South Asia Weekly | Volume IX; Issue 21
General Aung San signs the Panglong agreement in 1947
ANALYSES
Myanmar: Call for a second Panglong
By Mihir Bhonsale
Myanmar’s supremo Aung San Suu Kyi, in her new capacity as State Counsellor, has called for a second ‘Panglong-style’ conference next month in an effort to resolve ethnic issues. The call comes at a time when the Union Army is still busy fighting ethnic groups in Northern Shan states.
The first such ethnic conference was held in February 1947 in Panglong in the Shan State. The meeting was between the Shan, Kachin and Chin ethnic minority leaders and Aung San, head of the interim Burmese government. Then on the meeting was known as Panglong Conference. During the meeting, the leaders of the three ethnic groups unanimously decided to join the Union of Burma. It was agreed that after joining the Union, these states will be given full autonomy in the internal administration of the frontier areas. A separate Kachin state was agreed to be desirable, subject to discussion in the Constituent Assembly. Under the Panglong agreement, citizens of the Frontier Areas were to enjoy the rights and privileges regarded as fundamental in democratic countries. The financial autonomy of the Federated Shan States was not to be affected. Also, it was decided that financial assistance to the Kachin and Chin Hills likewise was not to be affected and the feasibility of the same arrangement for them as existed with the Shan states to be considered. On the agenda was the united struggle for independence from Britain and the future of Burma after independence as a unified republic.
Suu Kyi made the announcement for the second conference at the Joint Monitoring Group’s meeting on April 27. Suu Kyi also showed readiness to include non-signatory groups to the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA), even as she faces a tough task ahead in creating an atmosphere of trust and also negotiating with the military.
Reality today
More than 60 years after the signing of Panglong agreement, the deals reached between General Aung San and ethnic leaders stand unrealised. Crying betrayal, ethnic nationalities have taken up arms and engaged in an ugly war with the Union Army. Suu Kyi has inherited a government that had deployed a ‘divide and rule’ policy and not let any solidarity develop on ethnic grounds.
The former quasi-civilian government had concluded a NCA with eight armed ethnic groups in October last year, just about a month before the general elections in the country. However, ethnic groups with large armies, like the Kachin Independence Army and the Wa State Army, had declined to sign the NCA.
The Thein Sein government had set the ceasefire-first strategy. This meant that the groups were asked to sign the ceasefire agreement before holding any political dialogue. But, armed ethnic groups have for long held that political dialogue must precede any signing of the ceasefire agreement.
Also, of significance is as to how would the Union Government deal with armed militias after an agreement has been reached. Some armed groups have maintained that they would retain their armies even after the agreement.
Suu Kyi’s call for a Panglong style conference hints that her government’s approach is not exclusionary. Including the non-signatory groups for the dialogue also refutes the ceasefire first strategy of the previous government.
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