http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14497
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, October 24, 2008
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Burma’s oldest and largest ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), strongly condemned the ruling junta’s state constitution, calling it a reactionary throwback to the country’s age of imperialism.
David Takapaw, who was elected vice-chairman of the KNU at its recently convened 14th congress, said that the constitution reflected an ideology derived from the thinking of the Burmese kings Anawrahta, Bayintnaung and Alaungpaya—rulers of imperial dynasties that subjugated ethnic states and invaded neighboring countries.
Anawrahta, Bayintnaung and Alaungpaya were early leaders of the Pagan, Toungoo and Konbaung empires, respectively. They aggressively expanded their territory to include the kingdoms of the Mon, Arakan and other ethnic groups. King Bayintnaung even expanded his territory to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand and some regions of Cambodia and Laos.
Takapaw said that the Burmese generals were trying to impose a similar reign to subjugate ethnic minorities under military rule—an approach that he said could no longer work.
“Now, it is impossible to establish an empire. Ethnic people will not accept this ideology,” said Takapaw, who called on the regime to abandon its efforts to force its constitution on the country against the will of Burmese opposition parties and ethnic groups.
“According to the constitution, the Burmese military can announce a ‘state of emergency’ at any time, and requires the president to have military experience,” he said, highlighting the army’s prominent role under the constitution.
In September, the National League for Democracy, Burma’s main opposition party, also called on the regime to review the constitution, calling it “one-sided” and saying it lacked the participation of democratically elected representatives from the 1990 general election.
The regime held a national referendum on the constitution in May and swiftly announced that it had won more than 92 percent approval. However, critics and dissident groups inside and outside Burma called the constitution and referendum a sham.
The state constitution is step three of the regime’s seven-step “road map” to civilian rule. The fifth step is an election slated to take place in 2010.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Junta Must Withdraw Constitution: KNU -IRRAWADDY
Burma’s ‘Jack London’ Honored in Commemoration -IRRAWADDY
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14499
By MIN LWIN Friday, October 24, 2008
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Burma’s “Jack London” died 30 years ago, but his books still influence many Burmese, including youth who are drawn to his commitment to truth and the fight against oppression.
Bhamo Tin Aung, a well-known Burmese leftist writer and journalist, was respected by many people, especially in literary circles. On Thursday, well-known writers, journalists, poets and politicians joined in a memorial ceremony at his daughter’s house marking the 30th anniversary of his death.
Bhamo Tin Aung, Burma’s “Jack London”
Bhamo Tin Aung was known as the “Jack London” of Burma because he wrote several novels from a socialist viewpoint and focused on the poorest classes, such as farmers, workers and the oppressed.
A publisher in Rangoon who attended the event said Tin Aung’s works are still popular among readers because he wrote about progressive, modern ideas, including philosophy and religion, for three decades.
“He was a progressive and a model in Burmese literature,” said the publisher, speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday.
“He created many model characters, such as people who made sacrifices and other patriots in his novels. His philosophy was for the oppressed and the lower classes.”
A Rangoon journal editor said that Bhamo Tin Aung’s literature influenced many readers including communist sympathizers and anti-communists.
Tin Aung founded Linyone (the Eagle) journal in 1950, and he was one of the first journalist who was arrested and detained by U Nu government. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1952.
“Linyone journal will defend the oppressed and stand for peoples’ rights until the end,” Bhamo Tin Aung wrote in the publication’s first editorial in 1950.
Bhamo Tin Aung had a lot of trouble with the authorities. One of his readers from Mandalay said that he had never been one who bowed down to any government until his death.
Bhamo Tin Aung joined the Burmese British Army in 1941, and he was involved in the anti-fascist movement. He often criticized the ruling governments and was imprisoned several times.
He was arrested by the late Gen Ne Win’s Revolutionary Council Government in 1963 while he was actively involved in the anti-civil war campaign and sent to detention in Coco Island.
Shortly before he died of lung cancer in 1978 when he was 58 years old, he wrote a biography of Jack London, “The Life and Literature of Jack London.”
Well-known writer Dagon Taryar and Win Tin, a veteran journalist and the longest detained political prisoner before he was freed in September, were among 100 people who attended the commemoration.
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