lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

300MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE TATMADAWHISTORY POST-COLONIAL BURMA‘Born of the people and one with the people’: that’s how former Senior General ThanShwe describes Myanmar’s army, the Tatmadaw. Other commentators, including theacademic and former diplomat Andrew Selth, author of Burma’s Armed Forces: PowerWithout Glory, call it a ‘state within a state’.From a small and disunited force at the time of independence, the army has grown tonearly half a million soldiers. It takes care of its troops and their dependants by providingsubsidised housing and access to special schools and hospitals. The military alsoowns two giant corporations – the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings (UMEH) andMyanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) – whose dealings extend into nearly every cornerof the economy.Small wonder that for many families, having a son (it’s rarely a daughter, althoughthere are some roles for women in the army) who is a solider results in much appreciationfor the financial security it brings. Many other people in Myanmar live in fear of thearmy, but there are others who continue to respect the institution for the role it originallyplayed in securing independence for the nation.Summing up such divided feelings is none other than Aung San Suu Kyi who, in aninterview for the Financial Times said, 'I was brought up to be fond of the military, tobelieve that everybody in military uniform was, in some way or other, my father’s son.This is not something that you can just get rid of. It stays with you.'As many as250,000 peopleof Indian andChinese descentleft Burma in the1960s. Anti-Chinese riots inYangon in 1967also resultedin hundreds ofChinese deaths.led by U Saw, took three. (U Saw was Burma’s prime minister between1939 and 1942, and was exiled to Uganda for the rest of WWII for secretlycommunicating with the Japanese following a failed attempt togain British agreement to Burmese home rule.) The remaining 69 seatswere split between ethnic minorities, including four seats for the Anglo-Burman community.On 19 July 1947, the 32-year-old Aung San and six aides were gunneddown in a plot ascribed to U Saw. Some speculate that the military wasinvolved, due to Aung San’s plans to demilitarise the government. ApparentlyU Saw thought he’d walk into the prime minister’s role with AungSan gone; instead he took the noose, when the British had him hangedfor the murders in 1948.U Nu & Early WoesWhile Myanmar mourned the death of a hero, Prime Minister Attleeand Aung San’s protégé, U Nu, signed an agreement for the transferof power in October 1947. On 4 January 1948, at an auspicious middleof-the-nighthour, Burma became independent and left the BritishCommonwealth.1866Mindon’s sonsconspire againstthe heir apparent –beheading him in thepalace – promptingMindon to pick Thibaw,who showed nointerest in the throne,as his successor.1885The Third Anglo–Burmese War resultsin the end of theBurmese monarchy,as Britain conquersMandalay, sendingThibaw and his familyinto exile in India.1886Burma becomesan administrativeprovince of BritishruledIndia, with itscapital at Rangoon;it takes several yearsfor the British tosuccessfully suppresslocal resistance.1920Students acrossBurma strike inprotest against thenew University Act,seen as helping toperpetuate colonialrule; the strike iscelebrated today byNational Day.