is devising several enticements to induce them, "such as a package of council-tax benefits a month". According to The Economist, it also "will try to drag the debate onto the free market evils of the London government."

Sean Connery
So what does it augur for the Shans? No doubt there are at least half of the Shan population, reeling after the Burmese Army's bullying, who are for an independent Shanland as proven by the short-lived but overwhelming support given by exiled Shans to the Interim Shan Government (ISG) when it declared Independence in 2005.

But the Burma Army and its leaders need not panic in a hurry, if its intentions to form a federal union (as outlined in the latest Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement draft) are pure. It must also change its ways: from a burn all-kill all-rape all war machine into a help all-love all-and gentle to all movement for peace.

Both separation as well as unification has its pros and cons. What an enlightened government needs to show is that there are more pros than cons in a union for all. Remember and implement what Aung Sun said: The right to secede must be given. But we must do what we can to make them not want to secede.

But if the Burma Army refuses to stop being the bully boy, whatever results there are will be the Burma Army's  own doing.

New center for peace in Burma opens tomorrow

Posted: 27 Feb 2014 05:57 AM PST

A new research center, named Pyidaungsu Institute (PI) for Peace and Dialogue, is to be opened officially in Chiangmai tomorrow, according to its managing director Khuensai Jaiyen.

"It is not going to be a rival to any other centers working for peace and dialogue," he said. "Peace centers do not contend with each other. They only work together."


Pyidaungsu Institute (PI)'s logo

He calls the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) set up by the government in 2012 as "a brother in arms".

At the same time, the PI will focus on working for the armed resistance movements, political parties and civil society organizations (CSOs) as well as government and government-affiliated agencies and the international community to achieve lasting peace in Burma/Myanmar. Along the 3 stages of negotiations as agreed upon by both sides:
  • Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement
  • Framework for Political Dialogue
  • Political Dialogue
It has stated its vision, mission and values as follows:
Vision:A just, equitable, democratic and pluralistic Pyidaungsu
Mission:To provide impartial and independent spaces, resources and assistance to communities in building the Pyidaungsu
Values:i) Grounded in relevant and factual information;
ii) Directed and managed by participants in building the Pyidaungsu;
iii) Focused to support needs identified by the participants

Khuensai, who is also still editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), founded in 1991, has maintained the Institute's independence. "This is a center for all those who are working for peace and dialogue," he said. "At present, we have dialogue but no peace. The government, at least on the surface, appears to be working for a peace without dialogue. All those who want a peace with dialogue must therefore work together."

The Institute, when it was set up on 3 August with 4 people: Dr Lian Hmung Sakhong, Saw Htoo Htoo Lay, Khuensai Jaiyen, and Sai Latt (Ph.D candidate), has now grown to 17, with a branch office in Rangoon.

Its researchers include independents, and members of CSOs and armed organizations.
Originally started with the aim to do research on 19 dialogue topics that were incorporated in the ceasefire agreements signed between the armed resistance movements and Naypyitaw, it has also been rendering assistance to current negotiations between the two sides.
Location of PI

The official opening is 18:00-20:00 tomorrow.

For more details, please contact Khuensai Jaiyen: (66) 93 137 1495, (66) 81 531 2837. Email: info@pyidaungsuinstitute.org.

Ethnic critic: logic may agree Burma is federal

Posted: 27 Feb 2014 05:53 AM PST

Just as a cow can be a table by logical reasoning, so can Burma be a federal union, according to one of Naypyitaw's chief critics yesterday.

Speaking at a youth gathering in Chiangmai, Col Hkun Okker, one of the leaders of the 12 member grouping, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), illustrated his point by a power point presentation, "A table has 4 legs and a cow too has 4 legs. So one may say a cow is a table and vice versa."
Hkun Okker (Photo: PI)

If one uses that logic to look at Burma, one may find just as a federal system has at least two levels of government: federal (also called central, national) and state, the 2008 constitution has them too. "But in reality federalism and the 2008 (constitution) each goes its own way like mercury and iron," he explained. "All 3 constitutions drawn up since Independence are only federal on the surface."

Hkun Okker heads the federal constitution drafting team formed by the UNFC at the ethnic conference held last year.

He picked up his copy of the 2008 constitution and turned up the first page of the Preamble. "If you read it in Burmese, you might not notice its significance," he said after reading the word "တစ်သားတည်း" (ta-tha-dee), which generally means 'without discrimination'. "However, its meaning becomes crystal clear as well as sinister when it was translated as 'oneness'."

The word goes hand in hand with the single star in the new national flag adopted by the military junta that preceded the current government. "All the other stars in previous flags have been dropped," he said. "That can only mean one thing: They are still obsessed by their initial aim of welding the inhabitants of this country into one nation under 'one blood, one voice and one command'."

Another speaker Khuensai Jaiyen, Editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) and managing director of the newly established Pyidaungsu Institute (PI) for Peace and Dialogue, said, "Today we have dialogue without peace (as the Burma Army and the ethnic armed resistance movements are still fighting). On the surface, it looks as if the government is pushing for a peace without dialogue. We should therefore demand that there be peace as well as dialogue."

The resistance's Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) and the government's Union Peacemaking Committee (UPWC) are scheduled to meet in Rangoon the first week of March, although no definite date has been fixed. "It's probably be after the 1st of March, when the nationwide census taking event is to be officially launched in Naypyitaw," said a UNFC member. "All the ethnic armed resistance movements have been invited to attend it."
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