Myanmar Flashcards
(29 cards)
Who and when was the Panglong Agreement signed?
Pre colonial independent people: Chin, Kachin, Shan, and other people from Burma Proper formed the Union of Burma by signing the Treaty
12 February 1947
What principles was the Panglong Agreement based on?
Voluntary association
Political equality
Right of self-government in respective homelands
“Right of secession” from the Union after ten years of independence
Instead of becoming a federal union, Burma became a _____
Quasi-federal union with a strong connotation of a unitary state
Burma people controlled all state powers and governing systems
Which three ethnic nationalities were not officially invited to the Panglong Conference?
Karen
Arakan
Mon
Futures not properly discussed
What does “One ethnicity, one language and one religion” refer to?
Ethnicity of Myanmar
Language of Myanmar batha-ska
State religion of Buddhism
What means did U Nu opt for to achieve nation-building?
Cultural and religious assimilation by promulgating Buddhist as a state religion
Military regime supplemented national integration by _____
Imposing ethnic assimilation into Myanmar
When was Aung San assassinated?
19 July 1946 by U Saw
What led to the promulgation of Buddhism as the state religion in 1961?
Revision of Aung San’s version of the Union Constitution
Why did Chin and other non-Burma nationalities consider the promulgation of Buddhism as a violation of the Panglong Agreement?
Aung San and the leaders of non-Burma nationalities had agreed to form the Union based on the principle of equality
Viewed the Union constitution as an instrument for imposing “a tyranny of majority”
Motto of Ne Win’s language policy
One voice, one blood, one nation
1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law
1965 Censor Law
What were the impacts of these laws?
Stumbling blocks for publications of ethnic languages (Curriculums and teaching materials)
Basic rights to promote non-Burman languages, cultures, belief systems severely curtailed
Why was the inability to promote non-Burman culture a problem?
Survival of ethnic nationalities in Burma heavily dependent on whether they can preserve, protect and promote their ways of life as fundamental rights
What is stated in the 1974 Constitution? (Peak of national language policy)
Myanmar batha-ska adopted as official language
Ethnic languages can be used for communication purposes between gov and ethnic states, but no mechanisms/institutions were provided to preserve, protect and promote ethnic languages
How did Ne Win disguise the national language policy?
Under the programme “Burmese Way to Socialism” as its “nation building process”
What does BSPP stand for? What was it purpose?
Burma Socialist Program Party, to implement BWS
Tatmadaw was promoted as
“The guardians of the people and protectors of the Union”
National institution and state mechanism
“Four-cut” strategy, the Tatmadaw military’s doctrine in 1968, aimed to
Cut food supply to insurgents
Cut protection money from villagers to insurgents
Cut contacts between people and the insurgents
Make people cut off the insurgent’s head
To cut off information in ethnic areas,
Successive military regimes in Burma have prohibited the publication of any information in ethnic languages
No newspapers, no independent radio station, no printing house for any ethnic language
Why were 100000 indians repatriated between April 1963 and June 1965?
Under program to increase the wealth and holdings of Myanmar nationals
Indians has dominated Myanmar’s commerce
When did 500,000 poor urban residents get forcibly relocated to rural areas?
1989-1992
Insurgent groups of ethnic nationalities
KNU: Karen National Union KIO: Kachin Independent Organisation SSA: Shan State Army NMSP: New Mon State Party KNPP ALP CDP
Why was the National Democratic Front (NDF) significant?
Formed exclusively by the non-Burman ethnic nationalities
Aims of NDF
Establish a genuine federal union, based on principles of national self-determination, political equality and progress of all nationalities Abolish chauvinism (exaggerated nationalism), military bureaucratic dictatorship and the unitary system Ruled out a one party state
