Ethnicity and Burma Privilege

Burma’s de facto leader Aung San Su Kyi has been failed to unite among ethnics. No one ethnic trust each other, minorities thinks Burmese are privilege and monopolize power, re-sources and discriminate to other ethnics.

Aung San Su Kyi was oppressed for her political activism not for her ethnic identity. She does not understand how ethnics are feeling for racism. She has never stayed among ethnics and has never been there.

The most clear example is, she does not give duties to ethnic leader in their region when she found her government. She ignore their advices. She did not assign the ethnic people as MP in her party. She wanted votes from ethnic but local MP must be normally Burmese. She may have reasons for it but ethnic think it is racism.

Aung San Su Kyi used the ethnics for her political interest but in return, she never think for ethnic interest.

She does not understand about ethnic identity. She, herself is Burmese privilege and all Burmese are privilege.

Is this right?

We can say yes. Before independence form English 1947, there were agreement between Burmese and other ethnics that if the ethnics want to separate from country after ten years of independence, they can separate and establish their own country.

Base on that agreement, Burma has uncountable problems since after independence.

More than hundred arm groups were born for their self-determination.

For that reason, military became the leading role in politic, all commander-in-chief thought themselves as the most important leader of country. The conflicts among ethnics lead to the military coups.

Every time it happens a military coup, they give reasons to control unstable country’s situa-tions. Military is the only organization to stabilize the country because of there are more than one hundred of arm groups.

The central government take every natural resources from ethnic areas and use just for their power and wealthy. The ethnic never ever benefit from their resources.

Throughout the history, the Burmese attacks to the ethnics’ state, conquer and oppress them. All ethnic state region were independent and separate from Burma before English colonial era. When English gave independence, Burma became as a union of states country according to agreements between Burmese and ethnic.

If Aung San Su Kyi keeps ignoring ethnicity, she will not be able to establish democratic country and it will lead to the military coup soon again. She will be recorded in history as a lady who love autocracy and authoritarian.

Kyaw Min
09/08/2016