2008 Constitution

NLD Interim Constitution, 1990

NLD Interim Constitution, Amendments to the 1947 Original Law of the
Constitution, 28 July 1990

In exercise of the authority of the 1947 Constitution, Article (11), Section (702), this People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw) hereby abrogate, alter, supplement, the Articles shown below, which are severely amended.

Article - (1)
Original Text

Section 1. Accepted original Section without amendments.
Section 2. Principle in original Section abrogated and substituted by current State/Township (14).
Section 3. Accepted original Section.
Section 4. Accepted original Section.
Original Sections 5, 6, 7, being in connection with formation of States, has been annulled since it is no more necessary.
Phraseology in original Section (8) is annulled since those are already a component of Section (4).
Article - (2)
Original Rights

Section 5. With omission of the phrase – "that of the respective member of the Union" – in Section (9) original principles are accepted.
Citizenship

Section 6. Accepted original Section (10) in entirety.
Section 7. Original Section (11) is annulled and resubstituted with terms consistent with current situation and to comply with the Myanmar Citizenship Laws.
Section 8. Original Section (12) accepted in entirety.
Rights of Information

Section 9. Original Section (13) accepted in entirety.
Section 10. Original Section (14) accepted in entirety.
Section 11. Original Section (15) accepted in entirety.
Rights of Freedoms

Section 12. Original Section (16) accepted in entirety.
Section 13. In original Section (17) the phrase – "for Public Order" to be resubstituted with "accepted up to".
Section 14. While accepting original Section (18), the proviso therein is considered inappropriate and accordingly deleted.
Section 15. Original Section (19) and all its sub-sections accepted.
Rights connected with Religion

Section 16. In original Section (20) the phrase – "for Public Order" to be replaced with "for peace and prosperity of the People" and accepted as in the original.
Section 17. Original Section (24) accepted in entirety.
Cultural and Education Rights

Section 18. Original Section (22) accepted in entirety.
Economical Rights

Section 19. Although original Section (23) and sub-sections 1, 2, 3, 4, are accepted as in the original, sub-section 5 is annulled since it will not be in consonance with acceptable policies to be practised.
Rights in Criminal Law

Section 20. Original Section (24) accepted in entirety.
Defensible and Attainable Rights under the Constitution

Section 21. Original Section (25) accepted in entirety.
Section 22. Original Section (26) accepted in entirety.
Section 23. Original Section (27) accepted in entirety.
Section 24. Original Section (28) is accepted with the substitution of the phrase – "for Public Order" with "for peace and prosperity of the People".
Section 25. Original Section (29) accepted in entirety.
Article – (3)

Duties to the nation by Peasants and Workers:

Provisions in original Sections 30, 31 of the law being primary policies of the nation, it is considered that these should be separately omitted so that compliance to the League's policy, as well as the wishes of the messes can be obtained.

References tot he Nation's Doctrine

Section 26. Original Section (32) accepted in entirety.
Section 27. Original Section (33) accepted in entirety.
Section 28. Original Section (34) accepted in entirety.
Section 29. Original Section (35) accepted in entirety.
Section 30. Original Section (36) accepted in entirety.
Section 31. Original Section 37(2), sub-section (1) is accepted as in the original – while in sub-section (2) the words – "child-care day departments" – is corrected to read "Day child-care departments".
Section 32. Original Section (38) accepted in entirety.
Section 33. Original Section (39) accepted in entirety.
Section 34. Original Section (40) accepted in entirety.
Section 35. Original Section (41) is accepted, with the concluding word – "schemes" substituted by – "undertakings".
Section 36. In Original Section (42) the phrase – "co-operatives and similar economic organisations must be given more privileges" – is annulled and remaining laws accepted.
Section 37. Original Section (43) accepted in entirety.
Section 38. In original Section (44), sub-section (1) and (2) – the phrase – "also individual business entrepreneurs" – is inserted, and accepted as in the original.
Article – (4)
President of the Nation

Section 39. Original Section (45) is accepted, with supplementation of the phrase – "must also be the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces, including Army, Navy, and Air Forces".
Section 40. Original Section (46) is accepted with deletion of the phrase – "two chambers" from – "two chambers of Hluttaw".
Section 41. In original Section (47) the words "one of the Chambers" – is deleted.
Section 42. Original Section (48) is accepted.
Section 43. Original Section (49) is accepted.
Section 44. Original Section (50) is accepted.
Section 45. Original Section (51) is accepted with the words "two chambers" deleted.
Section (52) is annulled since it is a restriction of the President's authority.
Section 46. Section (53) accepted in entirety.
Section 47. In Section (54), sub-sections 1, 2, 3, 4, accepted as in original.
In section (54), sub-section 5, the phrase – "the other chamber of the Hluttaw" – is amended by substitution of – "by the full bench of the High Court".
Section (54), sub-section 6, accepted as in original.
In Section (54), sub-section 7, the phrase – "party investigation the allegation or the party which directs it" is annulled.
Section 48. Original Section (55) accepted entirety.
Section 49. Original Section (56) accepted entirety.
Section 50. Original Section (57) accepted in entirety.
Section 51. Original Section (58) – the words "two chambers" – are annulled.
Section 52. Original Section (59) is annulled and "usages of phrase" have been altered and rewritten.
Section 53. Original Section (60) accepted in entirety.
Section 54. Original Section (61) accepted in entirety.
Section 55. Original Section (62), sub-section (1) accepted.
In original Section (62), sub-section (2), in place of Section (54), (49) is substituted, while the last two lines are annulled and substituted by the phrase – "by the full bench of the High Court".
Original Section (62), sub-section 3, accepted as in original.
Section 56. In original Section (63) the three last lines are annulled.
Section 57. Original Section (64), sub-section (1) accepted.
In original Section (64), sub-section (2) the phrase – "President of the Chamber of Nationalities – is deleted, and substituted by – "the nation's Attorney-General".
Sub-section (3) accepted; sub-section (4) annulled, and (5), (6) (7) accepted as in original.
Article – (5)
Parliament
Part – 1.
Various Matters

Section 58. Terminology in original Section (65) have been annulled and amended and substituted by "phrases in conformity with modern trends".
Section 59. In original Section (66) the terms "at least twice within a year" and there must not be a lapse of 8 months" – have been amended and substituted.
Section 60. Original Section (67), sub-sections 1, 2, 3, 4, are accepted, while subsection 5, being law applicable to the Chamber of Nationalities, is annulled.
Section 61. While accepting original Section (68), sub-section 1, without change, original Section (68) sub-section 2, will have the three last lines annulled.
Section 62. While accepting original Section (69), sub-sections 1, 2, 3, as in the original, original Section (69) sub-section 4, being law applicable to the Chamber of Nationalities, is annulled.
Section 63. Original Section (70) accepted without amendments and confirmed.
Section 64. Original Section (71) accepted without amendments and confirmed.
Section 65. Original Section (72) accepted without amendments and confirmed.
Section 66. Since original Section (73), sub-section 1, is law applicable to the two chambers of the Hluttaw, it has been annulled.
Sub-sections 2, 3, are accepted as in original.
Section 67. In original Section (74) the phrase "various Hluttaw" is annulled and remaining terms confirmed.
Section 68. Original Section (75) accepted without amendments and confirmed.
Section 69. Original Section (76) accepted without amendments and confirmed.
Section 70. Original Section (77) accepted without amendments and confirmed.
Section 71. Original Section (78) accepted without amendments and confirmed.
Section 72. Original Section (80), sub-section 1, is accepted, while sub-section 2, is annulled since it is not necessary.
Section 73. Original Section (81) accepted in entirety.
Section 74. Original Section (82) accepted in entirety.
Part 2.
Pyithu Hluttaw (People's Assembly)

Section 75. In original Section (83), sub-section 1, the last three lines, and in subsection 2, 3, 4, are laws which are not necessary in the present time, are annulled.
Original Section (84), sub-section 2, is amended and substituted as Section (75), sub-section 2.
Original Section (84), sub-section 1, and Section (85) require to be consulted in detail with national races, and accordingly omitted.
Section 76. Original Section (86) accepted without amendments and confirmed.
Part 3.
Hluttaw of Nationalities

Omitted because it should be consulted in detail with national races, and, furthermore, it is not necessary in the present situation.

Part 4.
Authority of Parliament

Section 77. Although original Section (90) is accepted, the exception is not necessary and, furthermore, it can damage the authority of the Parliament, and it is accordingly annulled.
Section 78. Original Section (91) is accepted as in original, with the exception only of amendments in the phraseology.
Since original Sections 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, legal principles have still to be consulted comprehensively and undertaken with the national races, these are omitted.
Section 79. While accepting original Section (97), (1), the last three lines of sub-section 2, are annulled since these are not necessary.
Part 5.
Legislation

As part 3 as been omitted, Section 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, are also omitted.

Part 6.
Financial Legislation

Since original Section 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 are principles of law applicable to two chambers of the Hluttaw, are not presently necessary, and accordingly annulled.

Section 80. In original (110) the Phrase "two chambers of the Hluttaw" are deleted, the remaining legal principles are accepted in their entirety.
Signing and Declaration

Section 81. Original Section (111) confirmed in entirety.
Section 82. Original Section (112) confirmed in entirety.
Section 83. Original Section (113) confirmed in entirety.
Article – (7)
Union Government

Section 84. Original Section (114) accepted in entirety.
Section 85. Original Section (115) accepted in entirety.
Section 86. In original Section (116), reference to "six months" of a period in time, to be consonant with the period stipulated for Parliament to be in session, is amended to – "8 months".
Section 87. Original Section (117) accepted in entirety.
Section 88. Original Section (118) accepted in entirety.
Section 89. Original Section (119) accepted in entirety.
Section 90. Original Section (120) accepted in entirety.
Section 91. Original Section (121) accepted in entirety.
Section 92. Original Section (122) accepted in entirety.
Section 93. Original Section (123) accepted in entirety.
Section 94. Original Section (124) accepted in entirety.
Section 95. Original Section (125) accepted in entirety.
Attorney General

Section 96. In original Section (126) (1), the term – "with legal practice in the High Court of 15 years" is inserted and supplemented.
Original Section 126 (2) accepted.
Section 97. Original Section (127) accepted.
Auditor General

Section 98 to 102. Original Section (128) to (132) have been accepted without amendments and confirmed.

Attachment	အရွယ်အစား
NLD Interim Constitution.PDF	27.25 ကီလိုဘိုက်

The Constitution of The Socialist Republic of The Union of Burma, 1974

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNION OF BURMA (1974)

CONTENTS

PREAMBLE

CHAPTER I
THE STATE

CHAPTER II
BASIC PRINCIPLES

CHAPTER III
STATE STRUCTURE

CHAPTER IV
PYITHU HLUTTAW

CHAPTER V
COUNCIL OF STATE

CHAPTER VI
COUNCIL OF MINISTER

CHAPTER VII
COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S JUSTICES

CHAPTER VIII
COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S ATTORNEYS

CHAPTER IX
COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S INSPECTORS

CHAPTER X
PEOPLE'S COUNCILS

CHAPTER XI
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AN DUTIES OF CITIZENS

CHAPTER XII
ELECTORAL SYSTEM

CHAPTER XIII
RECALL, RESIGNATION AND REPLACEMENT

CHAPTER XIV
STATE FLAG, STATE SEAL, NATIONAL ANTHEM, AND STATE CAPITAL

CHAPTER XV
AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER XVI
GENERAL PROVISIONS

PREAMBLE

We, the people residing in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma have throughout history lived in harmony and unity sharing joys and sorrows in weal or woe.

The people of the land have endeavoured with perseverance and undaunted courage, for the attainment of independence, displaying throughout their struggles for national liberation against imperialism an intense patriotism, spirit of mutual help and sacrifice and have aspired to Democracy and Socialism.

After attaining independence, the power and influence of the feudalists, landlords, and capitalists had increased and consolidated due to the defects in the old Constitution and the ill-effects of capitalistic parliamentary democracy. The cause of Socialism came under near eclipse.

In order to overcome this deterioration and to build Socialism, the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma assumed responsibility as a historical mission, adopted the Burmese Way to Socialism, and also formed the Burma Socialist Programme Party.

The Burma Socialist Programme Party has drafted the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, in accordance with the wishes of the people, after extensive and thorough discussions with them, for the purpose of building a peaceful and prosperous socialist society to which the working people of the national races have long aspired.

We, the working people, firmly resolved that we shall-

- faithfully follow the leadership of the Burma Socialist Programme Party,

- build a socialist economic system by the Burmese Way to Socialism, for the country to be peaceful and prosperous, opposing all pernicious systems characterised by exploitation of man by man, and of one national race by another, with a view to promoting justice and goodwill among the people, and to freeing them from apathy and callousness, ignorance, backwardness and want of opportunity,

- build a socialist democratic social order which will afford an opportunity to the people to shape their own destiny, by the Burmese Way to Socialism,

- live forever in harmony unity and racial equality sharing joys and sorrows through weal and woe in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma,

- efficiently perform all duties and fulfil all obligations in the interest of the State and for the cause of Socialism while enjoying the democratic rights and personal rights and freedom bestowed by this Constitution,

- constantly strive to promote international peace and friendly relations among the nations,

do adopt this Constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma by a nation-wide referendum this IIth day of the waxing of Pyatho of the year 1335 B.E. (the 3rd day of the month of January, 1974 A.D.).

CHAPTER I
THE STATE

Article 1

Burma is a sovereign independent Socialist State of the working people. The State shall be known as The Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma.

Article 2

The Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma is a State wherein various national races make their homes together.

Article 3

The territory of the State shall be the land, sea and airspace which constitute its territory on the day this Constitution is adopted.

Article 4

National sovereignty shall reside in the entire State.

CHAPTER II
BASIC PRINCIPLES

Article 5

A Socialist society is the goal of the State.

Article 6

The economic system of the State is a Socialist economic system.

Article 7

Socialist democracy is the basis of the State structure.

Article 8

There shall be no exploitation of man by man nor of one national race by another in the State.

Article 9

The State safeguards the interests of the working people whose strength is based on peasants and workers.

Article 10

The State shall cultivate and promote the all-round physical, intellectual and moral development of youth.

Article 11

The State shall adopt a single-party system. The Burma Socialist Programme Party is the sole political party and it shall lead the State.

Article 12

The sovereign powers of the State, legislative, executive and judicial reside in the people, comprising all national races whose strength is based on peasants and workers. The Pyithu Hluttaw[1]1, elected by citizens having the right to vote, exercises the sovereign power invested in it by the people and delegates to Organs of State Power in accordance with this Constitution.

Article 13

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall exercise the legislative power solely by itself while it may delegate executive and judicial powers to the Central and Local Organs of State Power formed under this Constitution.

Article 14

The Organs of State Power at different levels shall function in accordance with socialist democratic practices which include mutual reporting, mutually offering, accepting and respecting of advice and wishes, collective leadership, collective decision making, abiding by collective decisions, lower organs carrying out the decisions and directives of the higher organs which in turn respect the views submitted by the lower organs.

Article 15

Every citizen has, in accordance with this Constitution and other relevant laws, the right to-

(a) elect, and to be elected as, people's representatives to the Organs of State Power at different levels;

(b) recall elected people's representatives.

Article 16

Every people's representative, elected to any Organ of State Power, shall report back to the electorate on his work and shall also ascertain the wishes of the people.

Article 17

The working people shall have full participation in local matters, so that such matters may be resolved as far as possible, at the local level. They shall be invested with duties and powers.

Article 18

The State-

(a) is the ultimate owner of all natural resources above and below the ground, above and beneath the waters and in the atmosphere, and also of all the lands;

(b) shall develop, extract, exploit and utilise the natural resources in the interest of the working people of all the national races.

Article 19

The State shall nationalise the means of production within the land. Suitable enterprises shall be owned and operated by co-operatives.

Article 20

The State may, in accordance with law, permit such private enterprises which do not undermine the socialist economic system.

Article 21

(a) The State shall be responsible for constantly developing and promoting unity, mutual assistance, amity and mutual respect among the national races.

(b) The national races shall enjoy the freedom to profess their religion, use and develop their language, literature and culture, follow their cherished traditions and customs, provided that the enjoyment of any such freedom does not offend the laws or the public interest.

Article 22

All citizens shall-

(a) be equal before the law, regardless of race, religion, status, or sex;

(b) enjoy equal opportunities;

(c) enjoy the benefits derived from his labour in proportion to his contribution in manual or mental labour;

(d) have the right to inherit according to law.

Article 23

No penal law shall have retrospective effect.

Article 24

Punishments shall not be awarded in violation of human dignity.

Article 25

Laws shall be enacted to enforce the freedoms, powers, rights, duties and restrictions prescribed by this Constitution.

Article 26

The State consistently practises an independent foreign policy, aimed at international peace and friendly relations among nations, and upholds the principles of peaceful co-existence of nations.

Article 27

These basic principles constitute the guidelines for interpreting the provisions of this Constitution and of other laws.

[1] People’s Congress

CHAPTER III
STATE STRUCTURE

Article 28

Local autonomy under central leadership is the system of the State.

Article 29

(a) Local areas of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma shall be organised as follows:-

(1) villages are organised as village-tracts;

(2) wards are organised as towns;

(3) village-tracts and towns are organised as townships;

(4) townships are organised as states or divisions;

(5) states and divisions are organised as the State.

(b) The different levels of administrative areas of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma shall be as follows:-

(1) wards or village-tracts;

(2) townships;

(3) states or divisions;

(4) the State.

Article 30

(a) Kawthoolei is constituted as Karen State;

(b) Chin Special Division is constituted as Chin State;

(c) Tenasserim Division (I) is constituted as Mon State;

(d) Tenasserim Division (2) is constituted as Tenasserim Division;

(e) Arakan Division is constituted as Arakan State.

Article 31

The States and Divisions of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma are as follows:-

(a) Kachin State

(b) Kayah State

(c) Karen State

(d) Chin State

(e) Sagaing Division

(f) Tenasserim Division

(g) Pegu Division

(h) Magwe Division

(i) Mandalay Division

(j) Mon State

(k) Arakan State

(l) Rangoon Division

(m) Shan State

(n) Irrawaddy Division.

Article 32

The Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma has a unicameral Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 33

The Council of State shall be formed for the purpose of directing, supervising and co-ordinating the works of the Central and Local Organs of State Power and of the Bodies of Public Services in accordance with the laws, rules and resolutions passed by the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 34

The following Central Organs of State Power shall be formed to carry out the tasks laid down by the Pyithu Hluttaw:-

(a) The Council of Ministers;

(b) The Council of People's Justices;

(c) The Council of People's Attorneys;

(d) The Council of People's Inspectors.

Article 35

A People's Council shall be formed for each State, Division, Township, Ward and Village-tract.

Article 36

(a) An Executive Committee, a Committee of Judges and an Inspection Committee shall be formed for each State, Division, or Township People's Council.

(b) An Executive Committee and a Committee of Judges shall be formed for each Ward or Village-tract People's Council.

Article 37

Bodies of Public Services, such as bodies of Public Administrative Services, Judicial Services, Law Services and Accounts Services shall be formed where necessary at central and local levels.

Article 38

The Pyithu Hluttaw may, in the interests of the State re-demarcate the territorial limits of the State by a vote of 75 per cent of all the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 39

The Pyithu Hluttaw may make laws to-

(a) reconstitute States or Divisions as the need arises, after ascertaining the wishes of the citizens residing in the States or Divisions concerned;

(b) re-demarcate the boundary of any State or Division, as the need arises, after ascertaining the wishes of the citizens residing in the States or Divisions concerned;

(c) change the name of any State or Division, as the need arises, after ascertaining the wishes of citizens residing in the State or Division concerned.

Article 40

The Council of Ministers may constitute or reconstitute villages, village-tracts, wards, towns and townships within a State or Division, as the need arises, in consultation with the People's Councils concerned.

CHAPTER IV
PYITHU HLUTTAW

Article 41

The Pyithu Hluttaw is the highest Organ of state power. It exercises the sovereign powers of the State on behalf of the people.

Article 42

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall be formed with People's representatives elected directly by secret ballot by citizens who have the right to vote under this Constitution and other electoral laws.

Article 43

The regular term of the Pyithu Hluttaw is four years from the date of its first session.

Article 44

The legislative power of the State is vested solely in the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 45

The Pyithu Hluttaw may delegate executive and judicial powers of the State to Central and Local Organs of State Power in accordance with this Constitution.

Article 46

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall have the right to enact laws concerning the culture of a national race only with the consent of more than half of all the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw from the State or Division concerned.

Article 47

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall have exclusive power to enact laws relating to State economic plans, annual budget and taxation.

Article 48

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall decide-

(a) important matters only by a vote of 75 per cent of all of its members;

(b) ordinary matters by a vote of more than half of all its members;

(c) as to whether any matter is important or ordinary by a vote of more than half of the members present.

Article 49

The Pyithu Hluttaw may decide to declare war and to make peace only by a vote of 75 per cent of all its members. The Council of State shall convene an emergency session of the Pyithu Hluttaw should circumstances call for a decision while the Pyithu Hluttaw is not in session.

Article 50

The Pyithu Hluttaw may decide to hold a referendum where necessary.

Article 51

Regular sessions of the Pyithu Hluttaw shall be convened at least twice a year. The interval between two sessions shall not exceed eight months. The Council of State may summon a special or an emergency session of the Pyithu Hluttaw where necessary.

Article 52

The Council of State shall convene a session of the Pyithu Hluttaw as soon as possible if 34 per cent of all the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw so requisition.

Article 53

(a) A Panel of Chairmen shall be elected to preside at each regular session of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

(b) The members of the Pyithu Hluttaw from each State or Division shall elect a chairman from among themselves to the Panel of Chairmen. The Pyithu Hluttaw shall give its approval to the election of the chairmen.

(c) Members of the Panel of Chairmen shall preside over the sessions of the Pyithu Hluttaw by rotation.

(d) A member of the Pyithu Hluttaw who is also a member of the Council of State or of any Central Organ of State Power shall not be a member of the Panel of Chairmen. Should a member of the Panel of Chairmen- be elected to the Council of State or to any Central Organ of State Power he shall resign from the Panel.

(e) The Panel of Chairmen shall continue to carry out its duties till a new Panel has been elected at the next regular session of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

(f) The Panel of Chairmen of the Pyithu Hluttaw shall convene a session of the Pyithu Hluttaw if the Council of State fails to comply within 30 days from the date of a requisition made under Article 52.

Article 54

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall-

(a) constitute various Affairs Committees of the Pyithu Hluttaw relating to economic, financial, social, public administrative, legislative, foreign, national races and other affairs, with members elected from among those of the Pyithu Hluttaw;

(b) in accordance with law constitute a National Defence and Security Committee consisting of a suitable number of members of the Council of State and of the Council of Ministers.

Article 55

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall enact a law to enable the Council of People's Inspectors to conduct inspections through committees to be formed by it, to determine whether or not the activities and the work of the following bodies are beneficial to the interests of the people:-

(a) Local Organs of State Power;

(b) Ministries;

(c) Bodies of Public Services; and

(d) such other organisations as may be prescribed by law.

Article 56

The Pyithu Hluttaw may form Commissions and Committees as and when necessary and invest them with duties and powers.

Article 57

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall make laws, rules and procedures for itself and for its Affairs Committees.

Article 58

The Council of State and the Central Organs of State Power shall be responsible to the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 59

(a) If need should arise to arrest any member of the Pyithu Hluttaw while it is in session, reliable evidence in support of such need shall be produced before the Panel of Chairmen. No such arrest shall be made without the prior approval of the Panel of Chairmen.

(b) If need should arise to arrest any member of the Pyithu Hluttaw belonging to any organ of the Pyithu Hluttaw, while such organ is in session, reliable evidence in support of such need shall be produced before the Council of State. No such arrest shall be made without the prior approval of the Council of State.

(c) If any member of the Pyithu Hluttaw is arrested while the Pyithu Hluttaw or any organ of the Assembly to which he belongs is not in session the arrest and reliable evidence in support thereof shall be submitted to the Council of State as soon as possible.

Article 60

All deliberations and actions in sessions of the Pyithu Hluttaw or of the Organs of the Pyithu Hluttaw are absolutely privileged. No member shall be liable or punishable therefor, except under the laws, rules and regulations of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 61

When the Pyithu Hluttaw is not in session, the Central Organs of State Power shall reply to written questions submitted by any member of the Pyithu Hluttaw within three weeks from the date of receipt of the question.

Article 62

The Pyithu Hluttaw may be dissolved if 75 per cent of all its members so resolve.

Article 63

The Pyithu Hluttaw may dissolve any People's Council or People's Councils for any of the following reasons:-

(a) violation of any provision of this Constitution,

(b) actions undermining national unity,

(c) endangering the stability of the State,

(d) contravention of any resolution adopted by the Pyithu Hluttaw,

(e) inefficient discharge of duties.

CHAPTER V
COUNCIL OF STATE

Article 64

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall form the Council of State with the following persons elected from among its members:-

(a) one member each elected by the States and Divisions, from among members of the Pyithu Hluttaw of the State or Division concerned,

(b) members elected by the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw from among themselves, equal in number to the number of representatives elected under Clause (a) of this Article, and

(c) the Prime Minister.

Article 65

Members of the Council of State elected under Clauses (a) and (b) of Article 64 shall elect from among themselves the Chairman and the Secretary of the Council of State and shall obtain the approval of the Pyithu Hluttaw for such election.

Article 66

The Chairman of the Council of State shall be the President of the Republic.

Article 67

The term of office of the President is the same as that of the Council of State.

Article 68

The President of the Republic represents the State.

Article 69

If the Chairman of the Council of State is temporarily incapable of performing his duties, the Secretary of the Council of State shall perform the duties of the chairman, in addition to his own.

Article 70

The Council of State shall be responsible for giving effect to the provisions of this Constitution.

Article 71

The Council of State is responsible to the Pyithu Hluttaw. It shall report on its activities to the nearest session of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 72

The term of office of the Council of State is the same as that of the Pyithu Hluttaw. The Council of State shall, on the expiry of the Pyithu Hluttaw, continue to perform its duties and functions till a new Council of State has been duly elected and constituted.

Article 73

The Council of State shall-

(a) convene sessions of the Pyithu Hluttaw in consultation with the Panel of Chairmen of the Pyithu Hluttaw;

(b) interpret the laws other than this Constitution for the purpose of uniformity;

(c) promulgate laws enacted and rules made by the Pyithu Hluttaw;

(d) submit lists of candidates from among the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw to enable the Pyithu Hluttaw to elect the Council of Ministers, the Council of People's Justices, the Council of People's Attorneys and the Council of People's Inspectors. [Members of the Council of State elected under Clauses (a) and (b) of Article 64 shall collectively submit such lists.];

(e) submit a list of candidates from among the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw to enable the Pyithu Hluttaw to elect Affairs Committees of the Pyithu Hluttaw [Members of the Council of State elected under Clauses (a) and (b) of Article 64 shall collectively submit such lists];

(f) make decisions concerning the establishment of diplomatic relations with foreign countries, severance of such relations and appointment and recall of diplomatic representatives;

(g) make decisions concerning the acceptance of credentials of envoys of foreign States or their recall;

(h) make decisions concerning the entering into, ratification or annulment of international treaties, or the withdrawal from such treaties with the approval of the Pyithu Hluttaw;

(i) make decisions concerning international agreements;

(j) appoint or remove Deputy Ministers;

(k) decide on the temporary suspension from duty or attendance of any session of any member of the Pyithu Hluttaw against whom action for high treason may be called for, provided the approval therefor shall be obtained from the nearest session of the Pyithu Hluttaw;

(l) appoint or dismiss heads of Bodies of Public Services;

(m) abrogate the decisions and orders of the Central and Local Organs of State Power if they are not consistent with the law;

(n) institute, confer or revoke titles, honours and awards;

(o) grant pardons or amnesty;

(p) perform other duties and exercise powers invested under this Constitution and other laws.

Article 74

The Council of State may make, if necessary, ordnances having the force of law, on matters other than those prescribed in Article 47, during the interval between sessions of the Pyithu Hluttaw. Such orders shall be submitted for approval to the nearest session of the Pyithu Hluttaw held within go days. If no session of the Pyithu Hluttaw is due within 90 days after the promulgation of such orders, an emergency session of the Pyithu Hluttaw shall be convened and approval obtained. Such orders shall cease to have effect from the date on which they are disapproved by the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 75

The Council of State may take suitable military action in the face of aggression against the State and action so taken shall be submitted to an emergency session of the Pyithu Hluttaw. If the situation is such that it is absolutely impossible to convene an emergency session of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the Council of State may continue all necessary military action. Such action shall be submitted for approval to the nearest session of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 76

The Council of State may declare a state of emergency and promulgate martial law in specified areas or in the entire State, if an emergency affecting the defence and security of the State should arise. It may order mobilisation in certain areas or in the entire State. Such measures shall be submitted for approval to the nearest session of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 77

The Council of State may propose to the Pyithu Hluttaw the extension of the term of the Pyithu Hluttaw or of the People's Councils at different levels by six months at a time up to three times, if wars or natural disasters or conditions prejudicial to security render elections impossible though the regular term of the Pyithu Hluttaw or of the People's Councils has expired.

Article 78

If an emergency arises in the entire State, the Council of State shall declare a state of emergency and convene an emergency session of the Pyithu Hluttaw. If a sufficient number of Pyithu Hluttaw members necessary to form a quorum fails to attend, the Council of State may take the following measures:-

(a) the Council of State, the Central Organs of State Power, members of the Pyithu Hluttaw belonging to the Organs of the Pyithu Hluttaw and those members who are able to attend the session shall collectively perform the duties and functions of the Pyithu Hluttaw, and

(b) a session of the Pyithu Hluttaw shall be convened as soon as the situation permits and approval obtained on the measures taken on behalf of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 79

The Council of State shall direct, supervise and co-ordinate the work of the Central and Local Organs of State Power and of the Bodies of Public Services in accordance with the laws, rules and resolutions passed by the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 80

The Chairman of the Council of State shall sign the laws, rules and resolutions passed by the Pyithu Hluttaw as well as the orders promulgated by the Council of State. These shall be promulgated in the official Gazette.

Article 81

Bodies of Public Services may be constituted only by decision of the Council of State.

CHAPTER VI
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Article 82

The Council of Ministers shall be formed as follows:-

(a) The Pyithu Hluttaw elects members of the Council of Ministers from among those members of the Pyithu Hluttaw whose names are on the list submitted collectively by members of the Council of State elected under Clauses (a) and (b) of Article 64.

(b) The Council of Ministers elects a Prime Minister from among its members.

(c) The Council of Ministers elects Deputy Prime Ministers from among the Ministers nominated by the Prime Minister.

Article 83

The Council of Ministers is the highest executive organ of the State.

Article 84

The Council of Ministers is responsible to the Pyithu Hluttaw when the Pyithu Hluttaw is in session and to the Council of State when the Pyithu Hluttaw is not in session.

Article 85

The Council of Ministers-

(a) shall submit to the Council of State a list of those members of the Pyithu Hluttaw who should be appointed as Deputy Ministers;

(b) may propose to the Council of State the termination of the service of a Deputy Minister, when necessary.

Article 86

(a) The term of office of the Council of Ministers is the same as that of the Pyithu Hluttaw. On the expiry of the term of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the Council of Ministers shall continue to perform its duties until a new Council of Ministers has been elected.

(b) The term of office of Deputy Ministers is the same as that of the Council of Ministers.

Article 87

The Council of Ministers-

(a) is responsible for the management of executive, economic, financial, social, cultural and foreign affairs and national defence on behalf of the Pyithiu Hluttaw in accordance with the principle of collective leadership;

(b) implements the socialist economic system through the economic plan of all the national races;

(c) implements the resolution of the Pyithu Hluttaw and the orders of the Council of State;

(d) directs and co-ordinates the Ministries, organs of public administration and the executive Committees of the People's Council at different levels;

(e) maintains the rule of law and upholds law and order;

(f) perform such other duties as may be laid down by the Pyithu Hluttaw or the Council of State.

Article 88

The Council of Ministers shall draw up, after making necessary adjustments, and submit the following to the Pyithu Hluttaw through the Council of State:-

(a) long-term, short-term and annual economic plans;

(b) annual budgets;

(c) annual reports on the situation of the State;

(d) reports that may be required from time to time.

Article 89

The Council of Ministers shall be solely responsible for the submission of the following bills to the Pyithu Hluttaw through the Council of State for enactment into law:-

(a) bills on economic plans;

(b) bills on budgets;

(c) bills on taxation.

Article 90

Each Minister is responsible for the successful performance of the duties of those organs of public administration with which he is charged at their different levels.

Article 91

A Minister is responsible to the Council of Ministers. A Deputy Minister is responsible to the Minister concerned.

Article 92

The Council of Ministers may, with the approval of the Council of State, constitute such Bodies of Public Administrative Services at different levels as may be necessary and may appoint the required personnel to such Services, according to law.

Article 93

The Council of Ministers shall prescribe the duties and powers of organs of public administration at all levels.

Article 94

Organs of public administration at different levels shall be responsible to those of the next higher level as well as to the People's Councils concerned and be subject to their supervision and inspection.

CHAPTER VII
COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S JUSTICES

Article 95

(a) The Pyithu Hluttaw elects members of the Council of People's Justices from among those members of the Pyithu Hluttaw whose names are on the list submitted collectively by members of the Council of State elected under Clauses (a) and (b) of Article 64.

(b) Members of the Council of People's Justices shall elect a Chairman from among themselves.

Article 96

(a) The following Judicial Organs shall be constituted in the State-

(1) the Council of People's Justices;

(2) State Judges' Committee, Divisional Judges' Committee;

(3) Township Judges' Committee;

(4) Ward Judges' Committee, Village-tract Judges' Committee;

(b) The Pyithu Hluttaw shall prescribe, by law, the duties and powers of the Judicial Organs.

Article 97

The term of office of the Council of People's Justices shall be the same as that of the Pyithu Hluttaw. The Council of People's Justices shall, on expiry of the term of the Pyithu Hluttaw, continue to perform its duties and functions till a new Council of People's Justices has been elected.

Article 98

Justice shall be administered collectively by each judicial organ.

Article 99

Military justice for members of the People's Defence Services may be administered according to law by a collective organ or by a single Judge.

Article 100

Administrative tribunals may be formed according to Law.

Article 101

Administration of justice shall be based on the following principles-

(a) to protect and safeguard the Socialist system;

(b) to protect and safeguard the interests of the working people;

(c) to administer justice independently according to law;

(d) to educate the public to understand and abide by the law;

(e) to work within the framework of law as far as possible for the settlement of cases between members of the public;

(f) to dispense justice in open court unless otherwise prohibited by law;

(g) to guarantee in all cases the right of defence and the right of appeal under law;

(h) to aim at reforming moral character in meting out punishment to offenders.

Article 102

The Burmese language shall be used in the administration of justice. Languages of the national races concerned may also be used, when necessary, and arrangements shall then be made to make interpreters available.

Article 103

The Council of People's Justices-

(a) is the highest judicial organ of the State and;

(b) shall form the necessary judicial Courts only with its members and administer justice.

Article 104

The Council of People's Justices shall be responsible to the Pyithu Hluttaw and shall report to the Pyithu Hluttaw on the state of the administration of justice. When the Pyithu Hluttaw is not in session, the Council of People's Justices shall be responsible to the Council of State.

Article 105

The Council of People's Justices shall supervise all judicial organs and courts within the State.

Article 106

(a) The State People's Councils, the Divisional People's Councils, the Township People's Councils, the Ward People's Councils and the Village-tract People's Councils shall respectively form the State Judges' Committees, the Divisional Judges' Committees, the Township Judges' Committees, the Ward Judges' Committees and the Village-tract Judges' Committees with persons elected from among the members of the respective People's Councils.

(b) Members of the Judges' Committees elected by the People's Councils at different levels under Clause (a) above shall each elect a Chairman from among their members.

Article 107

(a) The Judges' Committees of the People's Councils at different levels shall form with it members, such Courts as may be necessary.

(b) If the number of members of the Judges' Committees is not sufficient to form Courts under Clause (a) above Courts may be formed with members of the Peoples' Councils concerned under the leadership of a member of the Judges' Committee at the respective level. Other suitable citizens may be included in such Courts only if the number of members of the respective People's Council is not sufficient to form such Courts.

Article 108

The term of office of State Judges' Committees, Divisional Judges' Committees, Township Judges' Committees, Ward Judges' Committees and Village-tract Judges' Committees shall be the same as that of the People's Councils concerned at different levels. On expiry of the term of the People's Councils at different levels, the respective Judges' Committee shall continue to perform its duties and functions until a new Judges' Committee has been elected.

Article 109

The Council of People's Justices may, with the approval of the Council of State, form bodies of judicial services at different levels as may be necessary and appoint the required personnel to such services according to law.

Article 110

The State Judges' Committees, the Divisional Judges' Committees, the Township Judges' Committees, the Ward Judges' Committees and the Village-tract Judges' Committees shall supervise the judicial organs and Courts formed by them and such Judges' Committees shall be responsible to the People's Councils concerned.

CHAPTER VIII
COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S ATTORNEYS

Article 111

(a) The Pyithu Hluttaw elects members of the Council of People's Attorneys from among those members of the Pyithu Hluttaw whose names are on the list submitted collectively by members of the Council of State elected under Clauses (a) and (b) of Article 64.

(b) Members of the Council of People's Attorneys shall elect a Chairman from among themselves.

Article 112

The Council of People's Attorneys shall-

(a) protect and safeguard the Socialist system;

(b) protect and safeguard the rights and privileges of the working people;

(c) tender legal advice to the Council of State and to the Council of Ministers;

(d) report to the Council of State any acts of the Central and Local Organs of State Power and of the Bodies of Public Services which infringe the law;

(e) undertake any other duties prescribed by law.

Article 113

The term of office of the Council of People's Attorneys is the same as that of the Pyithu Hluttaw. On expiry of the term of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the Council of People's Attorneys shall continue to perform its duties and functions till a new Council of People's Attorneys has been elected.

Article 114

The Council of People's Attorneys shall be responsible to the Pyithu Hluttaw. It shall report to the Pyithu Hluttaw on the progress of its work. It shall be responsible to the Council of State when the Pyithu Hluttaw is not in session.

Article 115

The Council of People's Attorneys may, with the approval of the Council of State, form as necessary, bodies of law services at different levels and shall also appoint the required law officers in accordance with law.

Article 116

The Council of People's Attorneys shall direct and supervise the Central law officers, State and Divisional law officers and Township law officers.

Article 117

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall by law prescribe the duties and powers of the Council of People's Attorneys, the Central, State and Divisional law officers and Township law officers.

CHAPTER IX
COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S INSPECTORS

Article 118

(a) The Pyithu Hluttaw elects members of the Council of People's Inspectors from among those members of the Pyithu Hluttaw whose names are on the list submitted collectively by members of the Council of State elected under Clauses (a) and (b) of Article 64.

(b) Members of the Council of People's Inspectors shall elect a Chairman from among themselves.

Article 119

The Council of People's Inspectors is the highest organ of inspection of public undertakings.

Article 120

The Council of People's Inspectors shall be responsible to the Pyithu Hluttaw. It shall submit reports to the Pyithu Hluttaw on the progress of inspection of public undertakings. It shall be responsible to the Council of State when the Pyithu Hluttaw is not in session.

Article 121

(a) The Council of People's Inspectors shall conduct inspections to determine whether the activities of the Local Organs of State Power, Ministries, Bodies of Public Services and such other organisations as may be prescribed by law prove beneficial to the interests of the public.

(b) The Council of People's Inspectors shall report on its findings and measures taken by it, to the Pyithu Hluttaw through the Council of State.

Article 122

The term of office of the Council of People's Inspectors is the same as that of the Pyithu Hluttaw. On expiry of the term of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the Council of People's Inspectors shall continue to perform its duties and functions till a new Council of People s Inspectors has been elected.

Article 123

(a) The State, Divisional and Township People's Councils shall form State, Divisional and Township Inspectorates with members of State, Divisional and Township People's Councils concerned.

(b) Members of each Local Inspectorate shall elect a Chairman from among themselves.

(c) The Pyithu Hluttaw shall by law prescribe the duties and powers of Local Inspectorates.

Article 124

Each Local Inspectorate shall be responsible to the People's Council concerned.

Article 125

The Local Inspectorates shall perform the following duties-

(a) reporting to the People's Council concerned on the activities carried out during the interval between the meetings of the People's Council;

(b) implementing tasks and submitting reports under the guidance of the People's Council concerned and of the organs at higher level.

Article 126

The term of office of the Local Inspectorates is the same as that of the People's Councils at different levels. On expiry of the People's Council, the Local Inspectorate shall continue to perform, its duties and functions until a new Local Inspectorate has been elected.

Article 127

The Council of People's Inspectors may, with the approval of the Council of State, form as necessary, Bodies of Accounts Services at different levels and shall also appoint the required accounts officers in accordance with law.

Article 128

The Central Accounts Office shall be responsible to the Council of People's Inspectors and accounts offices at different levels shall be responsible to the Inspectorates concerned and to the accounts offices at the higher level and shall submit to their supervision and inspection.

CHAPTER X
PEOPLE'S COUNCILS

Article 129

The People's Councils at different levels shall be formed in accordance with this Constitution and electoral laws with people's representatives elected directly by secret ballot by citizens having the right to vote in the area concerned.

Article 130

The number of people's representatives constituting the People's Councils at different levels as well as the Organs of the People's Council shall be prescribed by law.

Article 131

The term of office of the People's Councils at different levels shall be the same as the regular term of office of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 132

The People's Councils at different levels are Local Organs of State Power and they shall implement the following tasks within the framework of law:-

(a) economic and social affairs and public administration;

(b) administration of justice;

(c) local security, defence, maintenance of rule of law and order;

(d) solidarity of the national races and preservation, protection and promotion of their traditional cultures;

(e) Protection of the rights of the people in the area concerned and organising and urging them to perform their duties efficiently;

(f) formulation of economic plans and their implementation;

(g) preparation of annual budgets and their co-ordination;

(h) construction, settlement and rural and urban development works;

(i) communications;

(j) directing, supervising and co-ordinating Local Organs of State Power and Bodies of Public Services relating to them;

(k) providing leadership to the people and keeping in close contact with them to obtain their active participation in works of public interest;

(l) preservation, protection and development of natural environment;

(m) co-ordinating the affairs of Local Bodies of Public Services;

(n) Performing such other necessary works of public interest as may be prescribed by law.

Article 133

(a) The People's Councils at different levels shall hold meetings as prescribed by law.

(b) The Members of the Panel of Chairmen shall be elected from among the members of the People's Councils to preside over the regular meetings of the People's Councils at different levels.

(c) The Members of the Panel of Chairmen shall preside over the meetings by rotation.

(d) A member of a People's Council who is also a member of the Executive Committee, the Judges' Committee or the Inspectorate of such People's Council shall not be a member of the Panel of Chairmen of such Council. Should a member of the Panel of Chairmen be elected to the Executive Committee, the Judges' Committee or the Inspectorate he shall resign from the Panel of Chairmen.

(e) The Panel of Chairmen shall continue to perform its duties till the next regular session of the People's Council is convened and a new Panel of Chairmen has been elected therefor.

(f) The Executive Committee of a People's Council shall convene a meeting of the Council if 34 per cent of all the members of the Council so requisition. If the Executive Committee fails to convene the meeting within 30 days from the date of such a requisition, the Panel of Chairmen shall, as soon as possible, convene the meeting.

Article 134

The State People's Council, Divisional People's Council- and Township People's Council shall form People's Council Affairs Committees with members of the People's Council concerned.

Article 135

An Executive Committee shall be elected from among its members by each of the People's Councils at different levels, to implement the tasks decided upon by the People's Council. The members of the Executive Committee shall elect a chairman and a secretary from among themselves. The chairman and the secretary so elected shall concurrently be the Chairman and the Secretary of the People's Council concerned.

Article 136

The Chairman of each of the People's Councils shall concurrently be the Chairman of the State, Division, Township, Ward or Village-tract concerned.

Article 137

The Executive Committee of each of the People's Councils at different levels shall be responsible to the People's Council concerned.

Article 138

The Executive Committees of the People's Councils at different levels shall perform the following duties-

(a) convening meetings of the People's Council in consultation with the Panel of Chairmen;

(b) promulgation and implementation of decisions, orders and directives of the People's Councils;

(c) implementation of the tasks laid down by the Council of Ministers as well as by the People's Councils concerned;

(d) maintaining intercommunications between the Executive Committees at different levels and co-ordinating their activities; directing and supervising of the Executive Committee at the lower level by the one at the higher level;

(e) directing, supervising and co-ordinating the work of Local Bodies of Public Services, co-ordinating the affairs of Public Services;

(f) submitting to the People's Council concerned, reports on the activities carried out during the interval between meetings of the People's Council;

(g) the temporary suspension from duty or attendance of any session of any member of the People's Council against whom action for high treason may be called for, provided that approval therefor shall be obtained from the nearest session of the People's Council.

Article 139

The term of office of the Executive Committees of the People's Councils at different levels is the same as that of the People's Councils. On the expiry of the term of the People's Council, the Executive Committee shall continue to perform its duties and functions till a new Executive Committee has been elected.

Article 140

(a) If need should arise to arrest any member of a People's Council in session, reliable evidence in support of such need shall be produced before the Panel of Chairmen of the People's Council. No arrest shall be made without the prior approval of the Panel of Chairmen of the People's Council concerned.

(b) If need should arise to arrest any member of an organ People's Council, while such organ is in session, reliable evidence in support of such need shall be produced before the Executive Committee concerned. No arrest shall be made without the prior approval of the Executive Committee.

(c) If any member of a People's Council is arrested while the People's Council or any of its organs is not in session, reliable evidence in support of such arrest shall be produced before the Executive Committee as soon as possible.

Article 14I

All deliberations and actions at the meetings of a People's Council and of any of its organs are absolutely privileged. No member shall be liable or punishable therefor except under the laws, rules and bye-laws of the People's Council.

Article 142

Members of the People's Councils shall maintain contacts with their electorate and shall report back on their activities and keep them informed from time to time on questions of policy.

Article 143

Members of the People's Councils shall seek, and submit, the wishes, opinions and proposals of the people to the People's Council concerned and work for their realisation.

Article 144

The People's Councils may report on local matters of importance and submit advice for the benefit of the public, from the lower to the higher levels of the People's Councils, up to the Council of State.

CHAPTER XI
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AN DUTIES OF CITIZENS

Article 145

(a) All persons born of parents both of whom are nationals or the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma are citizens of the Union.

(b) Persons who are vested with citizenship according to existing laws on the date this Constitution comes into force are also citizens.

Article 146

Citizenship, naturalisation and revocation of citizenship shall be as prescribed by law.

Article 147

All citizens are equal be before the law irrespective of race status official position wealth, culture birth religion or sex.

Article 148

Every citizen shall have the right to-

(a) enjoy the benefits derived from his labour in proportion to is contribution in manual or mental labour and diligence;

(b) freely undertake any vocation permitted by the State within the framework of the Socialist economy;

(c) settle a reside in any place within the State according to the law.

Article 149

Every citizen in sickness shall have the right t to medical treatment as arranged by the State.

Article 150

Every working citizen has the right to-

(a) rest and recreation,

(b) fixed working hours and leave as prescribed by law.

Article 151

(a) Every working citizen shall e enjoy benefits as prescribed by law for injury due to occupational accidents or when disabled or sick or old.

(b) Heirs to any working citizen shall e enjoy benefits as prescribed by law on his death.

Article 152

(a) Every citizen shall have the right to education.

(b) Burmese is the common language Languages of the other national races may also be taught.

(c) Every citizen shall be given bask education which the State prescribes by law as compulsory.

Article 153

(a) Every citizen shall have the right to freely conduct scientific research, work with creativity and initiative to develop the arts, literature and other branches of culture.

(b) Every citizen shall have the right to freely use one's language and literature follow one's customs, culture and traditions and profess the religion of his choice The exercise of this right shall not, however, be to the detriment of national solidarity and the socialist social order which are the basic requirements of the entire Union Any particular action in this respect which might adversely affect the interests of one or several other national races shall be taken only after consulting with and obtaining the consent of those affected.

(c) Notwithstanding the rights enjoyed under Clauses (a) and (b) acts which undermine the unity and solidarity of the national races, national security or the socialist social order arc prohibited. Persons who violate this prohibition shall be punished according to law.

Article 154

(a) Women shall enjoy equal political, economic, social and cultural rights as men.

(b) Mothers, children and expectant mothers shall enjoy those rights prescribed by law.

(c) Children born of citizens shall enjoy equal rights.

(d) Women shall enjoy freedoms and rights guaranteed by law as regards marriage, divorce, partition of property, succession and custody of their children.

Article 155

Every citizen shall have the right-

(a) subject to the provisions of this Constitution, to elect and be elected to the Pyithu Hluttaw and the People's Councils at different levels;

(b) to submit in accordance with law a list of candidates for election as people's representatives to the Pyithu Hluttaw and the People's Councils at different levels;

(c) to recall in accordance with law people's representatives elected to the Pyithu Hluttaw and the People's Councils at different levels.

Article 156

(a) Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of thought, and of conscience, and to freely profess any religion.

(b) Notwithstanding the rights and freedoms granted under Clause (a), the State may enact laws in the interests either of the working people or of law and order.

(c) Religion and religious organisations shall not be used for political purposes. Laws shall be enacted to this effect.

Article 157

Every citizen shall have freedom of speech, expression and publication to the extent that the enjoyment of such freedom is not contrary to the interests of the working people and of socialism.

Article 158

Every citizen shall have the right freely to take part in political, social, class and mass organisations permitted by law and to enjoy freedom of association, assembly and procession. The State shall provide necessary assistance to the people to enable them to enjoy fully these rights and freedoms.

Article 159

(a) Personal freedom and security of every citizen shall be guaranteed.

(b) No citizen shall be placed in custody for more than 24 hours without the sanction of a competent judicial organ.

(c) The State shall be responsible for the protection, in accordance with law, of citizens of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma who are abroad.

Article 160

The privacy and security of the home, property, correspondence and other communications of citizens shall be protected by law subject to the provisions of this Constitution.

Article 161

Every citizen's income, savings, property and residential buildings lawfully earned and acquired by his diligence and manual and mental contribution, instruments of production permitted to be owned within the framework of the socialist economic system, and other lawful possessions shall be protected by law.

Article 162

The right of every citizen to inheritance shall be recognised by law.

Article 163

(a) Every citizen shall fully e enjoy the rights provided by this Constitution.

(b) Laws shall be enacted to ensure the most expeditious and effective protection of the rights of citizens and prevent their violation.

Article 164

(a) Every citizen shall have the right to lodge complaints concerning their grievances to the competent organ of State power.

(b) The organ of State power shall investigate the complaints expeditiously and take such action as in be necessary.

Article 165

The right to sue for compensation any member of an organ of State power or any of the organs of State power or any public servant or any body of Public Services for abuse of authority entrusted by the people in violation of the rights or interests of any citizen shall be guaranteed and prescribed by law.

Article 166

Every citizen shall be under a duty in the exercise of his rights and freedom to abstain from undermining any of the following-

(a) the sovereignty and security of the State;

(b) the essence of the socialist system prescribed by this Constitution;

(c) the unity and solidarity of the national races;

(d) public peace and tranquillity;

(e) public morality.

Article 167

(a) Laws may be enacted imposing necessary restriction on the rights and freedoms of citizens to prevent in infringements of the sovereignty and security of the State the essence of the socialist system prescribed by this Cons the unity and solidarity of the national races public pence and tranquillity or public morality.

(b) Such a preventive e law shall provide that the restrictive order shall only be made collectively by a body and that the order shall be regularly reviewed and modified as necessary and that e a aggrieved person shall have the right of appeal to a higher organ.

Article 168

Every citizen shall be under a duty to abide by the provisions of this Constitution as well as the laws work discipline and local rules made for the building of a socialist society and discharge efficiently such duties as may be assigned to him by the State.

Article 169

Every citizen shall be under a duty to protect nationalised property co-operative owned property and public property and strive to the best of his ability for socialist capital accumulation for strengthening the defensive capacity of the State and enhancing the standards of living of the people.

Article 170

Every citizen shall be under a duty to protect and safeguard the independence sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. This is a noble duty.

Article 171

Every citizen shall in accordance with law-

(a) undergo military training, and

(b) undertake military service for the defence of the State.

Article I72

Every citizen shall be under a duty to pay taxes and duties as prescribed by law.

CHAPTER XII
ELECTORAL SYSTEM

Article 173

The basic aims of the electoral system are as follows-

(a) to elect people's representatives who will truly represent the working people;

(b) to secure a broad participation of citizens in the electoral process;

(c) to elect Organs of the Pyithu Hluttaw and of the People's Councils at different levels that will truly represent the working people.

Article 174

(a) Citizens shall directly elect people's representatives by secret ballot.

(b) Every citizen who has attained the age of eighteen years shall have the right to vote.

(c) All citizens who have the right to vote shall enjoy equal voting rights.

Article 175

Constituencies for the election of people's representatives to the Pyithu Hluttaw and the People's Councils at different levels shall be formed as follows-

(a) constituency for Ward or Village-tract People's Council;

(b) constituency for Township People's Council;

(c) constituency for State or Divisional People's Council;

(d) constituency for the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 176

(a) Constituencies for the Pyithu Hluttaw shall be delimited on township basis.

(b) Each township shall elect one representative to the Pyithu Hluttaw.

(c) Townships with large populations shall, in addition to the right granted under Clause (b), elect representatives in proportion to population as prescribed by electoral law.

(d) Additional members of the Pyithu Hluttaw shall, by law, be allotted to States or Divisions having less than 10 townships and less than 10 lakhs in population.

Article 177

Persons having the right to vote and possessing the following qualifications are eligible to stand for election as people's representatives to the Pyithu Hluttaw and to the People's Councils at different levels-

(a) being a citizen born of parents both of whom are also citizens;

(b) having attained the age of 20 years to stand for election to Ward, Village-tract and Township People's Councils;

(c) having attained the age of 24 years to stand for election to State and Divisional People's Councils;

(d) having attained the age of 28 years to stand for election to the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 178

The following persons shall not have the right to vote or to stand for election-

(a) members of religious orders, and

(b) persons disqualified by electoral law.

Article 179

The Burma Socialist Programme Party, in consultation with mass and class organisations formed under its leadership and with the electorate of the constituency concerned, and respecting their wishes, shall submit lists of candidates for election as people's representatives to the Pyithu Hluttaw and to the People's Councils at different levels.

Article 180

A candidate for election as a people's representative-

(a) shall stand for election to the Pyithu Hluttaw to the People's Council at one level only and

(b) from only one constituency.

Article 181

(a) The elections of people's representatives to the Pyithu Hluttaw and the People's Councils at different levels shall be valid only if more than half of all the persons from the respective constituencies having the right to vote have cast their votes.

(b) A candidate for election as a people's representative shall be duly elected only if he obtains more than half of the votes cast in an election found valid under Clause (a) above.

Article 182

(a) The Pyithu Hluttaw shall form an Election Commission six months before the expiry of the terms of the Pyithu Hluttaw and the People's Councils for the purpose of electing a new Pyithu Hluttaw and new People's Councils at different levels.

(b) The Council of State shall submit to the Pyithu Hluttaw, a list of names of citizens who are qualified by law, other than members of the Council of State and of the Council of Ministers, from among whom the Election Commission may be formed.

(c) The Pyithu Hluttaw which decides to dissolve itself under Article 62, shall form, in accordance with Clause (b), an Election Commission for the election of a new Pyithu Hluttaw.

(d) Elections for the Pyithu Hluttaw and the People's Councils at different levels shall be held as prescribed by law, prior to the expiry of the terms of the Pyithu Hluttaw and the respective People's Councils.

(e) Sessions of the new Pyithu Hluttaw and of the new People's Councils at different levels shall be converted with the newly elected people's representatives on the date of expiry of the term of the old Pyithu Hluttaw and the old People's Councils.

Article 183

(a) If the Pyithu Hluttaw or any People's Council is dissolved before the expiry of its term elections shall be held as prescribed by law and sessions of the Pyithu Hluttaw or of the People's Council concerned shall be convened.

(b) If any State, Divisional or Township People's Council is dissolved, the Council of State shall form with suitable citizens, an Executive Committee, a Committee of Judges and a Local Inspectorate and temporarily assign duties to them pending the election of the respective new People's Council.

(c) If a Ward or Village-tract People's Council is dissolved, the Council of State shall form with suitable citizens, an Executive Committee and a Committee of Judges and temporarily assign duties to them pending the election of the respective new People's Council.

Article 184

Expenses incurred in the elections of people's representatives to the Pyithu Hluttaw and to the People's Councils at different levels shall be met out of State funds.

Article 185

(a) If the situation is not yet ripe for the election of any State, Divisional or Township People's Council, the Council of State shall form, with suitable citizens, an Executive Committee, a Committee of Judges and a Local Inspectorate and temporarily assign duties to them for the purpose of performing the functions of the People's Council concerned.

(b) If the situation is not yet ripe for the election of any Ward or Village-tract People's Council, the Council of State shall form with suitable citizens, an Executive Committee and a Committee of Judges and temporarily assign duties to them for the purpose of performing the functions of the People's Council concerned.

Article 186

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall enact such laws as may be necessary in connection with the election of people's representatives.

CHAPTER XIII
RECALL, RESIGNATION AND REPLACEMENT

Article 187

Any organ of State or the people who have elected and assigned duties to a people's representative or an organ wishing to recall such representative or organ for any of the following reasons, shall have the right to do so in accordance with law-

(a) violation of any provision of the Constitution;

(b) inefficient discharge of duties or

(c) misbehaviour.

Article 188

Any people's representative who has been elected, or any representative who has been assigned duties in any organ of the Pyithu Hluttaw or of any People's Council, may submit his resignation to the respective organ in accordance with law.

Article 189

A vacancy arising for any reason in the Pyithu Hluttaw or in any People's Council at any level or in an organ of the Pyithu Hluttaw or the Council concerned shall be filled by election in accordance with law.

CHAPTER XIV
STATE FLAG, STATE SEAL, NATIONAL ANTHEM, AND STATE CAPITAL

Article 190

The State Flag shall be as shown below:- [Image pending].
[ The flag has a red background with a blue rectangle top left containing 14 white stars surrounding a white wheel with 15 outward-pointing cogs, at the centre of which is a yellow rice stalk - unofficial description]

Article 191

State Seal shall he as shown below: [image pending]

Article 192

The Pyithu Hluttaw shall prescribe the National Anthem Until a new National Anthem is prescribed the present National Anthem shall be used.

Article 193

The capital of the Republic is Rangoon.

Article 194

(a) The Preamble of this Constitution Articles I and 4 of Chapter I Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, II, I2, I4, I8 and 2I of Chapter II Articles 28, 29 and 32 of Chapter III Articles 4I, 44 and 46 of Chapter IV and Article I94 of Chapter XV shall be amended with the prior approval of 75 per cent of all the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw in a nation-wide referendum only with a majority vote of more than half of those who have the right to vote.

(b) Provisions other than those mentioned in Clause (a) shall be amended only with a majority vote of 75 per cent of all the members of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

(c) Members of the Pyithu Hluttaw may submit to the Pyithu Hluttaw motions for amending this Constitution.

(d) If a People's Council wishes to submit a motion for amending this Constitution such a motion shall be submitted stage by stage from the lower to the higher levels and finally to the Pyithu Hluttaw.

CHAPTER XVI
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 195

This Constitution shall come into force throughout the Union after its adoption in a nation-wide referendum by more than half of all the people who have the right to vote.

Article 196

The Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma shall, continuing to exercise State sovereignty, carry out during the interval between the coming into force of this Constitution and the day the first session of the Pyithu Hluttaw is convened, all the functions of the Pyithu Hluttaw under the Constitution The work done by the Revolutionary Council to bring the Constitution into force shall be deemed to have been carried out In accordance with this Constitution.

Article 197

Interpretation of the preamble, articles, clauses, words and expressions contained in this Constitution shall be based only on the Burmese text.

Article 198

Burmese shall be used as the official language for the purpose of uniformity and clarity in communications between the higher and lower level organs of the State and between such organs at the same level. If necessary the language of the national race concerned may be used.

Article 199

All policy guidelines, laws, rules, regulations, notifications proclamations, measures, responsibilities and rights of the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma shall devolve on the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma.

Article 200

(a) In interpreting the expressions contained in this Constitution, reference shall be made to the Interpretation Law promulgated by the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma.

(b) Amendments to and further interpretation of expressions contained in the Law mentioned in Clause (a), shall only be made by the Pyithu Hluttaw.

(c) The validity of the acts of the Council of State, or of the Central or Local Organs of State Power under this Constitution shall only be determined by the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 201

The Pyithu Hluttaw may publish interpretations of this Constitution from time to time as may be necessary.

Article 202

(a) This Constitution is the basic law of all laws of the State.

(b) Existing laws and rules shall remain in force in so far as they are not contrary to this Constitution until and unless they are repealed or amended by the Pyithu Hluttaw.

(c) Existing regulations, bye-laws, notifications, orders, directives and procedures shall remain in force in so far as they are not contrary to this Constitution until and unless they are repealed or amended by the Council of State.

(d) Existing laws and rules shall be repealed or amended by the Pyithu Hluttaw to bring them into consonance with this Constitution.

(e) Existing regulations, bye-laws, notifications, orders, directives and procedures shall be repealed or amended by the Council of State to bring them into consonance with this Constitution.

(f) Existing laws, rules, regulations, bye-laws, notifications, orders, directives, and procedures shall, pending their repeal or amendment, be interpreted and acted upon by the Central and Local- Organs of State Power in the spirit of this Constitution.

(g) The Bodies of Public Services shall perform their duties in the spirit of this Constitution.

(h) All functioning organs and all public servants and workers serving under the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma on the day this Constitution comes into force shall continue in their functions unless otherwise prescribed by the Council of State.

Article 203

(a) The Council of State and the Central Organs of State Power may, subject to this Constitution and to laws, rules and resolutions passed by the Pyithu Hluttaw, promulgate such regulations, bye-laws, orders, directives and procedures as may be necessary.

(b) The Local Organs of State Power may, subject to this Constitution and to laws, rules and resolutions passed by the Pyithu Hluttaw and to regulations, bye-laws, orders, directives and procedures promulgated by the respective Central Organs of State Power, promulgate such orders, directives and procedures for the respective local areas as may be necessary.

Article 204

(a) Members of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the Council of State, the Council of People's Justices, the Council of People's Attorneys and the Council of People's Inspectors shall have the right to submit to the Pyithu Hluttaw draft legislation on matters other than those mentioned in Article 89.

(b) The Council of Ministers shall have the right to submit to the Pyithu Hluttaw draft legislation on matters mentioned in Article 89 as well as on other matters.

(c) The People's Councils at different levels may submit draft legislation on matters other than those mentioned in Article 89, stage by stage from the lower to the higher levels of the People's Councils and finally to the Pyithu Hluttaw.

Article 205

The Burma Socialist Programme Party, mass and class organisations formed under its leadership, and the working people may submit suggestions and advice to the organs of State power at different levels, on legal matters, economic planning, the annual budget and other matters.

Article 206

(a) Members of tile Council of State, and of the Council of Ministers shall not serve on any other Organ of State Power other than the organ to which they belong, except in cases provided for in Clause (b) of Article 54 and in Clause (c) of Article 64.

(b) Members of the Council of People's Justices, of the Council of People's Attorneys and of the Council of People's Inspectors shall not serve on any Organ of State Power other than the organ to which they belong or on any other Organ of the Pyithu Hluttaw.

(c) Members of the Executive Committee and of tile Inspectorates of the People's Councils at the State, Divisional and Township levels shall not serve on any Local Organ of State Power other than the organ to which they belong or on any Affairs Committee.

(d) Members of the Committee of Judges of the People's Councils at different levels shall not serve on any Local Organ of State Power other than the organ to which they belong. They may, however, serve on the Affairs Committees of the People's Council concerned.

Article 207

The number of people's representatives which shall constitute the quorum at meetings of the Pyithu Hluttaw and the People's Councils at different levels shall be 75 per cent of all the people's representatives.

Article 208

The Council of State or an Affairs Committee of the Pyithu Hluttaw may invite any Central Organ of State Power to attend and answer questions, and such organ shall be under a duty to respond.

Article 209

(a) Should the Pyithu Hluttaw or any People's Council at any level be dissolved before the expiry of its regular term, the term of office of the newly elected Pyithu Hluttaw or People's Council shall be for the remaining period of the term of the dissolved Pyithu Hluttaw or People's Council.

(b) Should any People's Council be formed after the formation of the Pyithu Hluttaw, the term of such People's Council shall be the same as the regular term of the Pyithu Hluttaw.
End of Document

Attachment	အရွယ်အစား
1974 Constitution in Burmese.pdf	159.97 ကီလိုဘိုက်

The Constitution of the Union of Burma, 1947

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNION OF BURMA (1947)

CONTENTS

Preamble

CHAPTER I
Form of State

CHAPTER II
Fundamental Rights
Definition of “State”
Citizenship
Rights of Equality
Rights of Freedom
Rights relating to Religion
Cultural and Education Rights
Economic Rights
Rights in relation to Criminal Law
Rights to Constitutional Remedies

CHAPTER III
Relations of the State to Peasants and Workers

CHAPTER IV
Directive Principles of State Policy

CHAPTER V
The President

CHAPTER VI
Parliament
Part I. – General
Part II. – Chamber of Deputies
Part III. – Chamber of Nationalities
Part IV. – Powers of the Parliament
Part V. – Legislation
Money Bills
Signing and Promulgation

CHAPTER VII
The Union Government
Attorney General
Auditor General

CHAPTER VIII
Union Judiciary

CHAPTER IX
Part I. – The Shan State
The Shan State Council
Government of the Shan State
Part II. – The Kachin State
Government of the Kachin State
Part III. – The Karen State
Kaw-thu-lay
Part IV. – The Karenni State
Government of the Karenni State
Part V. – Special Division of the Chins
Part VI. – New States

CHAPTER X
Right of Secession

CHAPTER XI
Amendment of the Constitution

CHAPTER XII
International Relations

CHAPTER XIII
General Provisions
Interpretation

CHAPTER XIV
Transitory Provisions
FIRST SCHEDULE
Form of Oath or Affirmation
SECOND SCHEDULE
Composition of the Chamber of Nationalities
THIRD SCHEDULE
List I – Union Legislative List
Defence
External Affairs
Communications
Finance
General
List II. – State Legislative List
Constitutional Affairs
Economic Affairs
Security
Communications
Education
Public Health
Local Government
General
FOURTH SCHEDULE
State Revenue List

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNION OF BURMA

Constituent Assembly of Burma
Rangoon, Supdt, Govt. Printing and Stationery, Burma 1948.

PREAMBLE

WE, THE PEOPLE OF BURMA including the Frontier Areas and the Karenni States, Determined to establish in strength and unity a SOVEREIGN INDEPENDENT STATE, To maintain social order on the basis of the eternal principles of JUSTICE, LIBERTY AND EQUALITY and To guarantee and secure to all citizens JUSTICE social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action; EQUALITY of status, of opportunity and before the law, IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this Tenth day of Thadingyut waxing, 1309 B.E. (Twenty-fourth day of September, 1947 A.D.), DO HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION. 5

CHAPTER I

Form of State

1. Burma is a Sovereign Independent Republic to be known as “the Union of Burma.”

2. The Union of Burma shall comprise the whole of Burma, including

(i) all the territories that were heretofore governed by His Britannic Majesty through the Governor of Burma, and
(ii) the Karenni States.

3. The sovereignty of the Union resides in the people.

4. All powers, legislative, executive and judicial, are derived from the people and are exercisable on their behalf by, or on the authority of, the organs of the Union or of its constituent units established by this Constitution.

5. The territories that were heretofore known as the Federated Shan States and the Wa States shall form a constituent unit of the Union of Burma and be hereafter known as “the Shan State.”

6. The territories that were heretofore known as the Myitkyina and Bhamo Districts shall form a constituent unit of the Union of Burma and be hereafter known as “the Kachin State.”

7. The territories that were heretofore known as the Karenni States, viz., Kantarawaddy, Bawlake and Kyebogyi shall form a constituent unit of the Union of Burma and hereafter known as “the Karenni State.”

8. All powers, legislative, executive and judicial, in relation to the remaining territories of the Union of Burma shall, subject to the provisions of section 180, be exercisable only by, or on the authority of, the organs of the Union. 5

CHAPTER II

Fundamental Rights

DEFINITION OF “STATE.”

9. In this Chapter and in Chapters III and IV, the term “State” means the executive or legislative authority of the Union or of the unit concerned according as the context may require. 5
CITIZENSHIP.

10. There shall be but one citizenship throughout the Union; that is to say, there shall be no citizenship of the unit as distinct from the citizenship of the Union.

11. (i) Every person, both of whose parents belong or belonged to any of the indigenous races of Burma;

(ii) every person born in any of the territories included within the Union, at least one of whose grand-parents belong or belonged to any of the indigenous races of Burma;
(iii) every person born in any of territories included within the Union, of parents both of whom are, or if they had been alive at the commencement of this Constitution would have been, citizens of the Union;
(iv) every person who was born in any of the territories which at the time of his birth was included within His Britannic Majesty’s dominions and who has resided in any of the territories included within the Union for a period of not less than eight years in the ten years immediately preceding the date of the commencement of this Constitution or immediately preceding the 1st January 1942 and who intends to reside permanently there in and who signifies his election of citizenship of the Union in the manner and within the time prescribed by law, shall be a citizen of the Union.

12. Nothing contained in section 11 shall derogate from the power of the Parliament to make such laws as it thinks fit in respect of citizenship and alienage and any such law may provide for the admission of new classes of citizens or for the termination of the citizenship of any existing classes. 5

RIGHTS OF EQUALITY

13. All citizens irrespective of birth, religion, sex or race are equal before the law; that is to say, there shall not be any arbitrary discrimination between one citizen or class of citizens and another.

14. There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters of public employment and in the exercise or carrying on of any occupation, trade, business or profession.

15. Women shall be entitled to the same pay as that received by men in respect of similar work. 5

RIGHTS OF FREEDOM

16. No citizen shall be deprived of his personal liberty, nor his dwelling entered, nor his property confiscated, save in accordance with law.

17. There shall be liberty for the exercise of the following rights subject to law, public order and morality: -
i. The right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions.
ii. The right of the citizens to assemble peaceably and without arms.
iii. The right of the citizens to form associations and unions. Any association or organization whose object or activity is intended or likely to undermine the Constitution is forbidden.
iv. The right of every citizen to reside and settle in any part of the Union, to acquire property and to follow any occupation, trade, business or profession.

18. Subject to regulation by the law of the Union trade, commerce and intercourse among the units shall be free:
Provided that any unit may by law impose reasonable restrictions in the interests of public order, morality, health or safety.

19. (i) Traffic in human beings, and
(ii) forced labour in any form and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be prohibited.

Explanation. – Nothing in this section shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for public purposes without any discrimination on grounds of birth, race, religion or class. 5

RIGHTS RELATING TO RELIGION

20. All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess and practise religion subject to public order, morality or health and to the other provisions of this Chapter.

Explanation 1. – The above right shall not include any economic, financial, political or other secular activities that may be associated with religious practice.

Explanation 2. – The freedom guaranteed in this section shall not debar the State from enacting laws for the purpose of social welfare and reform.

21. (1) The State recognizes the special position of Buddhism as the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens of the Union.
(2) The State also recognizes Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Animism as some of the religions existing in the Union at the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution.
(3) The State shall not impose any disabilities or make any discrimination on the ground of religious faith or belief.
(4) The abuse of religion for political purposes is forbidden; and any act which is intended or is likely to promote feelings of hatred, enmity or discord between racial or religious communities or sects is contrary to this Constitution and may be made punishable by law. 5

CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS

22. No minority, religious, racial or linguistic, shall be discriminated against in regard to admission into State educational institutions nor shall any religious instruction be compulsorily imposed on it. 5

ECONOMIC RIGHTS

23. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the State guarantees the rights of private property and of private initiative in the economic sphere.
(2) No person shall be permitted to use the right of private property to the detriment of the general public.
(3) Private monopolist organizations, such as cartels, syndicates and trusts formed for the purpose of dictating prices or for monopolizing the market or otherwise calculated to injure the interests of the national economy, are forbidden.
(4) Private property may be limited or expropriated if the public interest so requires but only in accordance with law which shall prescribe in which cases and to what extent the owner shall be compensated.
(5) Subject to the conditions set out in the last preceding sub-section, individual branches of national economy or single enterprises may be nationalized or acquired by the State by law if the public interest so requires. 5

RIGHTS IN RELATION TO CRIMINAL LAW.

24. No person shall be convicted of crime except for violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offence, nor shall he be subjected to a penalty greater than that applicable at the time of the commission of the offence. 5

RIGHTS OF CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDIES

25. (1) The right to move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by this Chapter is hereby guaranteed.
(2) Without prejudice to the powers that may be vested in this behalf in other Courts, the Supreme Court shall have power to issue directions in the nature of Habeas Corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari appropriate to the rights guaranteed in this Chapter.
(3) The right to enforce these remedies shall not be suspended unless, in times of war, invasion, rebellion, insurrection or grave emergency, the public safety may so require.

26. Every citizen, whether within or beyond the territories of the Union, shall be entitled to claim the protection of the Union in his relations with foreign States.

27. Except in times of invasion, rebellion, insurrection or grave emergency, no citizen shall be denied redress by due process of law for any actionable wrong done to or suffered by him.

28. The Parliament may by law determine to what extent any of the rights guaranteed by this Chapter shall be restricted or abrogated for the members of the Defence Forces or of the Forces charged with the maintenance of public order so as to ensure fulfilment of their duties and the maintenance of discipline.

29. The Parliament shall make laws to give effect to those provisions of this Chapter which require such legislation and to prescribe punishment for those acts which are declared to be offences in this Chapter and are not already punishable. 5

CHAPTER III

Relations of the State to Peasants and Workers

30. (1) The State is the ultimate owner of all lands.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the State shall have the right to regulate, alter or abolish land tenures or resume possession of any land and distribute the same for collective or co-operative farming or to agricultural tenants.
(3) There can be no large land holdings on any basis whatsoever. The maximum size of private land holding shall, as soon as circumstances permit, be determined by law.

31. By economic and other measures the State may assist workers to associate and organize themselves for protection against economic exploitation.
The State shall protect workers by legislation intended to secure to them the right of association, to limit their hours of work, to ensure to them the right to annual holidays and to improve working conditions, and as soon as circumstances permit by promoting schemes for housing and social insurance. 5

CHAPTER IV

Directive Principles of State Policy

32. The principles set forth in this Chapter are intended for the general guidance of the State. The application of these principles in legislation and administration shall be the care of the State but shall not be enforceable in any court of law.

33. The State shall direct its policy towards securing to each citizen –
(i) the right to work,
(ii) the right to maintenance in old age and during sickness or loss of capacity to work,
(iii) the right to rest and leisure, and
(iv) the right to education.
In particular the State shall make provision for free and compulsory primary education.

34. The State shall pay special attention to the young and promote their education.
35. The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker and less advanced sections of the people and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.

36. The State shall regard the raising of the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties.

37. (1) The State shall ensure that the strength and health of workers and the tender age of children shall not be abused and that they shall not be forced by economic necessity to take up occupations unsuited to their sex, age and strength.
(2) The State shall specially direct its policy towards protecting the interests of nursing mothers and infants by establishing maternity and infant welfare centres, children’s homes and day nurseries and towards securing to mothers in employment the right to leave with pay before and after child birth.

38. The State shall promote the improvement of public health by organizing and controlling health services, hospitals, dispensaries, sanatoria, nursing and convalescent homes and other health institutions.

39. The State shall take special care of the physical education of the people in general and of the youth in particular in order to increase the health and working capacity of the people and in order to strengthen the defensive capacity of the State.

40. The State shall ensure disabled ex-Servicemen a decent living and free occupational training. The children of fallen soldiers and children orphaned by wars shall be under the special care of the State.

41. The economic life of the Union shall be planned with the aim of increasing the public wealth, of improving the material conditions of the people and raising their cultural level, of consolidating the independence of the Union and strengthening its defensive capacity.

42. The State shall direct its policy towards giving material assistance to economic organizations not working for private profit. Preference shall be given to co-operative and similar economic organizations.

43. All useful arts and sciences, research and cultural institutes and the study of Pali and Sanskrit shall enjoy the protection and support of the State.

44. (1) The State shall direct its policy towards operation of all public utility undertakings by itself or local bodies or by peoples’ co-operative organizations.
(2) The State shall direct its policy towards exploitation of all natural resources in the Union by itself or local bodies or by peoples’ co-operative organizations. 5

CHAPTER V

The President

45. There shall be a President of the Union hereinafter called “the President” who shall take precedence over all other persons throughout the Union and who shall exercise and perform the powers and functions conferred on the President by this Constitution and by law.

46. The President shall be elected by both Chambers of Parliament in joint session by secret ballot. Subject of the provision of this Chapter, election to the office of the President shall be regulated by an Act of the Parliament.

47. (1) The President shall not be a member of either Chamber of Parliament.
(2) If a member of either Chamber of Parliament be elected President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that Chamber.
(3) The President shall not hold any other office or position of emolument.

48. (1) The President shall hold office for five years from the date on which he enters upon his office, unless before the expiration of the period he resigns or dies, or is removed from office, or becomes permanently incapacitated.
(2) No person shall serve as President for more than two terms in all.

49. No person shall be eligible for election to the office of President unless he –
(i) is a citizen of the Union who was, or both of whose parents were, born in any of the territories included within the Union, and
(ii) is qualified for election to the Union Parliament.

50. The first President shall enter upon his office as soon as may be after his election, and every subsequent President shall enter upon his office on the day following the expiration of the term of office of his predecessor or as soon as may be thereafter, or in the event of his predecessor’s removal from office, resignation, permanent incapacity or death, as soon as may be after his own election.

51. The president shall enter upon his office by making and subscribing publicly in the presence of both Chambers of Parliament assembled and of the judges of the Supreme Count, the following declaration: -
“I … do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will maintain the Constitution of the Union and uphold its laws, that I will fulfil my duties faithfully and conscientiously in accordance with the Constitution and the law, that I will diligently avert every injury and danger to the Union and that I will dedicate myself to the service of the Union.

52. The President shall not leave the Union during his term of office save on the advice of the Union Government.

53. The President shall summon the Parliament for the purpose of electing a new President, during the three months preceding the expiration of his term of office.

54. (1) The President may be impeached for –
(i) high treason;
(ii) violation of the Constitution; or
(iii) gross misconduct.
(2) The charge shall be preferred by either Chamber of Parliament subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(3) A proposal to either Chamber of Parliament to prefer a charge against the President under this section shall not be entertained except upon a notice of resolution in writing signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of that Chamber.
(4) No such proposal shall be adopted by either Chamber of Parliament save upon a resolution of that Chamber supported by not less than two-thirds of the total membership thereof.
(5) When a charge has been preferred by one Chamber of Parliament, the other Chamber shall investigate the charge or cause the charge to be investigated.
(6) The President shall have the right to appear and to be represented at the investigation of the charge.
(7) If, as the result of the investigation, a resolution be passed, supported by not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the Chamber of Parliament by which the charge was investigated or caused to be investigated, declaring that the charge preferred against the President has been sustained and that the office, the subject of the charge, was such as to render him unfit to continue in office, such resolution shall operate to remove the President from his office.

55. The President shall have an official residence and shall receive such emoluments and allowances as shall be prescribed by law. Emoluments and allowances of the President shall not be varied during his term of office.

56. (1) The President shall, on the nomination of the Chamber of Deputies, appoint a Prime Minister who shall be the head of the Union Government.
(2) The President shall, on the nomination of the Prime Minister, appoint other members of the Union Government.
(3) The President shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister, accept the resignation or terminate the appointment of any member of the Union Government.

57. The Chamber of Deputies shall be summoned, prorogued or dissolved by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister:
Provided that, when the Prime Minister has ceased to retain the support of a majority in the Chamber, the President may refuse to prorogue or dissolve the Chamber on his advice and shall in that event forthwith call upon the Chamber to nominate a new Prime Minister:
Provided further that, if the Chamber fails to nominate a new Prime Minister within fifteen days, it shall be dissolved.

58. (1) Every Bill, passed or deemed to have been passed by both Chambers of Parliament, shall require the signature of the President for its enactment into law.
(2) The President shall promulgate every law enacted by the Parliament.

59. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive authority of the Union shall be vested in the President; but nothing in this section shall prevent the Parliament from conferring functions upon subordinate authorities, or be deemed to transfer to the President any functions vested in any court, judge, or officer, or any local or other authority by any existing law.

60. The right of pardon shall be vested in the President.

61. (1) The President may communicate with the Parliament by message or address on any matter of national or public importance.
(2) The President may also address a message to the nation at any time on any matter.

62. (1) The President shall not be answerable to either Chamber of Parliament or to any Court for the exercise or performance of the powers and functions of his office or for any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise and performance of these powers and functions.
(2)The behaviour of the President may, however, be brought under review in either Chamber of Parliament for the purpose of section 54, or by any Court, tribunal or body, appointed or designated by either Chamber of Parliament for the investigation of its charges under the said section.
(3) The validity of anything purporting to have been done by the President under this Constitution shall not be called in question on the ground that it was done otherwise than in accordance with the provisions contained or referred to in the next succeeding section.

63. (1) The powers and functions conferred on the President by this Constitution shall be exercisable and performable by him only on the advice of the Union Government, save where it is provided by this Constitution that he shall act in his discretion or on the advice or nomination of or on receipt of any communication from any other person or body.
(2) The question whether any, and if so, what advice, nomination or communication was tendered to or received by the President shall not be enquired into in any Court.

64. (1) In the event of the death, resignation, removal from office, absence or incapacity whether temporary or permanent, of the President, or at any time at which the office of the President may be vacant, the powers and functions conferred on the President by this Constitution shall be exercised and performed by a Commission constituted as hereinafter provided.
(2) The Commission shall consist of the following persons, namely, the Chief Justice of the Union, the Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
(3) Such judge of the Supreme Court as has been appointed to perform the duties of the Chief Justice, or if there is no such judge, then the senior available judge of the Supreme Court, shall act as a member of the Commission in place of the Chief Justice on any occasion on which the office of the Chief Justice is vacant or on which the Chief Justice is unable to act.
(4) The Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities shall act as a member of the Commission in the place of the Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities on any occasion on which the office of the Speaker of the Chamber is vacant or on which the said Speaker is unable to act.
(5) The Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies shall act as a member of the Commission in place of the Speaker of the Chamber on any occasion on which the office of the Speaker of the Chamber Deputies is vacant or on which the said Speaker is unable to act.
(6) The Commission may act by any two of its members and may act notwithstanding a vacancy in its membership.
(7) The provisions of this Constitution which relate to the exercise and performance by the President of the powers and functions conferred on him by this Constitution shall apply to the exercise and performance of the said powers and function under this section. 5

CHAPTER VI

Parliament

Part I. GENERAL

65. The legislative power of the Union shall be vested in the Parliament which shall consist of the President, a Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Nationalities and which is in this Constitution called “the Parliament” or “the Union Parliament.”

66. There shall be a session of the Parliament once at least in every year so that twelve months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the Parliament in one session and its first sitting in the next session.

67. (1) The Chamber of Deputies shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the Chamber to be respectively the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker thereof, and, so often as the office of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the Chamber shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.
(2) A member holding office as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the Chamber shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the Chamber, may at any time resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the President, and may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Chamber passed by a majority of the then members of the Chamber; but no resolution for the purpose of this sub-section shall be moved unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution.
Provided that, whenever the Chamber is dissolved, the Speaker shall not vacate his office until immediately before the first meeting of the Chamber after the dissolution.
(3) While the office of the Speaker is vacant the duties of his office shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker or, if the office of the Deputy Speaker is also vacant, by such member of the Chamber as the President may appoint for the purpose, and during the absence of the Speaker from any sitting of the Chamber the Deputy Speaker or, if he is also absent, such person as may be determined by the rules of procedure of the Chamber, or, if no such person is present, such other person as may be determined by the Chamber, shall act as Speaker.
(4) There shall be paid to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber such salaries as may be respectively determined by an Act of the Parliament.
(5) The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply in relation to the Chamber of Nationalities as they apply in relation to the Chamber of Deputies with the substitution of references to the Chamber of Nationalities for references to the Chamber of Deputies.

68. (1)Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and to the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of the Parliament, there shall be freedom of speech in the Parliament, and no member of the Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any Court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in the Parliament or any Committee thereof, and no person shall be so liable in respect of publication by or under the authority of a Chamber of the Parliament of any report, paper, votes, or proceedings.
(2) In other respects, the privileges of members of either Chamber of Parliament shall be such as may, from time to time, be defined by an Act of the Parliament and, until so defined, shall be such as were immediately before the commencement of this Constitution enjoyed by members of the Legislature of Burma.

69. (1) All question at any sitting or joint sitting of the Chambers shall, save as otherwise provided by this Constitution, be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting, other than the Speaker or person acting as such, who shall not vote in the first instance, but shall have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
(2) The number of members necessary to constitute the quorum of either Chamber for the exercise of its powers shall be determined by its rules.
(3) A Chamber of Parliament shall have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership thereof, and any proceedings in the Parliament shall be valid notwithstanding that it is discovered subsequently that some person who was not entitled to do so sat or voted or otherwise took part in the proceedings.
(4) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, the Chamber of Nationalities shall have power to act notwithstanding the failure of any unit to provide for its representation in the Chamber.

70. All official reports and publications of the Parliament or of either Chamber thereof shall be absolutely privileged.

71. The Parliament may make provision by law for the payment of salaries and allowances to the members of each Chamber in respect of their duties as public representatives and for the grant to them of such travelling and other facilities in connection with their duties as the Parliament may determine.

72. Every member of either Chamber of Parliament shall before taking his seat make and subscribe before the President, or some person authorized by him, an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the form set forth in the First Schedule to this Constitution.

73. (1) No person may at the same time be a member of both Chamber of Parliament, and, if any person who is already a member of either Chamber becomes a member of the other Chamber, he shall forthwith be deemed to have vacant his first seat.
(2) If a member of either Chamber –
(a) becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in sub-section (1) of the next succeeding section; or
(b) by writing under his hand addressed to the President resigns his seat,
his seat shall thereupon become vacant.
(3) If for a period of thirty days a member of either Chamber is without permission of the Chamber absent from all meetings thereof, the Chamber may declare his seat vacant:
Provided that in computing the said period of thirty days no account shall be taken of any period during which the Chamber is prorogued, or is adjourned for more than four consecutive days.

74. (1)Any person who –
(i) is under any acknowledgement of allegiance or adherence to a foreign Power, or is a subject or citizen or entitled to the rights and privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign Power; or
(ii) is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or
(iii) is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent Court; or
(iv) hold any office of profit in the service of the Union or of any unit other than an office declared by an Act of the Parliament not to disqualify its holder; or
(v) whether before or after the commencement of this Constitution, has been convicted or has, in proceedings for questioning the validity or regularity of an election, been found to have been guilty of an offence or corrupt or illegal practice relating to elections which has been declared by an Act of the Legislature of Burma or of the Parliament to be an offence or practice entailing disqualification for membership of the Legislature or of the Parliament, unless such period had elapsed as may be specified in that behalf in the provisions of that Act; or
(vi) whether before or after the commencement of this Constitution, has been convicted, in any of the territories included within the Union, of any other offence, and has, in either case, been sentenced to transportation or to imprisonment for not less than two years, unless a period of five years or such less period as the President may, in his discretion, allow in any particular case, has elapsed since his release; or
(vii) having been nominated as a candidate for the Parliament or having acted as an election agent of any person so nominated, has failed to lodge a return of the election expenses within the time and in the manner required by any Order made under this Constitution or by any Act of the Parliament, unless five years have elapse from the date by which the return ought to have been lodged, or the President, in his discretion, had removed the disqualification;
Shall be disqualified for being as and for being a member of either Chamber:
Provided that a disqualification under paragraph (vii) of this sub-section shall not take effect until the expiration of one month from the date by which the return ought to have been lodged, or of such longer period as the President acting in his discretion may, in any particular case, allow.
(2) A person shall not be qualified for being chosen a member of either Chamber while he is serving a sentence of transportation or of imprisonment for a criminal offence:
Provided that, where the sentence does not exceed two years, the President may in his discretion remove such disqualification.
(3) Where a person who, by virtue of a conviction or a conviction and a sentence, becomes disqualified by virtue of paragraph (v) or paragraph (vi) of sub-section (1) of this section is at the date of the disqualification a member of a Chamber, his seat shall, notwithstanding anything in this or the last preceding section, not become vacant by reason of the disqualification until three months have elapsed from the date thereof or, if within those three months an appeal or petition for revision is brought in respect of the conviction or the sentence, until that appeal or petition is disposed of, but, during any period wherein his membership is preserved by this sub-section, he shall not sit or vote.

75. If a person sits or votes as a member of either Chamber when he is not qualified or is disqualified for membership thereof, or when he is prohibited from so doing by the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 74 or before he has complied with the requirements of section 72 he shall be liable in respect of each day on which he so sits or votes to a penalty of rupees one thousand to be recovered as a debt due to the Union Government.

76. (1) Every citizen, who has completed the age of twenty-one years and who is not placed under any disability or incapacity by this Constitution or by law, shall be eligible for membership of the Parliament.
(2) Every citizen, who has completed the age of eighteen years and who is not disqualified by law and complies with the provisions of the law regulating elections to the Parliament, shall have the right to vote at any election to the Parliament.
(3) There shall be no property qualification for membership of the Parliament or for the right to vote at elections to the Parliament.
(4) No law shall be enacted or continued placing any citizen under disability or incapacity for membership of the Parliament on the ground of sex, race or religion or disqualifying any citizen from voting at elections to the Parliament on any such ground:
Provided that notwithstanding anything contained in section 21 (3), members of any religious order may by law be debarred from voting at any such elections or from being a member of either Chamber of Parliament.
(5) Voting shall be by secret ballot.

77. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all matters relating to elections for either Chamber of Parliament including the delimitation of constituencies, the filling of casual vacancies, and the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections shall be regulated in accordance with law.

78. The Parliament may by law prescribe the conditions under and the manner in which a member of either Chamber of Parliament may be recalled.

79. Every member of the Union Government and the Attorney-General shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise take part in the proceedings of, either Chamber, any joint sitting of the Chambers and any Committee of the Parliament of which he may be named a member, but he shall not by virtue of this section be entitled to vote.

80. (1) Each Chamber of the Parliament may make rules for regulating, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, its procedure and the conduct of its business.
(2) The President, after consultation with the Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, may make rules as to the procedure with respect to joint sittings of, and communications between, the two Chambers.
(3) At a joint sitting of the two Chambers the Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities, or in his absence the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies or such person as may be determined by rules of procedure made under this section, shall preside.

81. No discussion shall take place in the Parliament with respect to the conduct of any judge of the Supreme Court or of the High Court in the discharge of his duties, except upon a resolution for the removal of the judge as provided in this Constitution.

82. (1) The validity of any proceedings in the Parliament shall not be called in question in any Court on the ground of any irregularity of procedure.
(2) The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies or the Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities or any other member of either Chamber of Parliament in whom powers are vested by or under this Constitution for regulating procedure or the conduct of business or for maintaining order in the Chamber shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any Court in respect of the exercise by him of those powers. 5
PART II. – CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES

83. (1) The Chamber of Deputies shall be composed of members who represent constituencies determined by law. Provision shall, however, be made to reserve such number of seats as may be proportionate to the population of Karens to be filled by their representatives.
(2) The number of members of this Chamber shall be, as nearly as practicable, twice the number of member of the Chamber of Nationalities. The number of members shall from time to time be fixed by law but the total number of the members of the Chamber of Deputies shall not be fixed at less than one member for each 100,000 of the population, or at more than one member for each 30,000 of the population.
(3) The ratio between the number of members to be elected at any time for a constituency and the population of that constituency, as ascertained at the last preceding census, shall, so far as practicable, be the same for all constituencies throughout the Union, except in the case of the constituencies of the Special Division of the Chins (referred to in Part V of Chapter IX) and the Karenni State, in respect of which the ratio may be higher.
(4) The Parliament shall revise the constituencies at least once in every ten years, with due regard to changes in the distribution of the population, but any alternation in the constituencies shall not take effect until the termination of the then existing Parliament.

84. (1) The general election for members of the Chamber of Deputies shall take place not later then sixty days after the dissolution of the Chamber. Polling at every general election shall, as far as practicable, take place on the same day throughout the Union.
(2) The Chamber of Deputies shall meet within sixty days from the polling day.

85. Every Chamber of Deputies shall continue for four years from the first meeting of the Chamber:
Provided that the Chambers of Parliament may by resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting at a joint sitting extend the said period from year to year in the event of a grave emergency declared by Proclamation under section 94:
Provided further that the Chamber of Deputies may be dissolved by the President at any time as provided by section 57.

86. (1) As soon as possible after the presentation to the Chamber of Deputies under Chapter VII of the estimates of receipts and estimates of expenditure of the Union for any financial year, the Chamber shall consider the estimates.
(2) Save in so far as may be provided by specific enactment in each case, the legislation required by specific enactment in each case, the legislation required to give effect to the financial resolutions of each year shall be enacted within that year.
(3) The Chamber of Deputies shall not pass any vote or resolution, and no law shall be enacted, for the appropriation of revenue or other public moneys, unless the purpose of the appropriation shall have been recommended to the Chamber by the Union Government. 5

PART III. CHAMBER OF NATIONALITIES.

87. There shall be one hundred and twenty-five seats in the Chamber of Nationalities as allocated in the Second Schedule to this Constitution.

88. (1) A dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies shall operate also as a dissolution of the Chamber of Nationalities.
(2) The general election for the Chamber of Nationalities shall be completed not later than the fifteenth day from the first meeting of the Chamber of Deputies held after the dissolution.

89. The first meeting of the Chamber of Nationalities after the general election shall take place on a date to be fixed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. 5

PART IV. POWER OF THE PARLIAMENT

90. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the sole and exclusive power of making laws in the Union shall be vested in the Parliament: Provided that an Act of the Parliament may authorize any person or authority therein specified to make rules and regulations consonant with the Act and having the force of law, subject, however, to such rules and regulations being laid before each Chamber of Parliament at its next ensuing session and subject to annulment by a motion carried in both Chambers within a period of three months of their being so laid, without prejudice, however, to the validity of any action previously taken under the rules or regulations.

91. Provision may, however, be made by law on principles of regional autonomy for delegating to representative bodies of such regions as may be defined in the law, specified powers in administrative, cultural and economic matters. A law embodying such provisions shall determine the rights, powers and duties of such representative bodies and their relations to the Parliament and to the Union Government.

92. (1) The Parliament shall have power to make laws of the whole or any part of the Union except in so far as such power is assigned by the next succeeding sub-section exclusively to the Shan Councils.
For greater certainty, but not so as to restrict the generality of the foregoing terms of this section, it is hereby declared that, notwithstanding anything in the next succeeding sub-section, the exclusive legislative authority of the Parliament shall extend to all matters enumerated in List I of the Third Schedule to this Constitution (hereinafter called “the Union Legislative List”).
Any matter coming within any of the classes of subjects enumerated in the said List, shall not be deemed to come within the class of matters of a local or private nature comprised in the list of subjects assigned by the next succeeding sub-section exclusively to the State Councils.
(2) Each State Council shall have power exclusively to make laws for the State or any part thereof with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List II of the said Schedule (hereinafter called “the State Legislative List”).
(3) Any State Council may by resolution surrender any of its territories or any of its powers and rights to the Union.

93. The powers exercisable by the Union by reason of the entry in the Union Legislative List relating to the regulation of forces, mines and oil-fields and mineral development, shall be subject to the condition that before the issue of any certificate, licence, or other form of authorization, for the exploitation, development or utilization of any forest, mine or oil-field, the issuing authority shall consult the Union Minister for the State concerned.

94. (1) Notwithstanding anything in section 92, the Parliament shall, if the President has declared by Proclamation (in this Constitution referred to as a “Proclamation of Emergency”), that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of the Union is threatened, whether by war or internal disturbance, or that a grave economic emergency affecting the Union has arisen in any part of the Union, have power to make laws for a State or any part thereof with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the State Legislative List.
(2) Nothing in this section shall restrict the power of a State Council to make any law which, under this Constitution it has power to make, but if any provision of a State law is repugnant to any provision of a Union law which the Parliament has under this section power to make, the Union law, whether passed before or after the State law, shall prevail, and the State law shall, to the extent of the repugnancy, but so long as the Union law continues to have effect, be inoperative.
(3) A Proclamation of Emergency –
(a) may be revoked by a subsequent Proclamation, and
(b) shall cease to operate at the expiration of six months, unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by resolutions of both Chambers of Parliament:
Provided that, if and so often as a resolution approving the continuance in force of such a Proclamation is passed by both Chambers of Parliament, the Proclamation shall, unless revoked, continue in force for a further period of twelve months from the date on which under this sub-section it would otherwise have ceased to operate.
(4) A law made by the Parliament which it would not but for the issue of a Proclamation of Emergency have been competent to make shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before expiration of the said period.

95. If it appears to the State Councils of two or more States to be desirable that any of the matters enumerated in the State Legislative List should be regulated in these States by an Act of the Parliament, and if resolutions to that effect are passed by those State Councils, it shall be lawful for the Parliament to pass an Act for regulating that matter accordingly; but any Act so passed may, as respects any State to which it applies, be amended or repealed by an Act of the State Council.

96. (1) All revenue from the sources enumerated in the Fourth Schedule to this Constitution shall form part of the revenues of the State in or by which they are raised or received.
(2) All revenues other than such as are assigned to the States by the last preceding sub-section shall form part of the revenues of the Union:
Provided that the Union may make such grants or contributions out of its revenue in aid of the revenues of the units as it may determine to be necessary upon the recommendations of any Board or other authority appointed for the purpose.

97. (1) The right to raise and maintain military, naval and air forces is vested exclusively in the Parliament.
(2) No military, naval or air forces, or any military or semi-military organization of any kind (not being a police force maintained under the authority of any unit solely for duties connected with the maintenance of public order) other than the forces raised and maintained by the Union with the consent of the Parliament shall be raised or maintained for any purpose whatsoever. 5

PART V. LEGISLATION

98. Every Bill initiated in and passed by the Chamber of Deputies shall be sent to the Chamber of Nationalities and may, unless it be a Money Bill, be amended in the Chamber of Nationalities and sent back to the Chamber of Deputies for its consideration.

99. Every Bill other then a Money Bill, may be initiated in the Chamber of Nationalities and if passed by the Chamber, shall be sent to the Chamber of Deputies which may amend the Bill and sent it back to the Chamber of Nationalities for its consideration.

100. A Bill passed by one Chamber and accepted by the other Chamber shall be deemed to have been passed by both Chambers of Parliament.

101. A Bill which appropriates revenue or money for the ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only with such appropriations.

102. Bills imposing taxation shall deal only with imposition of taxation and any provision therein dealing with any other matter shall be of no effect. 5

Money Bills

103. Money Bills shall be initiated in the Chamber of Deputies only.

104. Every Money bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies shall be sent to the Chamber of Nationalities for its recommendations.

105. (1) Every Money Bill sent to the Chamber of Nationalities for its recommendations shall, within twenty one days after it shall have been sent to the Chamber of Nationalities, be returned to the Chamber of Deputies which may accept or reject all or any of the recommendations of the Chamber of Nationalities.
(2) If such Money Bills is not returned by the Chamber of Nationalities to the Chamber of Deputies within twenty-one days or is returned within twenty-one days with recommendations which the Chamber of Deputies does not accept, it shall be deemed to have been passed by both Chambers at the expiration of twenty-one days.

106. (1)A Money Bill means a Bill which contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters, namely, the imposition, repeal, remission, alternation or regulation of taxation; the imposition, for the payment of debt or other financial purposes, of charges on the revenues of the Union or the variation or repeal of any such charges; supply; the appropriation, receipt, custody, issue or audit of accounts of public money, the raising or guaranteeing of any loan or the repayment thereof; matters subordinate and incidental to these matters or any of them.
(2) In this definition the expressions “taxation”, “revenues of the Union” and “loan”, respectively, do not include any taxation, money or loan raised by local authorities or bodies for local purposes.

107. (1) The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies shall certify any Bill which in his opinion is a Money Bill to be “a Money Bill” and his certificate shall, subject to the subsequent provisions of this section, be final and conclusive.
(2) The Chamber of Nationalities may, by a resolution passed at a sitting at which not less than two-thirds of the total members are present, request the President to refer the question whether the Bill is or is not “a Money Bill” to a Committee of Privileges.
(3) If the President in his discretion decides to accede to the request, he shall appoint a Committee of Privileges consisting of an equal number of members of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Chamber of Nationalities and a Chairman who shall be a judge of the Supreme Court.
(4) The President shall refer the question to the Committee of Privileges so appoint and the Committee shall report its finding thereon to the President within twenty-one days after the day on which the Bill was sent to the Chamber of Nationalities.
(5) The decision of the President, in his discretion, on such report shall be final.

108. If the President, in his discretion, decides not to accede to the request of the Chamber of Nationalities or if the Committee of Privileges fails to report within the time hereinbefore specified, the certificate of the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies shall stand confirmed.

109. If one Chamber passes any other Bill, and the other Chamber rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the Chamber where the Bill originated will not agree, the President shall convene a joint sitting of the two Chambers.
The members present at the joint sitting may deliberate and shall vote together upon the Bill as last passed by the Chamber where the Bill originated and upon amendments, if any; which have been made therein by the other Chamber and if the Bill with the amendments, if any, is passed by a majority of the total number of members of both Chambers present and voting, it shall be deemed to have been passed by both Chambers:
Provided that at a joint sitting –
(a) if the Bill, having been passed by one Chamber is rejected by the other Chamber and returned to the Chamber in which it originated, no amendment shall be proposed to the Bill other than such amendments, if any, as are made necessary by the delay in the passage of the Bill;
(b) if the Bill is, however, passed by the other Chamber with amendments and returned to the Chamber which it originated, only such amendments as aforesaid and such other amendments as are relevant to the matters with respect to which the Chambers have not agreed, shall be proposed to the Bill;
and the decision of the person presiding as to the amendments which are admissible under this section shall be final.

110. (1) If at any time when both Chambers of Parliament are not in session, the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require. An Ordinance promulgated under this section shall have the same force and effect as an Act of the Parliament assented to by the President.
(2) Every such Ordinances shall be laid before both Chambers of Parliament within forty-five days from the date of promulgation thereof, unless it shall have been withdrawn earlier by the President, and shall cease to operate at the expiration of fifteen days from the re-assembly of the Chamber of Deputies or the Chamber of Nationalities, whichever is later.
Provided that the President may, with the consent of both Chambers of Parliament, extend the Ordinance for such further period as may be deemed necessary.
(3) If the Ordinance shall have been withdrawn within forty-five days from the date of its promulgation, it shall be laid before the Parliament in its next ensuing session.
(4) If and in so far as an Ordinance under this section makes any provision which the Parliament would not under this Constitution be competent to enact, it shall be void. 5

Signing and Promulgation

111. (1) As soon as any Bill shall have been passed by both Chambers of Parliament, it shall be presented to the President for his signature and promulgation as an Act in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) Save as otherwise provided by this Constitution, every Bill so presented to the President shall be signed by him not later than seven days after the date of presentation.
(3) If any Bill is not signed by the President within seven days after the date of presentation, the same shall become an Act in the like manner as if he had signed it on the last of the said seven days.

112. (1) Every Bill signed or deemed to have been signed by the President under this Constitution shall become an Act on and from the date on which the Bill shall have been signed or be deemed to have been signed.
(2) Every such Act shall be promulgated by the President by publication under his direction in the official gazette. Every Act shall come into force on the date of such promulgation unless the contrary intention is expressed.

113. The signed texts of Acts and Ordinances shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court and such signed texts shall be conclusive evidence of the provisions of such Acts and Ordinances. 5

CHAPTER VII.

THE UNION GOVERNMENT

114. The Union Government shall consist of the Prime Minister and other members appointed under section 56.

115. The Government shall be collectively responsible to the Chamber of Deputies.

116. A member of the Government who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Parliament shall at the expiration of the period case to be a member of the Government.

117. (1) The Prime Minister may resign from office at any time by placing his resignation in the hands of the President.
(2) Any other member of the Government may resign from office by placing his resignation in the hands of the Prime Minister for submission to the President and the resignation shall take effect upon its being accepted by the President under the next succeeding sub-section.
(3) The President shall accept the resignation of a member of the Government, other than the Prime Minister, if so advised by the Prime Minister.

118. The Prime Minister may, at any time, for reasons which to him seem sufficient request a member of the Government to resign; should the member concerned fail to comply with the request, his appointment shall be terminated by the President if the Prime Minister so advises.

119. The Prime Minister shall resign from office upon his ceasing to retain the support of a majority in the Chamber of Deputies unless on his advice the President dissolves the Parliament under section 57 and on the re-assembly of the Parliament after the dissolution the Prime Minister secures the support of a majority in the Chamber of Deputies.

120. (1) If the Prime Minister at any time resigns from office, the other members of the Government shall be deemed also to have resigned from office, but the Prime Minister and the other members of the Government shall continue to carry on their duties until their successors shall have been appointed.
(2) The members of the Government in office at the date of dissolution of the Parliament shall continue to hold office until their successors shall have been appointed.

121. (1) All executive action of the Union Government shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the President.
(2) Orders and other instruments made and executed in the name of the President shall be authenticated in such manner as may be specified in rules to be made by the President and the validity of an order or instrument which is so authenticated shall not be called in question on the ground that it is not an order or instrument made or executed by the President.
(3) The President shall make rules for the transaction of the business of the Union Government, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business in so far as it is not business with respect to which the President is by or under this Constitution required to act in his discretion.
Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions the allocation of business may be regionwise as well as subjectwise.

122. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive authority of the Union extends
(a) to the matters with respect to which the Parliament has power to make laws; and
(b) to the government, in accordance with the provisions of any treaty or agreement in this behalf, of any Armed Forces not raised in the Union that may, with the consent of the Government of the Union, be stationed in the Union or placed at the disposal of the Union.

123. (1) War shall not be declared and the Union shall not participate in any war save and except with the assent of the Parliament.
(2) In case of actual or imminent invasion, however, the Government may take whatever steps they may consider necessary for the protection of the Union, and the Parliament if not sitting shall be summoned to meet at the earliest possible date.

124. The Prime Minister shall keep the President generally informed on all matter of domestic and international policy.

125. (1) The Government shall prepare estimates of receipts and estimates of expenditure of the Union for each financial year, and shall present them to the Chamber of Deputies for consideration.
(2) The procedure to be adopted in the Chambers of Parliament with respect to the submission of estimates of expenditure, the appropriation of the revenue of the Union and all matters connected therewith shall, in so far as provision is not made in that behalf by this Constitution, be regulated in accordance with law. 5

ATTORNEY – GENERAL

126. (1) The President shall appoint a person, being an advocate of the High Court, to be Attorney - General on the nomination of the Prime Minister.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Attorney – General to give advice to the Government upon legal matters and to perform such other duties of a legal character, as may, from time to time, be assigned to him by the President.

127. (1) The Attorney – General may, at any time, resign from office by placing his resignation in the hands of the Prime Minister for submission to the President.
(2) The Prime minister may, for reasons which to him seem sufficient, request the resignation of the Attorney – General.
(3) In the event of failure to comply with the request, the appointment of the Attorney – General shall be terminated by the President if the Prime Minister so advises.
(4) The Attorney – General shall resign from office upon the resignation of the Prime Minister, but may continue to carry on his duties until the successor to the Prime Minister shall have been appointed.
(5) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Constitution, the office of the Attorney – General, including the remuneration to be paid to the holder of the office, shall be regulated by law. 5

AUDITOR – GENERAL

128. There shall be an Auditor – General to control on behalf of the Union all disbursements and to audit all accounts of moneys administered by and under the authority of the Parliament and the State Councils.

129. The Auditor – General shall be appointed by the President with the approval of both Chambers of Parliament and shall only be removed from office in the like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of the High Court. The Auditor – General shall not be a member of either Chamber of Parliament nor shall he hold any other office or position of emolument. He shall not be eligible for further office in the service of the Union or the States after he has ceased to hold office.

130. Neither the salary of the Auditor – General nor his rights in respect of leave of absence or pension shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment, unless he voluntarily agrees to any reduction in his salary in the event of general economy and retrenchment in relation to all the services of the Union.

131. The Auditor – General shall submit to the Chamber of Deputies, at such periods as may be determined by law, reports relating to the accounts of the Union and the States.

132. Subject to the foregoing provisions, the terms and conditions of the office of the Auditor – General shall be determined by law. 5

CHAPTER VIII

UNION JUDICIARY

133. Justice throughout the Union shall be administered in Courts established by this Constitution or by law and by judges appointed in accordance therewith.

134. The Courts shall comprise Courts of first instance and Courts of appeal: -
(a) The Courts of first instance shall include a High Court which shall, subject to law, have original and appellate jurisdiction and power to determine all matters and questions whether of law or of fact.
(b) The head of the High Court shall be called “the Chief Justice of the High Court”.

135. (1) The High Court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction –
(a) in all matters arising under any treaty made by the Union;
(b) in all disputes between the Union and a unit or between one unit and another;
(c) in such other matters, if any, as may be defined by law.
(2) If the High Court is satisfied that a case pending in any inferior Court involves or is likely to involve substantially a question of the validity of any law having regard to the provisions of this Constitution, the High Court shall transfer the case to itself for trial.

136. (1) The Court of final appeal shall be called “the Supreme Court”.
(2) The head of the Supreme Court shall be called “the Chief Justice of the Union”.
(3) Without prejudice to the powers conferred upon the Supreme Court by any other provisions of this Constitution, the Court shall, with such exceptions and subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law, have appellate jurisdiction form all decisions of the High Court, and shall also have appellate jurisdiction from such decisions of other Courts as may be prescribed by law.

137. No law shall be enacted excepting from the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court cases which involve questions as to the validity of any law having regard to the provisions of this Constitution.

138. The decisions of the Supreme Court shall in all cases be final.

139. (1) Every person appointed a judge of the Supreme Court and of the High Court under this Constitution shall make and subscribe the following declaration: -
“I … do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will duly and faithfully to the best of my knowledge and ability execute the office of the Chief Justice (or judge as the case may be) without fear or favour, affection or ill-will towards any man, and that I will uphold the Constitution and the laws.”
(2) This declaration shall be made and subscribed by the Chief Justice of the Union in the presence of the President, and by each of the other judges of the Supreme Court and of the judges of the High Court in the presence of the Chief Justice of the Union or the senior available judge of the Supreme Court.
(3) The declaration shall be made and subscribed by every judge before entering upon his duties as such judge, and in any case not later than ten days after the date of his appointment or such later date as may be determined by the President.
(4) Any judge who declines or neglects to make such declaration as aforesaid shall be deemed to have declined to accept the appointment.

140. (1) The Chief Justice of the Union shall be appointed by the President by an order under his hand and seal, with the approval of both Chambers of the Parliament in joint sitting.
(2) All the other judges of the Supreme Court and all the judges of the High Court shall be appointed by the President by an order under his hand and seal, with the approval of both Chambers of the Parliament in joint sitting.

141. All judges shall be independent in the exercise of their judicial functions and subject only to this Constitution and the laws.

142. (1) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court unless he is a citizen of the Union who was or whose parents were born in any of the territories included within the Union, or unless he has been for at least five years a citizen of the Union; and
(a) has been for at least five years a judge of the High Court of Judicature at Rangoon of the High Court established under this Constitution; or
(b) is an advocate of the High Court of at least fifteen years’ standing:
Provided that a person shall not be qualified for appointment as Chief Justice of the Union unless he –
(i) is, or when first appointed to judicial office was, an advocate, and
(ii) is an advocate of at least fifteen years’ standing.
(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a judge of the High Court unless he is a citizen of the Union; and
(a) is an advocate of at least ten years’ standing; or
(b) has for at least five years held judicial office in Burma or in the Union not inferior to that of a district and secession judge or Chief Judge of the Rangoon City Civil Court:
Provided that a person all not be qualified for appointment as the Chief Justice of the High Court unless he –
(i) is, or when first appointed to judicial office was, an advocate, and
(ii) an advocate of at least fifteen years’ standing.
(3) In computing for the purpose of this section the standing of an advocate, any period during which he has held judicial office after he became an advocate shall be included.

143. (1) A judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court may by resignation under his hand addressed to the President resign his office.
(2) A judge of the Supreme Court or of the High Court shall not be removed from office except for proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
(3) The charge shall be preferred by either Chamber of Parliament subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(3) A personal to either Chamber of Parliament to prefer a charge under this section shall not be entertained except upon a notice of resolution signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of that Chamber.
(4) A personal to either Chamber of Parliament to prefer a charge under this section shall not be entertained except upon a notice of resolution signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of that Chamber.
(5)No such proposal shall be adopted by either Chamber of Parliament save upon a resolution of that Chamber, supported by a majority of the members present.
(6) Where the charge relates to a judge of the Supreme Court it shall be investigated by a Special Tribunal consisting of the President or a person appointed by him in his discretion, the Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
Where the charge relates to a judge of the High Court it shall be investigated by a Special Tribunal consisting of the Chief Justice of the Union, the Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
(7) The judge against whom the charge is preferred shall have the right to appear and to be represented at the investigation of the charge.
(8) The Special Tribunal shall, after investigation, submit its report to the Chamber by which the charge was preferred. The finding of the Special Tribunal declaring that the charge has not been proved, if unanimous, shall be final. But in all other cases, the report of the Special Tribunal shall be considered by both Chambers of Parliament in joint sitting.
If, after consideration, a resolution be passed supported by a majority of the members present and voting at the joint sitting declaring that the charge preferred against the judge has been proved and that the misbehaviour was, or incapacity is, such as to render him unfit to continue in office, the President shall forthwith by an order under his hand and seal remove from office the judge to whom it relates.

144. Neither the salary of a judge of the Supreme Court or of the High Court nor his rights in respect of leave of absence or pension shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment, unless he voluntarily agrees to any reduction in his salary in the event of general economy and retrenchment in relation to all the services of the Union.

145. If the office the Chief Justice of the Union or of the Chief Justice of the High Court becomes vacant, or if either of them is, by reason of absence or for any other reason, unable to perform the duties of his office, those duties shall, until some person appointed to the vacant office has entered on the duties thereof, or until the Chief Justice of the Union or of the High Court, as the case may be, has resumed his duties, be performed by such other judge of the Supreme Court or of the High Court as the President may appoint for the purpose.

146. (1) If at any time there should not be a quorum of the judges of the Supreme Court available to hold or continue any session of the Court, owing to a vacancy or vacancies, or to the absence through illness or on leave or in the discharge of other duties assigned by statute or otherwise, or to the disqualification of a judge or judges, the Chief Justice or any acting Chief Justice of the Union, or in their absence, the senior puisne judge, may in writing request the attendance at the sitting of the Court, for such period as may be necessary, of a judge of the High Court, to be designated in writing by the Chief Justice or any acting Chief Justice or in their absence the senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court.
(2) It shall be the duty of the judge, whose attendance has been so requested or who has been so designated, in priority to the other duties of his office, to attend the sittings of the Supreme Court at the time and for the period for which his attendance shall be required, and while so attending he shall possess the powers and privileges and shall discharge the duties of a puisne judge of the Supreme Court.

147. If the office of any puisne judge of the High Court becomes vacant, or if any such judge is by reason of absence, or for any other reason, unable to perform the duties of his office, the President may in his discretion appoint a person duly qualified for appointment as a judge to act as a judge of the Court, and the person so appointed shall, unless the President in his discretion thinks fit to revoke his appointment, be deemed to be a judge of the Court, until some person appointed under sub-section (2) of section 140 of this Constitution to the vacant office has entered on the duties thereof, or until the permanent judge has resumed his duties.

148. The Supreme Court and the High Court shall be courts of record and shall sit in the capital city of the Union and at such other place or places as the President may, after consultation with the Chief Justice of the Union from time to time, appoint:
Provided that one or more judges of the High Court shall sit at such place in the Shan State as the President may, after consultation with the Chief Justice of the Union from time to time, appoint.

149. Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Constitution relating to the Courts, the following matters shall be regulated in accordance with law: -
(i) The number of judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court, the remuneration, age of retirement and pension of such judges; and
(ii) The constitution and organization of such Courts, the distribution of business among the Courts and judges, their jurisdiction and all matters of procedure.

150. Nothing in this Constitution shall operate to invalidate the exercise of limited functions and powers of a judicial nature by any person or body of persons duly authorized by law to exercise such functions or powers notwithstanding that such person or such body or persons is not a judge or a Court appointed or established as such under this Constitution.

151. (1) If at any time it appears to the President that a question of law has arisen, or is likely to raise, which is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court upon it, he may refer the question to that Court for consideration, and the Court may, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report to the President thereon.
(2) No report shall be made under this section save in accordance with an opinion delivered in open Court with the concurrence of a majority of the judges present at the hearing of the case, but nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to prevent a judge who does not concur from delivering a dissenting opinion.

152. The law declared by the Supreme Court shall, so far as applicable, be recognized as binding on, and shall be followed by, all Courts within the territories subject to the jurisdiction of the Union.

153. The Parliament may make provision by an Act for conferring upon the Supreme Court such supplemental powers not inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Constitution as may appear to be necessary or desirable for the purpose of enabling the Court more effectively to exercise the jurisdiction conferred upon it by under this Constitution. 5

CHAPTER IX

PART I

THE SHAN STATE

The Shan State Council

154. (1) All the members of the Parliament representing the Shan State shall constitute the Shan State Council.
(2) All the representative from the Shan State in the Chamber of Nationalities shall be elected by the Saohpas of the Shan State from among themselves. The Saohpas shall not be eligible for membership of the Chamber of Deputies.
(3) Any member of the State Council who shall have ceased to be a member of the Parliament shall be deemed to have vacant his seat in the Council, but may continue to carry on his duties until his successor shall have been elected.

155. The State Council may recommend to the Parliament the passing of any law relating to any matter in respect of which the Council is not competent to legislate.

156. When a Bill has been passed by the State Council it shall be presented to the President for his signature and promulgation. The President shall sign the Bill within one month from the presentation of the Bill, unless he refers the Bill to the Supreme Court for its decision under the next succeeding section.

157. (1) The President may, in his discretion, refer any Bill presented to him under the last preceding section to the Supreme Court for decision on the question whether such Bill or any specified provision thereof is repugnant to this Constitution.
(2) The Supreme Court, consisting of not less than three judges, shall consider the question referred to it and, after such hearing as it thinks fit, shall pronounce its decision on such question in open Court as soon as may be, and in any case not later than thirty days after the date of such reference. The decision of the majority of the judges shall, for the purposes of this section, be the decision of the Court.
(3) In every case in which the Supreme Court decides that any provision of the Bill, the subject of a reference to the Supreme Court under this section, is repugnant to this Constitution, the President shall return the Bill to the State Council for reconsideration and shall decline to sign it unless the necessary amendments shall have been made thereto.
(4) In every other case, the President shall sign the Bill and promulgate the Act as soon as may be after the decision of the Supreme Court shall have been pronounced.
(5) When the President has signed a Bill presented to him under the last preceding section whether without or after a reference to the Supreme Court, the validity of any provision of the Bill shall not be called in question on the ground that it was beyond the competence of the State Council.

158. The signed text of every Act shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court and a copy of the same shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Minister for the Shan State.

159. The Head of the Shan State many from time to time summon and prorogue the State Council:
Provided that there shall be a session of the State Council once at least in every year so that a period of twelve months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the Council in one session and its first sitting in the next session. 5

GOVERNMENT OF THE SHAN STATE

160. A member of the Union Government to be known as the Minister for the Shan State shall be appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister acting in consultation with the Shan State Council from among the members of the Parliament representing the Shan State. The Minister so appointed shall also be the Head of the Shan State for the purposes of this Constitution.

161. (1) The Head of the State shall be in charge of the administration of the State that is to say, the executive authority of the State shall be exercised by the Head of the State either directly or through officers subordinate to him.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the next succeeding section, the said executive authority shall extend to all matters relating to recruitment to the State civil services to postings and transfers, and to disciplinary matters relating to these services.

162. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive authority of the State extends to the matters with respect to which the State Council has power to make laws, and in all such matters the decision of the Council shall be binding on the Head of the State.
(2) The Head of the State shall consult the State Council in all other matters relating to the State.
(3) In order to facilitate the communication of the decisions and the views of the State Council to the Head of the State, the Council shall at its first meeting after a general election elect from among its members or otherwise a Cabinet of State Ministers to aid and advise the Head of the State in the exercise of his functions.

163. The Head of the State shall give or cause to be given an account of his work to the State Council in each ordinary session, present or cause to be presented to the Council a report upon all matters relating to the State, and recommend for the consideration of the Council such measures as he thinks fit for promoting the general welfare.

164. (1)The Head of the State shall prepare or cause to be prepared the estimates of the receipts and of the expenditure of the State for each financial year and shall present them or cause them to be presented to the State Council for consideration.
(2) Subject to any conditions that may be imposed by the Union in respect of any contributions from the Union, the State Council shall have power to approve the budget of the State Council shall have power to approve the budget of the State; and in order to enable the President to satisfy himself that the conditions have been duly observed, such budget shall be incorporated in the Union budget.

165. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all matters relating to the Constitution of the State including those relating to the powers and duties of the Head of the State, of the State Council and of the Cabinet of State ministers, and their relations to each other and to the Union Government shall be determined by law. 5

PART II

THE KACHIN STATE

The Kachin State Council

166. (1) All the members of the Parliament representing the Kachin State shall constitute the Kachin State Council.
(2) Of the twelve seats in the Chamber of Nationalities six shall be filled by representatives of the Kachins and the other six by those of the non-Kachins of the Kachin State.
(3) Any member of the State Council who shall have ceased to be a member of the Parliament shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in the Council, but may continue to carry on his duties until his successor shall have been elected.

167. (1) A Bill prejudicially affecting any right or privilege which the Kachins or the non-Kachins, as a class or community, enjoyed immediately before the commencement of this Constitution, shall not be deemed to have been passed by the Council unless the majority of the members representing the Kachins or the non-Kachins, as the case may be, present and voting, have voted in its favour.
(2) If any question arises in the State Council whether a Bill is of the character described in the last preceding sub-section, the presiding officer shall take the vote of the members representing the Kachins and those representing the non-Kachins in the Council separately on such question and if a majority of either class of members vote in the affirmative, the Bill shall be deemed to be of the character mentioned.

168. The State Council may recommend to the Parliament the passing of any law relating to any matter in respect of which the Council is not competent to legislate.

169. When a Bill has passed by the State Council it shall be presented to the President for his signature and promulgation. The President shall sign the Bill within one month from the presentation of the Bill, unless he refers the Bill to the Supreme Court for its decision under the next succeeding section.

170. (1) The President may, in his discretion, refer any Bill presented to him under the last preceding section to the Supreme Court for decision on the question whether such Bill or any specified provision thereof is repugnant to this Constitution.
(2) The Supreme Court, consisting of not less than three judges, shall consider the question referred to it and, after such hearing as it thinks fit, shall pronounce its decision on such question in open Court as soon as may be, and in any case not later than thirty days after the date of such reference. The decision of the majority of the judges shall, for the purpose of this section, be the decision of the Court.
(3) In every case in which the Supreme Court decides that any provision of the Bill, the subject of a reference to the Supreme Court under this section, is repugnant to this Constitution, the President shall return the Bill to the State Council for reconsideration and shall decline to sign it unless the necessary amendments shall have been made thereto.
(4) In every other case, the President shall sign the Bill and promulgate the Act as soon as may be after the decision of the Supreme Court shall have been pronounced.
(5) When the President has signed a Bill presented to him under the last preceding section whether without or after a reference to the Supreme Court, the validity of any provision of the Bill shall not be called in question on the ground that it was beyond the competence of the State Council.

171. The signed text of every Act shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court and a copy of the same shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Minister for the Kachin State.

172. The Head of the Kachin State may from time to time summon and prorogue the State Council:
Provided that there shall be a session of the State Council once at least in every year so that a period of twelve months shall not intervene between that last sitting of the Council in one session and its first sitting in the next session. 5

GOVERNMENT OF THE KACHIN STATE

173. A member of the Union Government to be known as the Minister for the Kachin State shall be appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister acting in consultation with the Kachin State Council from among the Kachin members of the Parliament representing the Kachin State. The Minister so appointed shall also be the Head of the Kachin State for the purpose of this Constitution.

174. (1) The Head of the State shall be in charge of the administration of the State; that is to say, the executive authority of the State shall be exercised by the Head of the State either directly or through officers subordinate to him.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the next succeeding section, the said executive authority shall extend to all matters relating to recruitment to the State civil services, to postings and transfers, and to disciplinary matters relating to these services:
Provided that in respect of areas where the non-Kachins form the majority of the population, the Head of the State shall act only in consultation with the members representing the non-Kachins in the Cabinet in all such matters.

175. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive authority of the State extends to the matters with respect to which the State Council has power to make laws, and in all such matters the decision of the Council shall be binding on the Head of the State.
(2) The Head of the States shall consult the State Council in all other matters relating to the State.
(3) In order to facilitate the communication of the decision and the views of the State Council to the Head of the State, the Council shall at its first meeting after a general election elect from among its members or otherwise a Cabinet of State Ministers to aid and advise the Head of the State in the exercises of his functions:
Provided that not less than one-half of the members of the Cabinet shall be non-Kachins.

176. The Head of the State shall give or cause to be given an account of his work to the State Council in each ordinary session, present or cause to be presented to the Council, a report upon all matter relating to the State, and recommend for the consideration of the Council such measures as he thinks fit for promoting the general welfare.

177. (1) The Head of the State shall prepare or cause to be prepared the estimates of the receipts and of the expenditure of the State for each financial year and shall present them or cause them to be presented to the State Council for consideration.
(2) Subject to any conditions that may be imposed by the Union in respect of any contributions from the Union, the State Council shall have power to approve the budget of the State; and in order to enable the President to satisfy himself that the conditions have been duly observed, such budget shall be incorporated in the Union budget.

178. The provisions of Chapter X of this Constitution shall not apply to the Kachin State.

179. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all matters relating to the Constitution of the State including those relating to the powers and duties of the Head of the State, of the State Council and of the Cabinet of State Ministers, and their relations to each other and to the Union Government shall be determined by law. 5

PART III

THE KAREN STATE

180. (1) The following areas, viz.,
(a) the Karenni State,
(b) the Salween District and
(c) such adjacent areas occupied by the Karens as may be determined by a Special Commission to be appointed by the President shall, if the majority of the people of these three areas and of the Karens living in Burma outside these areas so desire, form a constituent unit of the Union of Burma to be known as the Karen State, which shall thereupon have the same status as the Shan State.
(2) The procedure for ascertaining the desire of the majority in each of the case mentioned in the last preceding sub-section shall be such as may be prescribed by the law of the Union. 5
KAW-THU-LAY

181. Until the Karen State is constituted under the last preceding section, the Salween District, and such adjacent areas occupied by the Karens as may be determined by a Special Commission to be appointed by the President, shall be a Special Region to be known as Kaw-thu-lay, subject to the following provisions: -
(1) All the members of the Chamber of Deputies representing Karens shall constitute the Karen Affairs Council. They shall co-opt not more than five members of the Chamber of Nationalities representing Karens.
(2) A Member of the Union Government to be known as “the Minister for Karen Affairs” shall be appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister, acting in consultation with the Karen Affairs Council, from amongst the members of the Parliament representing Kaerns.
(3) Subject to the powers of the Union Government –
(i) the general administration of the Kaw-thu-lay Special Region and in particular all matters relating to recruitment to the civil service in Kaw-thu-lay, to postings and transfers, and to disciplinary matters relating to these services;
(ii) all matter relating to schools and cultural institutions for Karens, and
(iii) all matters affecting the special rights of the Karens under this Constitution shall be under the superintendence, direction and control of the Minister for Karen Affairs.
(4) The Karen Affairs Council shall aid and advise the Minister in the discharge of his duties.
(5) Any member of the Council who shall have ceased to be a member of the Parliament shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in the Council but he may continue to carry on his duties until his successor shall have been elected.
(6) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all matters relating to the powers and duties of the Minister and of the Council and their relations to each other and to the Union Government shall be determined by law. 5

PART IV

THE KARENNI STATE

182. (1) The territory heretofore known as Mongpai State in the Federated Shan States shall be acceded to the Karenni State if the majority of the people of the territory so desire.
(2) The procedure for ascertaining the desire of the majority shall be such as may be prescribed by law.

183. (1) Until the Parliament otherwise provides –
(i) The Sawphyas of Kantarawaddy, Bawlake and Kyebogyi shall represent the Karenni State in the Chamber of Nationalities;
(ii) The Saohpa of Mongpai shall also be one of the representatives of the Karenni State in the Chamber of Nationalities on the accession of Mongpai to the Karenni State under the last preceding section;
(iii) The Sawphyas and the Saohpa shall not be eligible for membership of the Chamber of Deputies.
(2) All the members of the Parliament representing the Karenni State shall constitute the Karenni State shall constitute the Karenni State Council.
(3) Any member of the State Council who shall have ceased to be a member of the Parliament shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in the Council, but may continue to carry on his duties until his successor shall have been elected.

184. The State Council may recommend to the Parliament the passing of any law relating to any matter in respect of which the Council is not competent to legislate.

185. When a Bill has been passed by the State Council it shall be presented to the President for his signature and promulgation. The President shall sign the Bill within one month from the presentation of the Bill, unless he refers the Bill to the Supreme Court for its decision under the next succeeding section.

186. (1) The President may, in his discretion, refer any Bill presented to him under the last preceding section to the Supreme Court for decision on the question whether such Bill or any specified provision thereof is repugnant to this Constitution.
(2) The Supreme Court, consisting of not less than three judges, shall consider the question referred to it and, after such hearing as it thinks fit, shall pronounce its decision on such question in open Court as soon as may be, and in any case not later than thirty days after the date of such reference.
(3) In every case in which the Supreme Court decides that any provision of the Bill, the subject of a reference to the Supreme Court under this section, is repugnant to this Constitution, the President shall return the Bill to the State Council for reconsideration and shall decline to sign it unless the necessary amendments shall have been made thereto.
(4) In every other case, the President shall sign the Bill and promulgate the Act as soon as may be after the decision of the Supreme Court shall have been pronounced.
(5) When the President has signed a Bill presented to him under the last preceding section, whether without or after a reference to the Supreme Court, the validity of any provision of the Bill shall not be called in question on the ground that it was beyond the competence of the State Council.

187. The signed text of every Act shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Register of the Supreme Court and a copy of the same shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Minister for the Karenni State.

188. The Head of the Karenni State may from time to time summon and prorogue the State Council;
Provided that there shall be a session of the State Council once at least in every year so that a period of twelve months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the Council in one session and its first sitting in the next session. 5

GOVERNMENT OF THE KARENNI STATE

189. A member of the Union Government to be known as the Minister for the Karenni State shall be appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister acting in consultation with the Karenni State Council from among the members of the Parliament representing the karenni State. The Minister so appointed shall also be the Head of the Karenni State for the purposes of this Constitution.

190. (1) The Head of the State shall be in charge of the administration of the State, that is to say, the executive authority of the State shall be exercised by the Head of the State either directly or through officers subordinate to him.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of the next succeeding section, the said executive authority shall extend to all matter relating to recruitment to the State civil services, to postings and transfers, and to disciplinary matters relating to these services.

191. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive authority of the State extends to the matters with respect to which the State Council has power to make laws, and in all such matters the decision of the Council shall be binding on the Head of the State.
(2) The Head of the State shall consult the State Council in all other matters relating to the State.
(3) In order to facilitate the communication of the decisions and the views of the State Council to the Head of the State, the Council may at its first meeting after a general election elect from among its members or otherwise a State Minister or Ministers to aid and advise the Head of the State in the exercise of his functions.

192. The Head of the States shall give or cause to be given an account of his work to the State Council in each ordinary secession, present or cause to be presented to the Council a report upon all matters relating to the State, and recommend for the consideration of the Council such measure as he thinks fit for promoting the general welfare.

193. (1) The Head of the State shall prepare or cause to be prepared the estimates of the receipts and of the expenditure of the State for each financial year and shall present them or cause them to be presented to the State Council for consideration.
(2) Subject to any conditions that may be imposed by the Union in respect of any contributions from the Union, the State Council shall have power to approve the budget of the State; and in order to enable the President to satisfy himself that the conditions have been duly observed, such budget shall be incorporated in the Union budget.

194. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all matter relating to the Constitution of the State including those relating to the powers and duties of the Head of the State, of the State Council and of the State Minister or Ministers and their relations to each other and to the Union Government shall be determined by law.

195. All the provisions in this Part (Part IV of Chapter IX) shall cease to have effect if and when the Karen State is constituted under section 180. 5

PART V

SPECIAL DIVISION OF THE CHINS

196. There shall be a Special Division of the Chins comprising such areas in the Chin Hills District and the Arakan Hill Tracks as may be determined by the President.

197. (1) A Chin Affairs Council shall be constituted consisting of all the members of the Parliament representing the Chins.
(2) A member of the Union Government to be known as “the Minister for Chin Affairs” shall be appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister, acting in consultation with the Chin Affairs Council, from amongst the members of the Parliament representing the Chins.
(3) Subject to the powers of the Union Government –
(i) the general administration of the Special Division and in particular all matters relating to recruitment to the civil services in the Special Division, to postings and transfers, and to disciplinary matters relating to these services, and
(ii) all matters relating to schools and cultural institutions in the Special Divisionshall be under the superintendence, direction and control of the Minister in the discharge of his duties.
(4) The Chin Affairs Council shall aid and advise the Minister in the discharge of his duties.
(5) Any member of the Council who shall have ceased to be a member of the Parliament shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in the Council but he may continue to carry on his duties until his successor shall have been elected.

198. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all matters relating to the powers and duties of the Minister and of the Council and their relations to each other and to the Union Government shall be determined by law. 5

PART VI

NEW STATES

199. The Parliament may by an Act admit to the Union a new State upon such terms and conditions including the extent of representation of the State in the Parliament as may be specified in the Act.

200. The Parliament may by an Act, with the consent of the Council of every State whose boundaries are affected thereby –
(a) establish a new unit;
(b) increase the area of any unit;
(c) diminish the area of any unit;
(d) alter the boundaries of any unit;
and may, with the like consent, make such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions as the Parliament may deem necessary or proper. 5

CHAPTER X

RIGHT OF SECESSION

201. Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Constitution or in any Act of Parliament made under section 199, every State shall have the right to secede from the Union in accordance with the conditions hereinafter prescribed.

202. The right of secession shall not be exercised within ten years from the date on which this Constitution comes into operation.

203. (1) Any State wishing to exercise the right of secession shall have a resolution to that effect passed by its State Council. No such resolution shall be deemed to have been passed unless not less than two-thirds of the total number of members of the State Council concerned have voted in its favour.
(2) The Head of the State concerned shall notify the President of any such resolution passed by the Council and shall send him a copy of such resolution certified by the Chairman of the Council by which it was passed.

204. The President shall thereupon order a plebiscite to be taken for the purpose of ascertaining the will of the people of the State concerned.

205. The President shall appoint a Plebiscite Commission consisting an equal number of members representing the Union and the State concerned in order to supervise the plebiscite.

206. Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, all matter relating to the exercise of the right of secession shall be regulated by law. 5

CHAPTER XI

AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION

207. Any provision of this Constitution may be amended, whether by way of variation, addition, or repeal, in the manner hereinafter provided.

208. (1) Every proposal for an amendment of this Constitution shall be in the form of a Bill and shall be expressed as a Bill to amend the Constitution.
(2) A Bill containing a proposal or proposals for the amendment of the Constitution shall contain no other proposals.

209. (1) Such Bill may be initiated in either Chamber of Parliament.
(2) After it has been passed by each of the Chambers of Parliament, the Bill shall be considered by both Chambers in joint sitting.
(3) The Bill shall be deemed to have been passed by both Chambers in joint sitting only when not less than two-thirds of the then members of both Chambers have voted in its favour.
(4) A Bill which seeks to amend –
(a) the State Legislative List in the Third Schedule, or
(b) the State Revenue list in the Fourth Schedule, or
(c) an Act of the Parliament making a declaration under paragraph (iv) of sub-section (1) of section 74 removing the disqualification of any persons for membership of the Parliament as representative from any of the States.
shall not be deemed to have been passed at the joint sitting of the Chamber unless a majority of the members present and voting, representing the State or each of the States concerned, as the case may be, have voted in its favour.
(5) A Bill seeks to abridge any special rights conferred by this Constitution on Karens or Chins shall not be deemed to have been passed by the Chambers in joint sitting unless a majority of the members present and voting, representing the Karens or the Chins, as the case may be, have voted in its favour.

210. Upon the Bill being passed in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, it shall be presented to the President who shall forthwith sign and promulgate the same. 5

CHAPTER XII

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

211. The Union of Burma renounces war as an instrument of national policy, and accepts the generally recognized principle of international law as its rule of conduct in its relation with foreign States.

212. The Union of Burma affirms its devoting to the ideal of peace and friendly co-operation amongst nations founded on international justice and morality.

213. (1) Every international agreement to which the Union becomes a party shall be laid before the Parliament.
(2) No international agreement requiring or likely to require legislation in order to give effect thereto shall be ratified except with the approval of the parliament.
(3) No international agreement involving a charge upon the revenues of the Union shall be ratified unless the terms of the agreement shall have been approved by the Chamber of Deputies.

Explanation. – This section shall not apply to inter-governmental agreements or conventions of a technical or administrative character.

214. No international agreement as such shall be part of the municipal law of the Union, save as may be determined by the Parliament. 5

CHAPTER XIII

GENERAL PROVISIONS

215. The National Flag shall be rectangular in shape and red in colour with a canton of dark blue. In the canton shall be a five-pointed large white star with five smaller similar stars between points. One of the five points of each star, large or small, shall direct upwards. The dimensions of the Flag shall be nine feet by five feet and the canton shall be four feet by two an a half feet. The size of the large star shall be such that a circle drawn through the five points shall have a diameter of eighteen inches and the smaller stars nine inches. National Flags of other sizes shall conform as nearly as possible to the above proportions.

216. The official language of the Union shall be Burmese, provided that the use of the English language may be permitted.

217. Two copies of the Constitution shall be made, one in the Burmese language and the other in the English language, both copies to be signed by the President of the Constituent Assembly and enrolled for record in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court. Such copies shall be conclusive evidence of the provisions of this Constitution.

218. No certificate, licence or other form of authorization for the operation of any public utility service shall be granted by the Union or by a State except to –
(i) organizations controlled by the Union or by a State or by local authorities, or
(ii) citizens of the Union, or
(iii) companies or other associations organized under the laws in force in the Union, not less than sixty per cent of whose capital is owned by the Union or by any State or by any local authority or by citizens of the Union;
nor shall such certificate, licence or authorization be granted by the Union or by a State to any individual, firm or company for a longer period than twenty-five years and except under the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alternation or repeal by law when the public interest so requires.

219. All timber and mineral lands, forests, water, fisheries, minerals, coal, petroleum and other mineral oils, all sources of potential energy and other natural resources shall be exploited and developed by the Union; provided that subject to such specific exceptions as may be authorized by an Act of Parliament in the interest of the Union, the Union may grant the right of exploration, development or utilization of the same to the citizens of the Union or to companies or associations at least sixty per cent of the capital of which is owned by such citizens:
Provided further that no such right shall be granted by the Union except under the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alternation or repeal by the Parliament when the public interest so requires.
No certificate, licence, or other form of authorization for the exploitation, development or utilization of any of the aforesaid natural resources of the Union shall be granted in future for a period exceeding twenty-five years.

220. Subject to such specific exceptions as may be authorized by an Act of Parliament in the interest of the Union, the Union shall not grant any agricultural land for the exploitation, development or utilization to any persons other than the citizens of the Union.

221. The Parliament shall, be law, set up a Public Service Commission to assist the Union Government in matters relating to recruitment to the civil services of the Union, and to advise in disciplinary matters affecting the services. The composition, powers and functions of the Commission and the terms of service of its members shall be defined by an Act of the Parliament. 5

INTERPRETATION

222. (1) In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them that is to say, -
“Burma” has the same meaning as in the Government of Burma Act, 1935;
“Existing law” means any law, Ordinance, Order, bye-law, rule or regulation passed or made before the commencement of this Constitution by any legislature, authority or person in any territories included within the Union of Burma being a legislature, authority or person having power to make such law, Ordinance, Order, bye-law, rule or regulation;
“Saohpa” or “Sawphya” means, in the event of any dispute, the person recognized as such by the President in accordance with the rules of succession applicable;
“Unit” means –
(a) any State forming a constituent unit of the Union of Burma;
(b) all the territories of the Union of Burma not forming part of any State.
(2) In Chapter VI, VII, X, XI and XIII and in Third and Fourth Schedules, the term “State” means, save where a contrary intention appears, the Shan State, the Kachin State, the Karenni State or any new State that may be constituted under Part VI of Chapter IX.
(3) Save where a contrary intention appears, the provisions of the Burma General Clauses Act shall extend to the interpretation and application of this Constitution. 5

CHAPTER XIV

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

223. All rights, authority, jurisdiction and prerogative heretofore belonging to His Britannic Majesty which appertain or are incidental to the government of the territories in Burma for the time being vested in him by virtue of the Government of Burma Act, 1935, or otherwise, and all rights, authority, jurisdiction and prerogative exercisable by him by treaty, grant, usage, sufferance or otherwise in, or in relation to, any other territories in Burma, are hereby declared to belong to the Union:
Provided that any prerogative which subsisted in His Britannic Majesty and was exercisable by him in or in respect of British Burma immediately before the commencement of this Constitution shall cease to be exercisable as such by any authority in the Union.

224. All rights and assets which immediately before the commencement of this Constitution were vested in His Britannic Majesty or any other authority for the purposes of the government of Burma and the Karenni States shall, as from the commencement of this Constitution, be vested in the Union Government.
In particular, all forests and all mineral and other wealth underground, the waters including mineral and medicinal waters, the sources of natural power, the rail transport, posts, telecommunications and broadcasting shall be from the commencement of this Constitution the property of the Union.

225. (1) Any proceedings relating to contracts or liabilities which, if this Constitution had not come into operation, might have been brought against the Government of Burma, may be brought against the Union Government.
(2) The Union of Burma may sue and be sued by the name of the Union of Burma.
(3) If at the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution any legal proceedings are pending to which the Government of Burma is a party, the Union Government shall be deemed to be substituted in those proceedings for the Government of Burma.

226. (1) Subject to this Constitution and to the extent to which they are not inconsistent therewith, the existing laws shall continue to be in force until the same or any of them shall have been repealed or amended by a competent legislature or other competent authority.
(2) The President of the Union may, by Order provide that as from such date as may be specified in the order any existing law shall, until repealed or amended by the Parliament or other competent authority, have effect subject to such adaptations and modifications as appear to him to be necessary or expedient with due regard to the provisions of this Constitution.

227. The Union shall honour all legitimate obligations arising out of any treaties or agreements which immediately before the commencement of this Constitution were in force between the Government of Burma, or His Britannic Majesty or His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom acting on behalf of the Government of Burma, and the Head of Government of any other State, provided that such other State honours any reciprocal obligations towards the Union.

228. All Courts existing at the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution shall continue to exercise their jurisdiction until new Courts are established by law in accordance with this Constitution. All cases, civil, criminal and revenue, pending in the said Courts, shall be disposed of as if this Constitution had not come into operation.

229. All persons who were in the service of the Government of Burma immediately before the coming into operation of this Constitution shall continue in service until the Union Government provide otherwise.

230. For the purpose of removing any unforeseen difficulties, particularly in relation to the transition from the provisions of the Government of Burma Act, 1935, to the provisions of this Constitution, the President of the Union may by Order direct that this Constitution shall during such period as may be specified in the Order have effect subject to such amendments, whether by way of variation, addition or repeal, as he may deem to be necessary or expedient. No such Order shall be made under this section after the first meeting of the Union Parliament duly constituted under Chapter VI; and so such Order shall be made unless it is approved by a resolution passed by this Constituent Assembly exercising the powers of both Chambers of Parliament under the provisions of the next succeeding section.

231. (1) Until the first meeting of the Union Parliament duly constituted under Chapter VI, this Constituent Assembly shall itself exercise all the powers, discharge all the duties and enjoy all the privileges of both Chambers of Parliament.
(2) Such person as the Constituent Assembly shall have elected in this behalf shall be the Provisional President of the Union until a President has been duly elected under Chapter V and shall exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties conferred or imposed upon the President by this Constitution.
A period of service as Provisional President shall not count as a term of service for the purposes of sub-section (2) of section 48.
(3) Such persons as shall have been elected in this behalf by the Constituent Assembly shall be the Prime Minister and other members of the Provisional Union Government, until the President duly elected under Chapter V has appointed other persons in accordance with the provisions of section 56.

232. (1) Until the first meeting of the Union Parliament duly constituted under Chapter VI
(a) all the members of the Constituent Assembly representing the Federated Shan States shall constitute the Provisional Shan State Council;
(b) all the members of the Constituent Assembly representing the Myitkyina and Bhamo Districts shall constitute the Provisional Kachin State Council;
(c) all the members of the Constituent Assembly representing the Karens shall constitute the Provisional Karen Affairs Council;
(d) all the members of the Constituent Assembly representing the Karenni State and such other persons from the Karenni State and such other persons from the Karenni State not exceeding two as may be nominated by the Provisional President shall constitute the Provisional Karenni State Council; and
(e) all the members of the Constituent Assembly representing the Chin Hills District and the Arakan Hill Tracts shall constitute the Provisional Chin Affairs Council.
(2) Each of the aforesaid Provisional Councils shall exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties of the corresponding Council constituted under Chapter IX.

233. The first general elections under this Constitution shall be held within eighteen months from the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution.

234. This Constitution shall come into operation on such date as the Provisional President may announce by proclamation not being later than the eighth day of Kason waxing, 1310 B.E. (fifteenth day of April, 1948 A.D.) 5

FIRST SCHEDULE

FORM OF OATH OR AFFIRMATION

(See Section 72.)

I ..................... having been chosen a member of the Chamber of Deputies/Nationalities do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will maintain the Constitution of the Union and uphold its laws, and that I will faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter. 5

SECOND SCHEDULE

COMPOSITION OF THE CHAMBER OF NATIONALITIES

(See section 87)

Of the 125 seats in the Chamber of Nationalities –

(a) twenty-five seats shall be filled by representatives from the Shan State;

(b) twelve seats shall be filled by representatives from the Kachin State;

(c) eight seats shall be filled by representatives from the Special Division of the Chins;

(d) three seats shall be filled by representatives from the Karenni State;

(e) twenty-four seats shall be filled by representatives of Karens;

(f) fifty-three seats shall be filled by representatives form the remaining territories of the Union of Burma. 5

THIRD SCHEDULE

LIST I. UNION LEGISLATIVE LIST

(See Section 92 [1])

1. Defence: that is to say, the defence of the Union and of every part thereof, including generally all preparations for defence as well as all such acts in times of war as may be conducive to its successful prosecution and to effective demobilisation after its termination, and in particular –

(1) The raising, training, maintenance and control of Naval, Military and Air Force and employment thereof for the defence of the Union and the execution of the laws of the Union and the States.
(2) Defence Industries.
(3) Naval, Military and Air Forces Works.
(4) Local self-government in cantonment areas, the constitution and powers within such areas of cantonment authorities, the regulation of house accommodation in such areas and the delimitation of such areas.
(5) Arms, fire-arms, ammunition and explosives.
(6) Atomic energy, and mineral resources essential to its production.
(7) Conduct of War.

2. External Affairs: (1) Diplomatic, consular and trade representation.
(2) United Nations Organization.
(3) Participation in international conferences, associations and other bodies and implementing of decisions made threat.
(4) The declaration of war and conclusion of peace.
(5) The entering into and implementing of treaties and agreement with other countries.
(6) Regulation of trade and commerce with foreign countries.
(7) Foreign Loans.
(8) Citizens; aliens; acquisition and termination of citizenship.
(9) Extradition.
(10) Passports and visas.
(11) Foreign jurisdiction.
(12) Admiralty jurisdiction.
(13) Piracies, offices committed on the high seas and offences committed in the air against the law of nations.
(14) Admission into, and emigration and expulsion from, the Union.
(15) Fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters.
(16) Important and export across customs frontiers as defined by the Union Government.

3. Communications: (1) Port and inter-unit quarantine; seamen’s and marine hospital and hospital connected with port quarantine.
(2) Airways.
(3) Highways and waterways declared by the Union to be Union highways and waterways.
(4) Shipping and navigation as regards mechanically propelled vessels on inland waterways declared by the Union to be Union waterways; the rule of the road on such waterways; carriage of passengers and goods on such waterways.
(5) Railways.
(6) Maritime shipping and navigation, including shipping land navigation on tidal waters.
(7) Major ports, that is to say, the declaration and delimitation of such ports, and the constitution and powers of port authorities therein.
(8) Aircraft and air navigation; the provision of aerodromes; regulation and organization of air traffic and of aerodromes.
(9) Carriage of passengers and goods by sea or by air.
(10) Lighthouse, including lightships, beacons and other provisions for the safety of shipping and aircraft.
(11) Posts and telegraphs, telephones, wireless, broadcasting and other like forms of communication.

4. Finance: (1) The borrowing of money on the credit of the Union.
(2) Duties of customs including export duties.
(3) Duties of excise excluding those enumerated in the State Legislative List but including taxes on the production, consumption and sale of electricity.
(4) Taxes on the sale of goods.
(5) Taxes on companies.
(6) Taxes on income.
(7) Taxes on the capital value of the assets of individuals and companies.
(8) Taxes on the capital of companies.
(9) Estate duty and duties in respect of succession to property.
(10) Excess Profits Tax.
(11) Savings Bank.
(12) Stamp duty in respect of bills of exchange, cheques, promissory notes and other documents.
(13) Terminal taxes on goods or passengers carried by railway, sea or air.
(14) Taxes on railway fares and freights.
(15) Fees in respect of any of the matters in this list but not including fees taken in any Court subordinate to the High Court.

5. General: (1) The Reserve Bank; banking including incorporation of banks, and the issue of paper money.
(2) Currency, coinage and legal tender.
(3) Enquiries, surveys and statistics for the purpose of the Union.
(4) Acquisition of property for the purposes of the Union.
(5) Any Museum, Library or other institutions declared by Union law to be of national importance.
(6) Union agencies and institutes for the following purposes, that is to say, for research, for professional or technical training, or for the promotion of special studies.
(7) Census.
(8) Union Services.
(9) Elections to the Union Parliament subject to the provisions of the Constitution.
(10) Emoluments and allowances of the President, the salaries and allowances of the Prime Minister and other members of the Union Government, the salaries of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities; the salaries of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies; the salaries, allowances and privileges of members of the Union Parliament.
(11) Public debt of the Union.
(12) Criminal Law and Procedure.
(13) Civil Law and Procedure including in particular the laws relating to – infants and minors; adoption; transfer of property; trusts and trustees; contracts; arbitration; insolvency; actionable wrongs; lunacy.
(14) Law of Evidence.
(15) Legal, medical and other professions.
(16) Newspapers, books and printing presses.
(17) Poisons and dangerous drugs.
(18) Mechanically propelled vehicles.
(19) Factories.
(20) Welfare of labour; conditions of labour; employers’ liability and workmen’s compensation; health insurance; old age pensions.
(21) Unemployment insurance.
(22) Trade Unions; industrial and labour disputes.
(23) Electricity.
(24) Insurance.
(25) Company Law.
(26) Cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes and other like instruments.
(27) Copyright; inventions; patents; trade marks and merchandise marks; trade designs.
(28) Planning.
(29) Regulation of land tenures, including the relation of landlord and tenant and the collection of rents; transfer, alienation and devolution of land.
(30) Ancient and historical monuments; archeological sites and remains.
(31) Standard weight and measures.
(32) Opium, except as to excise duties thereon.
(33) Petroleum and other liquids and substances declared by Union law to be dangerously inflammable.
(34) Development of industries, where development under Union control is declared by Union law to be expedient in the public interests.
(35) Co-operative societies.
(36) Regulation of forests, mines and oil-fields (including labour and safety in mines and oil-fields) and mineral development.
(37) Migration within the Union.
(38) Jurisdiction and powers of all courts with respect to any of the matters enumerated in this list.
(39) Offences against laws with respect to any of the matters in this list.
(40) Any other matter not enumerated in List II. 5

LIST II

STATE LEGISLATIVE LIST

[See Section 92 (2)]

1. Constitutional Affairs: (1) The constitution of the State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution.
(2) State Public Services and State Public Service Commission.
(3) State pensions, that is to say, pensions payable by the State or out of the State Revenues.
(4) The salaries of the State Ministers, and of the Chairman of the State Council; salaries, allowances and privileges of the members of the State Council.

2. Economic Affairs: (1) Agriculture; cattle pounds and the prevention of cattle trespass.
(2) Fisheries within the State.
(3) Land; Land revenue; land improvement and agricultural loans; colonization; encumbered and attached estates; treasure trove.
(4) Works, lands and building vested in or in the possession of the State.
(5) Markets and fairs.
(6) Water, that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage, but excluding inter-unit rivers and water-courses.
(7) Capitation and Thathameda taxes.
(8) Duties of excise on the following goods manufactured or produced in the State and countervailing duties at the same or lower rates on similar goods manufactured or produced elsewhere in the Union: -
(i) Opium.
(ii) Indian hemp and other narcotics; non-narcotics drugs.
(iii) Medicinal and toilet preparations containing alcohol or any substance included in item (ii) or (iii) above.
(iv) Alcoholic liquors for human consumption.
(9) Taxes on trades and employments.
(10) Taxes on animals and boats.
(11) Taxes on entertainments, amusements, betting and gambling.
(12) Tolls.

3. Security: (1)Public order (but not including the use of naval, military or air forces of the Union).
(2) Police including Village Police.
(3) The administration of justice; constitution and organization of all Courts subordinate to the High Court, and fees taken therein; preventive detention for reasons connected with the maintenance of public order; persons subject to such detention.
(4) Jurisdiction and powers of all Courts subordinate to the High Court, with respect to any of the matters enumerated in this list.
(5) Prisons; persons detained therein; arrangements with other units for the use of prisons and other institutions.
(6) Offences against laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in this list.

4. Communications: (1) Roads, bridges, ferries and other means of communication other than such as extend beyond the borders of the State.
(2) Municipal tramways; rope-ways.
(3) Inland waterways and traffic thereon.
(4) Local works and undertakings within the State other than railways, subject to the power of the Union Parliament to declare any work a national work and to provide for its construction by arrangement with the State Council or otherwise.

5. Education: (1) Education excluding, for a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution and thereafter until the Union Parliament otherwise provides, University, higher technical and professional education.
(2) All educational institutions controlled or financed by the State.
(3) Libraries, museums and other similar institutions controlled or financed by the State.
(4) Theaters, dramatic performances and cinemas, but not including the sanction of cinematographic films for exhibition.

6. Public Health: (1) Public Health and sanitation.
(2) The establishment, maintenance and management of hospitals, asylums and dispensaries.
(3) Registration of births, deaths and marriages.
(4) Burials and burial grounds.

7. Local Government: (1) Municipalities and other local authorities for the purpose of local self-government or village administration.
(2) Charities and charitable institutions.

8. General: (1) Relief of the poor.
(2) Enquiries and statistics for the purpose of any of the matters enumerated in this list.
(3) Generally all matters which in the opinion of the President are of a merely local or private nature in the State. 5

FOURTH SCHEDULE

STATE REVENUE LIST

[See Section 96]

1. Land Revenue: (i) Land revenue proper.
(ii) Rents and fees of fisheries.
(iii) Royalty on petroleum.
(iv) Royalty on minerals and taxes on mineral rights.
(v) Royalty on rubber.
(vi) Capitation and Thathameda taxes.

2. Duties of Excise on the following goods manufactured or produced in the State and countervailing duties at the same or lower rates on similar goods manufactured or produced elsewhere in the Union: (i)
Alcoholic liquors for human consumption
(ii) Opium.
(iii) Indian hemp and other narcotics; non-narcotic drugs.
(iv) Medicinal and toilet preparations containing alcohol or any substance included in item (ii) or (iii) above.

3. Fees taken in Courts subordinate to the High Court.

4. Forests.

5. Registration.

6. Taxes on trades and employments.

7. Taxes on animals and boats.

8. Taxes on entertainments, amusements, betting and gambling.

9. Taxes under the State Motor Vehicles Taxation Acts.

10. Irrigation dues.

11. Interests on advances made from the State revenues and on State investment.

12. Contributions from component parts to the State.

13. Contributions from the Union.

14. All fees, fines, sale proceeds and rents of property belonging to the State, recoveries of over-payments and payments for services rendered in connection with any or all matters enumerated above and also in connection with the following: -
(a) Administration of justice.
(b) Jails and convict settlements.
(c) Police.
(d) Education.
(e) Medical.
(f) Public health.
(g) Agriculture.
(h) Veterinary.
(i) Co-operative societies.
(j) Registration of births, deaths and marriages.
(k) Civil works.
(l) Receipts in aid of superannuation of State employees.
(m) Stationery and printing.
(n) Unclaimed deposits.
(o) Treasure trove.
(p) Tolls.
(q) Extraordinary receipts. 5

Attachment	အရွယ်အစား
1947 Constitution in Burmese.PDF	297.68 ကီလိုဘိုက်

The Story of the Constitution

Part. I. THE STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION

I. ANNEXATION AND BRITISH RULE
I. Death of a Dynasty
2. Pacification 3
3. Education and Ideas 7
4. YMBA enters Politics 10
5. The GCBA 15
6. Dyarchy 17
7. The ‘Saya San, Rebellion 21
8. Separation from India 26
9. The Government of Burma Act 30
10. Young Heralds of a New Age 34
II. The ‘Year of Revolution’ 38
12. The Coming of War 42

II. WAR AND JAPANESE OCCUPATION
1. Burma independence Army 48
2. Military Administration 54
3. Independence 58
4. Resistance 62

Ill. LIBERATION AND FULFILMENT
t. Return to Rangoon 68
2. Aung San and the AFPFL 73
3. The Rise of Hope 78
4. Drafting the Constitution 79
5. Fulfilment

Part. II. THE CONSTITUTION AT WORK
I. FORM OF STATE
The Choice of Democracy 91
II. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
1. Citizenship 94
2. Equality and Freedom 97
3. Religious Freedom 98
4. Economic Rights 99
5. Constitutional Remedies 100

III. PEASANTS AND WORKERS
x. Land Nationalization 107
2. Workers

IV. DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY
1. ‘Pyidawtha’ 111
2. Economic Planning 113
3. Science and Culture 114

V. THE PRESIDENT
1. The First Citizen 116
2. Powers and Privileges 118

VI. PARLIAMENT
r. The Popular Will 122
2. Law-making 124
3. Powers and Privileges

VII. THE UNION GOVERNMENT
1. Political Parties 129
2. Legal Structure 134
3. The Attorney-General 135
4. The Auditor-General 137
5. The Services 137
6. The Defence Services 142

VIII. THE UNION JUDICIARY
1. Independence of the Judiciary 148
2. Organization and Functions 157

IX. THE STATES
1. The Choice of Federation 169
2. The Shan State 176
3. The Kachin State 179
4. The Karen State 181
~. The Kayah State 187
6. The Chin Special Division 188
7. New States 190
8. Secession 193

X. AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION 195
XI. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. The Ideal 197
2. The Law 197
3. The Practice 199
IX

XII. GENERAL PROVISION S
1. The National Flag 206
2. Official Language 206
3. Foreign Capital 208
4. The Public Service Commission 209
5. Interpretation 209

XIII. TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
x. State Succession 211
2. Provisional Matters 212

EPILOGUE 214

POSTSCRIPT 217

Appendices 219
I. Opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown on Annexation of Burma 221
II. The constitution of Burma under Japanese occupation 223
III. The Panglong Agreement. 1947 229
IV. Draft constitution approved by the AFPFL convention, May,1947 231
V. Members of the constitution drafting committees, and staff, Constituent Assembly 251
VI. Prime Minister U Nu’s motion in the Constituent Assembly to 254
adopt the constitution September 24, 1947
VII. The Constitution of the Union of Burma, with amendments 258
VIII. The Constitution Amendment Act, 1951 309
IX. Chronology of Events 312

Index 318

PART ONE

THE STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER I

ANNEXATION AND BRITISH RULE

I. DEATH OF A DYNASTY

Rivalry with the French and fear of the expanding power of America in China drove the British to annex the remaining territories of the Kingdom of Burma in November 1885. The immediate causes were the needed excuses. The real reason was that the businessmen in London and the commercial and industrial centres of Britain and in Rangoon were lured by the faraway and fabled treasures of China which they thought they would reach by overland routes through Burma. If the French established their influence on the Burmese court at Mandalay and ousted the British, then the treasures would be wrested beyond British reach forever. Or the Americans, fast-goers, might get there first. Thus compelled, the British armies marched into Mandalay and King Thibaw and his Queens were taken into exile in India and Burma became en­tirely British. The British had made their declarations of lofty motives to save the Burmese from their despotic King and give the people a good government, but they did not find their reception by the people in Mandalay enthusiastic.
There was not much organized military opposition, true enough, but the Burmese armies did not surrender: they melted away or scattered in small defiant groups which roamed the country and fought as guerrilla bands. When the news broke in the city that Thibaw and his entourage (N.1) were to be carted away like common criminals to the waiting ship, Thooriah (‘The Sun’), and then exiled to alien lands, people lined the streets and wept. The Sawbwa of Yawnghwe with five hundred men, all armed with words, gathered in the Mahamyatmuni Pagoda to lay an ambush and rescue the royal captives. (N.2) But the British got wind of this and took a different route to the ship, and on that day of doom, December 3, 1885, King Thibaw, deprived of throne, was taken away from his people and his land. In Rangoon he and his family and en­tourage were transferred to H.M.S. Canning which sailed for Madras on December 15. Thus the Burmese dynasty that Alaungpaya built gave an agonised gasp and died.
For the first few months after taking Mandalay, the British toyed with several alternatives for the future administration of upper Burma. There was an idea of continuing the Kingdom under an amenable prince, but the British could not find a prince who would have the stature to command the confi­dence of the people and yet be weak enough to play to British tunes. Another alternative was to rule through the Hluttczw, which was the Privy Council to the King as well as the Supreme Court. But the Hluttaw, after Thibaw’s departure. was neither co-operative nor effective. Under Thibaw there were three senior Ministers on that Council, six A twin Wuns — Secretaries or junior Ministers — and sixteen Wundauks or officials. The Kinwunmingyi U Gaung, who had led missions to Europe, was the Prime Minister. His knowledge of the world and his own wisdom had convinced him that fighting the British would be futile. But the Queen Supayalat and the Taingda Mingyi were for war. ‘Popo (grandfather),’ she was reported to have rebuked the Kinwun­mingyi on the eve of the war, ‘you may wear a hiamein (woman’s skirt) and take a kyaukp yin (a circular piece of stone on which Burmese ladies make their cosmetic called thanaka).’ The other Minister was the Taungdwin Mingyi who was in charge of finance. After the collapse of the Kingdom, the Hluttaw also collapsed.(N.3)
The British, in considering the alternatives for the future of upper Burma, had one problem: the treaties which King Thibaw had contracted with France and some European powers. Those with France were substantial; the others expressed sentiments of friendship only. The question was what effect the annexation would have on the treaties and what should be done with the administration of upper Burma to avoid complications. The Law Officers of the Crown in London were asked to advise, and in an opinion dated December x8, 1885. (N.4) they reported that the annexation had given the Crown the right to extinguish the independent existence of the State of Upper Burma; that if the Crown thought fit to exercise the right, all treaties which King Thibaw or his predecessors might have made with foreign powers would cease to exist; that Her Majesty’s Government should inform the foreign powers concerned that the treaties had ceased to exist; that the ter­ritories acquired by annexation could be administered during the pleasure of Her Majesty by officers under her immediate orders, and if the Viceroy of India was to perform this duty he should be furnished with special authori­ty and instructions in that behalf; that a special notification should be pub­lished by Her Majesty’s Government that Upper Burma had now, by conquest, become part of Her Majesty’s dominions, in order to prevent foreign powers from contending that the annexation was a mere military occupation and
not a conquest, and that the sovereignty of King Thibaw was suspended rather than extinguished and treaties likewise.
The conquest was accordingly proclaimed by Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy of India on January 1, 1886:
‘By Command of the Queen-Emperor, it is hereby notified that the ter­ritories governed by King Thibaw will no longer be under his rule, but have become part of Her Majesty’s Dominions, and will during Her Majesty’s pleasure be administered by such officers as the Viceroy and Governor-General of India may from time to time appoint.’
Thus all Burma came under British rule and, for convenience of adminis­tration, was made an appendage to India. Half a century was to pass before the British rulers discovered that ‘Burma was not India’ and that perhaps she should have her own separate identity.

2. PACIFICATION
Most of Lower Burma had fallen under the British in the two Anglo-Burmese Wars fought in 1824 and 1852. The administration of the annexed territories was placed at first under the Commissioners for Pegu, Arakan, and Tenas­serim, who were responsible, separately, to the Governor-General in India. The laws were made in India and applied in British Burma with suitable adaptations. The genius of district officers who kept the peace, collected revenue, and administered justice as well, often made the application of the laws into adventures in adaptation and improvisation. The personal laws of the people were preserved and used in questions of succession,(N.5) inheritance, marriage or caste, or any religious usage or institution.’ To ascertain what the laws were on a certain question was the problem, for there were no codes and the ancient customs and usages were to be found in legal treatises and chronicles which differed much on essential points, or in the memories of learned men which could be neither fully accurate nor ever indelible.
In 1862, a Chief Commissioner was appointed for British Burma under whose charge the Commissioners’ divisions were consolidated. After the proclamation of January 1, 1886, Upper Burma together with the Shari states, was incorporated in British Burma. Four Commissioners’ divisions were made out of Upper Burma, with seventeen administrative districts in all. Lower Burma too was reorganized into four divisions and twenty districts. Each district was placed under an Assistant Commissioner, later called Deputy Commissioner; the Divisions were under the charge of Commissioners. With the addition in the district set-up of the police and a few basic require­ments of government, the administrative pattern was complete.The hier­archy quickly took shape and life: in the village, the headman; in the town­ship, the township officer or Myo-ok; a few townships form a subdivision under a subdivisional officer; then the district, the division, and the centre of gravity of government in British Burma which was the Chief Commissioner and his Secretariat in Rangoon. The British officers formed a cadre known as the ‘Burma Commission’ which drew two-thirds of its recruits from the Indian Civil Service, and the remaining one-third from nominees from other services such as the Army, Police, or non-officials. The Burma Commission functioned till 1922 when the whole cadre was reserved for the Indian Civil Service. (N.6) Except for the substitution of Burmans for British officials, the administrative pattern — even the territorial division into districts and divisions — has remained practically unaltered till the present time. Accusations have been made, most persistently immediately after Burma’s attainment of inde­pendence, that the government machinery is bureaucratic, and the entire system is ‘colonial’, but no constructive and far-reaching reforms have yet been introduced.
The British brought law and order and the liberal ideas which were then stirring in Europe. Government was certain and centralized. ‘The British are earnest and truthful; their ‘yes’ is a ‘yes’ and their ‘no’ a ‘no.’ In this respect, the British Government presents a wide contrast to the late Government of Thibaw. An old Burmese lady tells us that when he was on the throne, there was a regular confusion of authority. In the first instance the Hluttaw would pass a certain decree. On appeal through the Taingda or Yanaung, this decree would be upset by the King, but only to be upheld by the Chief Queen. But now, she adds, people can rely on the word of their new Government.’ Thus did an official observe in Mandalay soon after the annexation.(N.7)
The British officials made diligent research into the customary laws of the peoples and their ways of life: the Notes on Burmese Buddhist Law, prepared and published in 1882 by Sir John Jardine, the Judicial Commissioner of British Burma; the translation of the Laws of Menoo made by Dr. D. Richardson, Principal Assistant to the Commissioner of Tenasserim, and published in 1896; a study on the Sources and Development of Burmese Buddhist Law, by Dr. F. Forchhammer. which won the Jardine prize in 1885; and the Digest of Burmese Buddhist Law prepared by Kinwunmingyi U Gaung at the instance of Sir G. D. Burgess, the Judicial Commissioner for Upper Burma, and published in two volumes in 1908, are some of the important results.
The officials also kept their diaries and wrote their reports and Gazetteers which are today valuable mines of information on practically all aspects of life in the different parts of Burma of those times. Some British officials saw things in a rosy hue: thus Fielding-Hall’s books,(N.8) for example, describing the Burman at home, and Buddhism, were tender and loving and a little romantic. Coming in the next few decades were men of the Indian Civil Serv­ice, like Maurice Collis who served and observed and wrote his stories of Burma with an understanding that won Burmese hearts.(N.9) Like Bernard Winthorp Swinthinbank, a great democrat who was fond of the Burmese and worked among and mixed with them naturally — and is still remembered, fondly as ‘Uncle’ by Burmese intellectuals who, as young men, were inspired by him — ‘highly sympathetic to Burmese aspirations for a national govern­ment,’ while at the same time being a ‘loyal, obedient and extremely capable servant of the government which held the people in political subjection.’(N.10) Or J. S. Furnivall who, as a retired I. C. S. official, helped to start the Burma Book Club, the Burma Research Society and the World of Books magazine, and helped young Burmans to learn and think and express themselves; Furnivall came back to Rangoon after the Second World War from Cam­bridge, and has since been adviser and guide to the young men he had trained who now lead the country. Or the poet Gordon Luce, professor, lover of art, and inspirer of young Burmese artists.’(N.11)
The British bureaucracy was not, therefore, completely devoid of human warmth. Many of the officials gave more to the country than their official duties demanded; they were perhaps romantics or eccentrics, but they were not a \vhittle less British for loving Burma, for they did not forsake Britain for Burma, never went native, but shared with the Burmese the joys and benefits of the wisdom and art and new thinking of old Britain.
There were, of course, the bureaucrats who stood majestically aloof from the people they ruled; the men of the business houses who were still the power behind the bureaucrats, and whose main concern was to have a peaceful country in which they could do their business and reap the profits. But even that bureaucracy which was so aloof from the people and so impersonal in its rule, had, inherent in itself, the seeds of Burma’s freedom. There was the guilt complex that always lurked in the mind of the British official. He had been taught the minimum standards of social behaviour as a boy in his Sunday School; he must not steal, he must not rob, he must not tell lies; and his being a ruler in Burma which only recently had belonged to the Burmese, did not quite satisfy the social standards that had become part of his being. The justice and the rule of law that he helped to establish in Burma were not, therefore, mere systems and methods, but a tradition built with the dedica­tion of atonement.
The rule of law and liberalism had become habits with the British by the time they came to rule Burma. Thus while for the first five years after annexation military force was used liberally to stamp out nationalist re­sistance and lawlessness, the policy was from the start to establish a liberal government and conditions in which trade could flourish. Military operations were expensive, so were unsettled conditions in which trade withered. And the British Government at home, and in India, were financed by businessmen who had a sharp sense of profit and loss. Thus, the British military expeditions, while displaying force to suppress and strike fear on the one hand, always tried to persuade and win cooperation on the other.
There still lives an old chief named Khup Lian in Lopei village in the Northern Chin Hills’ Siyin Valley, so old that he does not remember any­more how old he is, but whose memory is fresh and clear of the resistance that the Chins offered to the British after annexation.(N.12) He was a very young man then, and he took part in fighting the British who came up in their hordes, led by an able soldier, General, later Field-Marshal, Sir George White. He took part in a guerrilla raid on a British fortress and captured a rifle — and that exploit is written up in a memorial stone which stands on the road which enters his village: for in the Chin Hills these stones are raised to those who still live, or those who are gone, provided someone pays for the stone and the feast which must go with the ceremony of raising it. The old chief still re­members how the British, coming up stockade after stubbornly held stockade, at last broke the resistance. The chief and some young hot-bloods were rounded up and taken down to Kalemyo in the Chindwin valley where demonstrations were given for their benefit of the might of British arms —cannon and rifles which could blast targets at great distances, terrible weapons in those days. Then they were taken to Rangoon where they were shown round the city to see the power of the British and the benefits it brought; then they were loaded with gifts, such as cooking utensils and clothing, and sent borne to tell their stories and spread the unspoken message.
Elsewhere in Upper Burma too persuasion and military force went hand in hand to woo and win peace. The villagers at last gave in, for in the final analysis the change meant only that there were new masters in the land instead of King Thibaw and his Queens and their Ministers and Court hangers-on, and the noticeable difference was that the new masters had fair skin and blue eyes. The sons and grandsons of the King and the royal relatives were soon forgotten, though they continued to keep up their old dignities on miserable pensions granted by the British, or no pensions and no visible incomes, unbending relics of an age that was passed. Many who served the King and the Court lost their employment, but they were only a handful compared with the common people who could carry on as before. The people always classified the King and Government among the ‘five enemies’(N.13) and prayed that the enemy would stay away. If the King or his officers came to conscript men for the levies, the men in the villages hid themselves or offered bribes. Similarly when the officers came to collect taxes. Government was a fearful and evil thing to be shunned, to hide from if possible, to fall down on one’s knees and shikoe (N.14) if confronted unavoidably with, and to discreetly offer bribes to. With that basic philosophy it did not really matter much to the villagers that Thibaw had departed from the scene and the British come. They found that the British did not kill and plunder at random, and they liked the skikoe as much as the King and his official did. Life, therefore, went on as usual and the villagers skikoed authority as usual.

3. EDUCATION AND IDEAS

The government was certain, the rule of law gave the people a new confidence, and peace and the opening up of communications and trade provided a good living for all. It was modern education and the ideas it gave which set the minds moving again.(N.15)
At the start the educated and thinking Burmans, looking for outlet, organ­ized Buddhist associations. Thus there was the Buddha Sasana Noggaha association organized in Mandalay in 1897 to preserve and promote Buddhism which, people feared, might fade under foreign rule. The association later started a modern high school which turned out many nationalist leaders and professionel men. A similar organization, the Asoka Society, was started in 1902 in Bassein, deriving its name from the Bikkhu Asoka, a European who had been converted to Buddhism.
Then came the Young Men’s Buddhist Association in Rangoon in 1906. The beginnings were modest, and the model was the Young Men’s Christian Association, the aims being to promote Buddhism and education, to preserve Burmese culture, and to render social service. Leadership came from the Rangoon College, which was started in 1885 as an affiliated College of the Calcutta University and later went, from 1904 to 1920, by the name of Government College. U Maung Gyee, U Ba Pe, U Ba Yin, U Sein Hla Aung, and a few other of their contemporaries were the organizers of the YMBA (N.16) Public support was lacking, and the Association had, at first, no proper address, meetings having to be held at the homes of members by turns.
The College, a small affair in itself, was a breeding ground of ideas. Four years of work went into a degree course. The compulsory subjects were English. Science and Mathematics; choice in optional subjects was severely limited to History and Pali. There was the Principal, Mr. E. D. Marshall, and a Lecturer in each subject and a few Burmese as Assistant Lecturers. The Mathematics Lecturer was Mr. Arthur Eggar who later went back to London to get called to the Bar, and returned to Rangoon to practise law and become the first Advocate-General.(N.17) It was a small staff and a small group of students— about 20 in each class — 8o or zoo in all. Every year four or five students won their degrees and would seek and receive appointments in the civil service, generally starting as Myo-Ok or Township officer. Those who did not receive their degrees could also expect to get reasonable jobs in the service, as police or excise inspectors, or clerks of the higher grade. Even clerks in government service occupied higher social status than teachers or businessmen, and few College students ever dreamed of going into those professions except as a last resort. Students who could afford would go to London, the centre of the universe for them, to be called to the Bar; the Inns of Court were the finishing school for those who shone, as well as those who could not pass their exami­nations in Rangoon.
The senior students of the College, embryo government officials, wore gaungbaung(N.18) and behaved as young gentlemen of standing, and they led men’s fashions of the day. They were also the leaders of thought. They debated public affairs either at the College Debating Society or in letters and articles in the press. The Rangoon Times, The Rangoon Gazette, The Burma Critic, and Fair Play (published in Moulsnein) were the better known English language newspapers. The Burma Herald, The Friend of Burma, The Hant ha­waddy (published bi-weekly), and the weekly Mahabodhi were the Burmese newspapers. The Thooriah (‘The Sun’), Burmese newspapers, came up a little later, and edited and managed by nationalist leaders like U Ba Pe, it gave vital support to the YMBA and the movement for freedom. The times were, however, tranquil. There were no great, burning issues at first. College students wanted good jobs after their graduation, and if they held debates and wrote to the press it was to spend their idle hours and train themselves in the art of self-expression. The training was, however, useful for those who landed later in politics.
The Burma Research Sociefy, founded in 1910, was another forum for the meeting of minds. Mr. J. S. Furnivall, one of the founders of the Society, remembers how, in 1908 ‘U Tun Nyein, the Government Translator, lent me a copy of the Journal of the Siam Society which gave me the idea of creating a similar society in Burma that should bring together Burmans and Europeans with a common interest in the welfare of the country.’(N.19) The Society started in a small way but attracted important scholars and thinkers who read papers at its meetings or wrote for its journal. C. 0. Blagden, Professor C. Duroiselle, R. Halliday, G. H. Luce, J. A. Stewart, and other European civil servants and professional men joined with Burman scholars and intel­lectuals, young and old, searching in the country’s history and culture, and sharing the joy 3f discovery. The Society did not indulge in politics directly, but its pursuits could not but promote a pride among Burman students and scholars in their national heritage.
The Y.M.B.A. gradually grew and sprang up in the district towns also. By 1908, U May Oung, and U Pu and their contemporaries had arrived back from London after being called to the English Bar, and they were free to give leadership to the Association. Young Barristers were gentlemen of leisure. Setting up a practice took a little time and struggle for there were European firms of lawyers in Rangoon which handled much of the important and lucrative work, and Indian firms and Indian lawyers who could overwhelm by numbers or undersell their services. However, the Bar was still an honoured and profitable profession. Even young Barristers could begin to earn a few months after they had set up chambers, and fees were paid in real gold sovereigns. The young Barristers would wear European clothes, winged collar and bowler hat and all complete, and they could be easily identified by the admiring people. They fetched good fees in the profession and good prices in the marriage market, for prospective parents-in-law, with daughter and dowry ready, were on the lookout and preferred Banisters best. Some young Banisters were thus able to make a gesture of practising while waiting for the highest bidder in matrimony, then marry money and retire to a comfortable life of leisure. Those of their brothers who were more energetic and restless, practised law and dabbled in politics, joined literary or welfare societies, published journals or wrote their essays and articles, or stood for election and served as pagoda trustees. Those were the men who served as conduit pipes for ideas to flow in from the West. Those were the men who had seen the world and mixed with the British in their homes and enjoyed the fine things of Western civilization, and been excited by the new ideas. Back in Burma they quickly attained the prestige and the comfortable life reserved for Britain-returned men, and they could afford to go round and spread the ideas.

4. YMBA ENTERS POLITICS

‘In 1897 Upper and Lower Burma were constituted as a single Lieutenant-Governorship, with a Provincial Government and a Legislative Council, which originally comprised nine nominated members (including four officials), and was gradually expanded until in 1920 it contained thirty members, two elected by the European Chamber of Commerce and the Rangoon Trades Association, and twenty-eight (including twelve officials) nominated by the Lieutenant-Governor.' (N.20)
There was, thus, no semblance, nor indeed any pretence, of representative government. The ‘Morley-Minto Reforms’ of 1909 had only enlarged the Council to fifteen of which fourteen were appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor and the solitary remaining one was elected by the Chamber of Commerce (European). Nor was there any vigorous demand for representa­tive government by the Burmese people.
The only organization of any importance which existed was the YMBA, and it was a religious and social organization, with no political ambitions at first. It held meetings and discussed public affairs, and later, when its or­ganization spread in the towns and villages, it held conferences, nearly every year, at the principal cities by turns.
There were Government officers and staff among its leaders and members, (N.21) barristers, journalists and businessmen too. Prominent among the young and active leaders were: U Ba Pe who started The Sun, Burmese language news­paper, on July 4, 1911, together with a colleague, U Hla Pe; the newspaper played its vital role in the nationalist movement, as did U Ba Pe who rose to hold, at one time or another, almost all the senior Cabinet positions except the premiership. U Maung Gyee, M.A., (populary known, later on, as ‘M. A. Maung Gyi’ to distinguish him from another political leader, J. A. Maun~ Gyee), barrister; he too rose high, and became the first Burmese Counsellor to the Governor on Defence, a knight, and, after Burma’s independence, the first Burma’s ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. J. A. Maung Gyi, bar­rister, who was later Home Member, then Judge of the High Court, then Home Member again, and later, the first Burmese to officiate as Governor in 1930.(N.22) Dr. Ba Yin who also became a Minister. U Pu, banister, who became a Minister, then Prime Minister in 1939, and after the Second World War, a Member of the Governor’s Executive Council. U Them Maung, banister, who rose in politics to be a Minister, then became the first Burmese Advocate-General in 1938, Chief Justice of the High Court, after Burma’s independence, and Chief Justice of the Union, finally, from which top judicial position he has now retired.(N.23)
Political kadership then seemed to have been the monopoly of banisters, for U Su, U Ba Si, U Sein Hla Aung, and other prominent leaders of the YMBA were also barristers. U Kin and U May Oung also, both eminent jurists who rose to the Bench of the High Court, and ended their brilliant careers in death as Member for Home Affairs. U Chit Hlaing, another bar­rister, was to become hero of the wunthanu nationalist movement, and later, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and, after the Second World War, President of the Legislative Council nominated by the Governor. He was nominated, though not successfully, for the Presidency of the new indepen­dent Union of Burma; in 1952 he was elected as a Member of Parliament, and died soon after, in harness. (N.24) U Maung Maung Ohn Ghine, an educationist, U Ba Hlaing, a social worker and a leader of labour, both living in semi­retirement today, were also among the active organizers of the YMBA.’(N.25)
The YMBA annual conferences were mild affairs. They opened with ‘God Save the King’ and closed with prayers for the glorious health and long reign of Their Majesties. A daring innovation was a slight change of the anthem to Buddha Save the King’, a change of which Their Majesties were not known to disapprove. The resolutions were couched in the form of prayers for favours, or in expression of loyalty and gratitude. The annual conference held at Henzada in 1916, for example, under the chairmanship of U May Oung, passed by acclaim a resolution moved by the chairman and seconded by another barrister, U Shwe Zan Aung, which expressed the profound satis­faction faction of the conference and deep gratitude to His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor for the opportunity so graciously granted to one hundred Burmese troops to serve on the western fronts.
The conference held at Pyinmana in 1917 had more serious resolutions to pass. One expressed disapproval of special carriages on railway trains for ‘Europeans only’ which somehow smacked, it said, of racial discrimination. Another resolution vigorously protested against Europeans entering Buddhist pagoda precincts with their shoes on. Yet another resolution urged the Government to pass laws to prevent the passing of land into the hands of foreigners. Several other resolutions were of social import, such as the one which called upon members to refrain from alcohol, the people from excessive merry-making and night-long pwe and performances, and Burmese women from marrying foreigners.
Political resolutions came up too in 1917, which was a crucial year. Presi­dent Wilson’s celebrated Fourteen Points had gained currency among the people or at least the literate and the alert, and the dream of self-determination had started to disturb and delight the sleeping minds. In London, the heart of the Empire, the Secretary of State for India had, on August 20, announced the policy of His Majesty’s Government which set responsible self-govern­ment in India as the final goal of that country.’(N.26) The statement was carefully worded. The goal was distant, no doubt, but at least it had been set. The steps towards it were to be gradual, no doubt, but they were to be preferred to no steps at all.
Thus, at Pyinmana in 1917, the YMBA began to hope and dream. One of its resolutions, moved by U Mya U, banister, and seconded by U Kyaw Yan of Mandalay, to send a delegation to India to meet Mr. Montagu, the Secretary of State, and his mission, and make Burma’s case, was passed with enthusiasm. Another resolution called on the Government to remove U Po Tha, U Ba Tu and U Nyunt, nominated members, from the Legislative Council,
and entertain only the true elected representatives of the people. The YMBA resolutions, while retaining their customary polite language, thus
began to shift in substance from supplication for favours to demand for rights. U Pe, President of the YMBA, U Ba Pe, U May Oung, and U Su went to
India in December 1917, to meet the Montagu mission. The Cooperative Societies, representing the conservative Burmese business interests, sent U Ba Tu, U Po Tha and U Thin, which trio became notorious later as the Tu­Tha-Thin rightist group, and U San Win and J. S. Pillay, banisters from’ Mandalay. Dr. San C. Po and Sydney Loo Nee went to speak for the Karen minority. The delegations interviewed the Montagu mission in Calcutta, and returned to Rangoon satisfied that Burma would not be left out of the new reforms.
When in 1919 the Government of India Act was passed incorporating the ‘Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms’, and Burma was left out, the YMBA and the people were greatly agitated. Burmese opinion was hurt that Burma should be left out and therefore by implication slighted, and the suspicion was that a lesser scheme was being prepared for her. The Lieutenant-Governor of Burma at the time, Sir Reginald Craddock, had been openly unsympathetic to the very idea of self-government’ (N.27) and the schemes which he proposed involving devolution of local government powers on circle boards and district councils and the conduct of provincial government in part by a complicated system of executive boards, provoked the people to anger and action. Only the Tu-TJza-Thin group remained calm and lent its support to the Craddock Schemes.
Sir Reginald Craddock had provoked public opinion before. In June 1917 a severe earthquake brought down the ancient Shwesnawdaw pagoda in Pegu, and Sir Reginald went to inspect the disaster. He would not take off his shoes in the pagoda and the offended trustees reported to the YMBA in Rangoon. U Them Maung, Secretary of the Association, had moved to Rangoon from Prome to establish a legal practice in the capital, and when the YMBA con­vened a mass meeting in Jubilee Hall to protest and to demand that in future Europeans who entered Buddhist pagodas and temples must take off their shoes, it fell upon him, when the older leaders shunned the honour, to preside. The meeting heard eloquent, and vehement, speeches, and firmly resolved that the shoe controversy must be resolved by the Europeans yielding, or staying out of pagodas. The occasion was one of the early ones when the people united to express their will and draw strength and confidence from their unity. The resolution was heard and heeded. Europeans began to take off their shoes when entering pagodas, or stayed away. For the people it was an intoxicating experience which proved that the popular will could win.
The YMBA sent a delegation to London in May, 1919, composed of U Ba Pe, U Pu and U Tun Sham who was headmaster of the Buddha Sasana Noggalla (B.T.N) high school in Mandalay. The delegation was charged with presenting Burma's case in Whitehall and Westminster, and to the people of England. The delegation was in London for seven months, making camp at’ Hotel Russell in Russell Square, and actively sought friends and support. The YMBA at home also tried to lend moral support to its mission, holding meetings all over the country and sending a memorial signed by 15,000 people headed by U Chit Hlaing. But His Majesty’s Government had its problems after the War, and the people and Parliament were too tired to be bothered with the cause of Burma which was so far away, almost in another world.
The delegation came home and reported to the people, and it was sent back again to London in May, 1920, with U Them Maung taking the place of U Tun Sham who had died. Once again there were interviews and lobbying in Parliament. Some sections of the British press were helpful, and friends were also found among the people and Members of Parliament. Questions on Burma were even put on the lists in the House of Commons, though they all died on the lists for lack of quorum in the House. The endeavours of the delegation were not, however, vain. The delegates met people, officials, politi­cians, journalists and others, and awakened their conscience and their interest in Burma. That was a good beginning, and a wise investment in the future.
In Rangoon, Sir Reginald Craddock, constantly under fire, was hit hardest by the cry of ‘Craddock, Go Home!’ raised by a young Buddhist monk, U Ottama. The cry burst like an explosion whose echoes went rumbling through the land. U Ottama had studied in Calcutta and participated in the move­ment of the Indian National Congress. In 1918 he had returned to Rangoon to whip up enthusiasm for the nationalist cause. He lectured, wrote for the press, in fact bombarded it, and organized. The orthodox Buddhist monks rejected him at first for a political monk was a new and undesired phenome­non. But U Ottama was undefeated. He gave his support to the YMBA, and toured the country, making fiery political speeches. The Government prosecuted him for sedition and sent him to jail several times but when he emerged he went back again to political agitation.’ (N.28) His cry, ‘Craddock, Go Home!’ was taken up by all in the country, and its boldness injected new courage into the movement. Sir Reginald Craddock was the first representa­tive of the British Crown to be called upon to pack up and go home, and he could not have found the command pleasing. His successors, however, got used to it.

5. THE GCBA

In September 1920, the YMBA, meeting in annual conference at Prome, resolved to convert itself into the ‘General Council of Burmese Associations the GCBA, which could be the alliance of all organizations, parties, and individuals in the common nationalist cause. U Chit Hlaing was elected President of the new Council and U Ba Pe as the Vice-President.’ (N.29) Enthusiasm ran high at the conference. Delegates converged on Prome from all over Burma, and special railway trains had to be run to cope with the traffic. The resolutions which were passed by the conference were mainly political. Craddock Schemes were denounced; a boycott of foreign goods by the people was called for, and they were urged to wear home-spun native clothes; the Government was asked to take back the land which had fallen into the hands of the Indian moneylenders and distribute them among the peasants.
For the next few years the wave of nationalism which was set free at Prome swept the country, growing only stronger as it rolled on. The wunthanu nationalist movement was high fashion. The women joined and the Buddhist monks. People took pride in wearing coarse, home-spun clothes, and the membership ticket of the GCBA was accepted as evidence of patriotism. Even the shops in the markets called themselves ‘Wunthanu Teashop’, Wunthanu Stores’ and soon.
U Chit Hlaing, the leader of it all, was a national hero. He still wore European clothes at times, but that was all right with the people, for he was no ordinary leader but an England-returned one. He was rich and handsome, and he did not accept office for a long time. He was a prince in politics, and people worshipped him because they needed someone to worship and being simple people they preferred that someone to be a prince. People called him the Thamada or President, or uncrowned King. A small circle of followers and hangers-on followed him everywhere, holding the golden umbrella over him at meetings and ceremonial functions to shelter him from the colonial sun. Wherever he went people welcomed him with warmth and emotion. Women would throw themselves on his path and spread their long hair to make for him a carpet of hair to tread on; but then women have been doing that through the ages in all countries for saints and returning soldiers, for politi­cians and for assorted quacks alike.
The press lent support to the GCBA movement, The Sun of course, shone bright, joined by the New Light of Burma, the Liberty, the Modern Burma, the Bandoola journal, and a few others in Burmese; the Observer, the New Burma, the Free Burma, and the Rangoon Mail in the English language. In the early wunthanu years, the press was one for the common cause, and journalists, like barristers, stood in the vanguard of the movement. The newspapers were numerous and poor, and editors had to be a little of every­thing on their papers, but they were inspired and dedicated. Only when politics became a profession with political jobs to grab and spoils to distribute did some newspapers sink to the level of personal or party organs.
An important incident which happened at the end of 1920 was the students’ strike. The Government had drafted the University Bill for the inauguration of the University of Rangoon, and the draughtsmen had modelled it on the small, select, residential university of the Oxford or Cambridge type. Students of the University considered the residential qualification restrictive and undesirable. They demanded that the University should be open to as many students as possible, and should be a ‘teaching’, and not a residential, uni­versity. Political leaders joined in the demand, and when the Government stood adamant, the students declared a strike, on December 5, and trooped out to the Shwedagon pagoda to establish their camp in the monasteries at the foot of the pagoda hill. The strike quickly spread, drawing students from the Judson Mission College and schools in Rangoon alike. In a few days it had spread to the districts. Public support for the strike was enthusiastic, and people contributed food and money to keep the students in their camps. The GCBA also gave students its blessing and soon the strike was a national movement bigger than a mere protest against the University Bill. The demands were ultimately met and students returned to their classrooms and examinations. A great national victory was thus won, and the GCBA at its ninth conference held in Mandalay in 1921 decided that the day of the strike should be observed as a National Day.’ (N.30)
The victory led some leaders of the strike to hope that ‘national’ schools and colleges could be started and education could be emancipated from the influence of British rule. A Council of National Education was formed, with U Maung Gyee as chairman, and a national college was started in the Shwegyintaik, a monastery at the foot of the Shwedagon. Intellectuals like ‘Mister Maung Hmaing’(N.31) who served the college as professor of Burmese literature and history, joined the staff. National schools also sprang up in the districts. But ‘national’ education was premature. The people were not ready to reject the British Government so drastically. It was one thing to label the education imparted at Government schools and colleges as ‘slave education’, but quite another to reject it altogether. The national schools were not well run, nor were they well off. Parents sent their boys and girls back to the Government schools to obtain the diplomas and certificates which were essential passports to good jobs in the Government service. The national college withered away, as did the national schools. The Myoma National High’ School in Rangoon carried on valiantly, though, to the credit of the British, it must be said that it was the British military authorities which granted lease of cantonment land to the school at nominal rent. The School today is proud to have raised a young man who was destined to be Prime Minister U Nu. In Mandalay, the National High School served as a breeding ground of young politicians, and the B.T.N. High School also carried on by the sheer capacity of its teachers to survive on poor salaries irregularly paid. In Pantanaw also a National High School persevered, and had among its ideal­istic teachers people like U Nu and his friend U Thant.’(N.32)A few such schools, which served as monuments to a hopeless cause, carried on, but otherwise the movement fizzled out. The gesture was great, though, and defiant, and per­haps it. was worth it, if only for its dramatic effect.
Intoxicated with victory, the GCBA at its conference in Mandalay openly came out against the dyarchical system of constitutional reforms which it was demanding a year ago. The conference called upon the people to ‘boycott’ the commission of enquiry led by Sir A. F. Whyte which had arrived in Burma to measure the people’s political aspirations and fitness. The GCBA also called for a boycott of the Prince of Wales who visited the country in December, 1921. Anxious to prevent any embarrassment being caused to His Royal Highness by overzealous nationalist leaders, the Government sent off U Chit Hlaing, U Ba Si, U Ba Hlaing and a few others to holiday in pleasant resorts in the hills for the period of the royal visit. The Prince of Wales played polo and charmed people with his friendly informality, while the GCBA leaders also thrived on the fresh mountain air and the generous hospitality which they enjoyed as guests of the Lieutenant-Governor.
The boycott became a habit with the GCBA. The Craddock Schemes, foreign goods, the Whyte Mission, the Prince of Wales, and finally Dyarchy itself, all were vigorously boycotted. It had been ‘Craddock, Go Home’, and ‘Whyte, Go Back’, and finally it was ‘Down with Dyarchy.’

6. DYARCHY

The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, or Dyarchy, was inaugurated in Burma on January 2, 1923. Burma became on that day a Governor’s Province with a Legislative Council of 103 seats of which 8o were filled by election, 8 by nomination of non-officials, 13 by nomination of officials and the remaining a by the Members of the Governor’s Executive Council ex-officio. The 8o elective seats were allotted as follows: 22 to urban constituencies in 8 towns, 8 of them being Indian community seats; 49 to rural constituencies in 31 districts, 5 being given to the Karens; and the remaining to European and Anglo-Indian communities and special constituencies such as the Rangoon University and the various Chambers of Commerce.(N.33) Elections to the first Legislative Council were held on November 21, 1922. The GCBA had declared a boycott of the elections, and there was also the usual apathy, so that of 1,767,227 voters only xi percent went to the polls. The percentage rose, at the second elections in 1926, to 24. (N.34)
The first Governor, Sir Harcourt Butler, addressing the first meeting of the Legislative Council on February 3, 1923, was optimistic about the reforms. ‘We start with favouring breezes,’ he said, and he thought that in one year of working dyarchy should prove itself. (N.35)
The important new feature of the reforms was the division of executive government into two parts.
In Sir Harcourt’s own words, ‘the one consists of Members of the Executive Council dealing with reserved subjects and the other consists of Ministers dealing with transferred subjects. The reserved subjects of which the principal are justice, police, prisons, and revenue are administered by the Governor and the Members of the Council, under the control of the Govern­ment of India and the Secretary of State. The transferred subjects, of which the principal are education, public works (other than railways and irrigation), public health, forests, excise, agriculture and local self-government, are under Ministers appointed from members of the Legislative Council and responsible to that body. The Governor and the Executive Council are appointed for five years. The Ministers hold office so long as they can command the confidence of the Legislative Council. They cannot in any case hold office for more than three years, which is the life of the Legislative Council. The Finance Depart­ment is common to the reserved and the transferred subjects and has certain necessary powers peculiar to itself which are not given to other Departments. That is the constitutional position. In the reserved subjects the Governor and his Council decide questions. In the transferred subjects the Governor and his Ministers decide questions. The Governor has power to overrule both the Members of Council and the Ministers in their respective spheres, but this is a power very rarely exercised. In His Majesty the King-Emperor’s instructions to the Governor of Burma it is laid down that he should encourage the habit of joint deliberation between Members of Council and Ministers in order that the experience of the former might be at the disposal of the latter and that the knowledge of the latter as to the wishes of the people might be at the disposal of the former.’(N.36)
Dyarchy split the ranks of.theGCBA. While U Chit Hlaing, with the bless­ing of the Buddhist Sangha Council, stood stubbornly by the boycott, many of his associates could not stand so firm. Some of them were tempted by the prospect of office and rewards.(N.37) Some were genuinely convinced that to keep on boycotting everything was too drastic, and hopeless like crying in the wilderness, and that strategy must adjust itself to changing circumstances. On June 17, 1922, a special assembly of the GCBA met at the Jubilee Hall, Rangoon, to consider the vital question as to whether the elections should be contested or boycotted. Twenty-one leaders who favoured participation in the new constitutional schemes issued a statement, and when the GCBA voted for boycott, they broke away and set themselves up as the ‘Nationalist Party. The ‘first seceders’, U Chit Hlaing called them,(N.38)but the more zealous of the GCBA followers gave them more violent names, ‘traitors’, ‘constitu­tionalists’, ‘the dy- men’, being some of them. The Twenty-one leaders, known more kindly and correctly thenceforth as the ‘Twenty-One Party’, won 28 seats in the first Council. The core of leadership in the GCBA which remained loyal to the boycott was made up of U Chit Hlaing, U Pu (Thara­waddy), and U Tun Gyaw, which trio came to be known as the Hlaing-Pu­Gyaw. U Pu himself could not stay out of the Council too long. It was perhaps painful for him to see the Twenty-One Party enjoying all the plums of office by itself, for in 1926, when the second elections were held, he led a party called the ‘Home Rule Party’ and got himself, and some xo men, in. The ‘Home Rulers’ took oath to abstain from any salaried office during the life of the Council. They kept the oath; being a minority which would not, in normal circumstances, attract an invitation to accept office certainly helped them to do so.’(N.39)
There were further secessions from The GCBA. In 1925 U Soe Thein formed the'SoeThein GCBA’, and in 1929, when U Soe Thein was showing an inclination towards violence and ‘direct action’ and even the enthusiastic Buddhist monks were becoming a little shy of him, U Su formed the ‘U Su GCBA’. Between the three GCBA’s, U Chit Hlaing thought, they commanded a membership of 1½ to 2 millions.(N.40) The number probably included the Buddhist monks and people in the villages over whom they had influence —which would be practically all the villagers.
Sir William Keith and Sir Maung Kin were the first Members of the Governor’s Executive Council; the first Ministers were Sir J. A. Maung ‘Gyi, and U Maung Gyee. On the death of Sir Maung Kin on 22nd. October, 1924, U May Oung, Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Rangoon, was appointed to succeed him. Sir J. A. Maung Gyi was then appointed Judge, and U Pu, barrister, became Minister in his place; the two Ministerships were then in the hands of the Nationalist Party which had the majority in the Legislative Council.(N.41)
U Ba Pe, the leader of the Twenty-One Party did not take high office, but contented himself with being elected Deputy President of the Legislative Council, with a salary of Rs. 5ooo per year.(N.42) The first President was Sir Frank McCarthy, a barrister. On his death he was succeeded by Sir Robert Giles, followed by Sir Oscar de Glanville. In the third Council, U Pu was elect­ed President. All the Presidents were banisters; so were U (later Sir) Paw Tun, and U Ni, who followed U Ba Pe as Deputy President.
The Legislative Councils were orderly affairs. Questions were asked, and budgets were ‘discussed’. ‘Burmanization’ of the services was asked for. Removal of the British arsenal from the precincts of the Shwedagon Pagoda was a subject which came up often at question time.’ (N.43)There was active manoeuvring for office, or for survival in office, for the Ministers and the Members, like all politicians in all countries at all times, quickly persuaded themselves that they were essential in office for the good of the country.
But dyarchy was not popular in the country. ‘It has almost become a term of abuse,’ Sir Harcourt Butler found in 1926, three years after the inauguration of the system. ‘I have heard one man saying to another, ‘You are a dyarchy’. (N.44)
Dyarchy failed because it only fed a few, and the appetites of the few grew bigger with feeding. The many who were not fed were disgruntled; the people, in whose name the government was conducted, at least in part, were remem­bered only at the time of elections.

7. THE ‘SAYA SAN’ REBELLION

The scramble for office absorbed a considerable amount of the energy of the GCBA, for, one by one, its leaders broke away to - forsake the Boycott and try their fortunes in the Legislative Council. But what remained, and the factions into which it broke, carried on the struggle. There were the conferences and the resolutions, the protests and the demon­strations. The Sangha Associations were massively behind the GCBA still. U Ottama still roamed the country making his fiery speeches, courting, and getting, jail sentences. Another Buddhist monk, U Wisara, also became prominent as a vehement antagonist of dyarchy. In his last jail term, U Wisara fasted to the death in protest against the treatment that was given to him as a common prisoner. When the fast passed the first week, anxiety mounted in the country, and people and organizations sent desperate tele­grams to the Government daily urging that U Wisara’s demands — which were that he should be allowed to wear the monk’s yellow robes, instead of the prisoner’s loin, and observe sabbath — be met. It was a contest between the popular will and that of the Government, a contest in which a life was sacrificed and the popular will rose stronger from defeat.
His Majesty’s Government in London sent a Commission of Enquiry, with Sir John Simon as its chairman, to find out how dyarchy was working. The ‘Simon Commission’ visited India in 1928, a year before such a commission was due under the Government of India Act of 1919 which promised a review of the working of dyarchy 10 years after the Act came into force. The Com­mission came to Burma in January 1929, and visited Mandalay and the principal cities where the GCBA greeted it with its stock slogan, ‘Go Back!’
An important discovery made by the Simon Commission was that Burma was not India. The Government of Burma had prepared a memorandum which, in the words of the Government, ‘did not purport to do more than examine in a detached and impartial spirit the arguments for and against separation’ of Burma from India. The Legislative Council had passed, on February i8, 1929, ‘without a division a motion in favour of separation,’ and on the 9th. August, 1930, the Council passed, ‘again without a division, a motion thanking ‘the Members of the Statutory Commission for having in accordance with the wishes of the people of Burma recommended immediate separation of Burma from India”.(N.45) The GCBA, having asked the Simon Commission to go back, found itself unable to support the Commission s findings and recommendation, and placed in the rather anomalous position of demanding continued association with India. For the next few years the separation issue dominated the political scene; the wordy battles that were waged up and down the country were long and learned and confused; the British looked on.
The peasants, who formed over So percent of the population, were, how­ever, getting poorer. The economic depression which swept over the wotld arrived in Burma too, though a year or two later than in the West. The peasants were unable to pay their taxes, and demanded remissions. The ‘Soe Them GCBA’ put forward a simple remedy for the situation: let the peasants refuse to pay. The remedy was attractive; its only defect was that it did not work, but worsened the situation. Even the drastic sangha found the remedy too simple, and yet too drastic, and many of their associations hastily disowned the ‘Shoe Them GCBA’. In their difficulties, the peasants turned to false hopes and superstitions, to rumours of a ‘king’ who was rising to throw the alien ruler out into the sea and to restore national honour and prosperity. Occasional ‘kings’ had risen before, but they came and made their promises in the remote villages, collected money and tributes of material and village maidens, and then discreetly faded away. There were serious risings too, like that of the Bandaka holy man in Shwebo district, the generous womb of most contenders and pretenders. Bandaka declared his mission in 1928, collected men and money and rose. The rising became a serious affair, and the Government had to call in troops to suppress it. The Bandaka and 25 followers were rounded up and tried and sentenced to transportation for life.
The Saya San rebellion which broke out in Tharawaddy district in Decem­ber 1930 was a serious incident indeed. ‘The first outbreak occurred on the night of the 22nd. December in villages in the south-east corner of Tharra­waddy district, a few miles from Tharrawaddy town, 75 miles north of Rangoon. In recent years the district had become the favourite sport of political agitators. Numerous athins, or village societies have been formed in the district. Many speeches have been delivered, all preaching disaffection against the Government. Many of these speeches were particularly directed against the capitation tax. This tax is the mainstay of the revenue in the neighbouring Kingdom of Siam, but in recent years it has been the target of political attack in Burma. The result of the campaign was a general refusal to pay the tax in part of this district in the cold weather of 1927—28, and strong measures had to be taken to put down this movement.’ So began the report on the rebellion published by His Majesty’s Government in London.’(N.46)The Irony of it was that the rebellion broke out at a time when a Burman was for the first, and last, time officiating as Governor. Sir Charles Innes, pro­ceeding on leave, had handed over to Sir J. A. Maung Gyi, and peasants in Tharrawaddy had pleaded with ‘J. A.’, when he went on tour, for remission of the taxes. ‘J. A.’, a blunt and stubborn man who owed less for his rise to high office to the popular vote than to his good fortunes, refused, and ordered that stern measures be taken to collect.
The rebellion, however, was more than a general protest against tax col­lection. The leader, Saya San, at one time a district leader of the ‘Soe Thein GCBA’, declared himself to be the Gaiuna Raja, King of the Galon, a mythi­cal bird which was believed to be conqueror of the Naga dragon.’(N.47) Followers of Saya San tattooed themselves with the galon emblem which was also considered to bestow immunity from bullets, styled themselves the ‘Galon Army’ and marched out, brandishing swords and sticks. They raided railway stations and cut up telegraph lines, they attacked outposts, and won initial successes. In the open fields, when Government forces came upon them, the men of the Galon Army would paint large white circles on their naked behinds, and bending down backwards invite the forces to shoot and discover their immunity from bullets. Often the sight of the wierd, wriggling circles was sufficient to frighten off the Government forces. Sometimes the invitation to shoot was taken up seriously with unfortunate results. The rebellion was a strange blend of faith and superstition, nationalism and madness, of courage and folly. But it was a daring gesture of defiance: even the white circles on the behinds were a symbol in themselves of the new mood that was astir in the country.
The Government rushed the Military Police from Rangoon, then the regu­lar troops, the 2/15th. Punjab Rifles were called down from their station in Maymyo. Later, as the rebellion spread to the Insein, Yamethin, Pyapon and Henzada districts, more Military Police and more companies of the 2/15th. Punjabis were throw in, and Major-General Coningham, commanding the Burma Independent District, and Brigadier C. F. Watson, commanding Rangoon Brigade area, took charge of operations. No martial law was de­clared, for the rising quickly broke and scattered over hill and jungle over an area covering nearly half the country, and the military commanders decided that regular troops should wait on the alert at chosen stations, flinging a cordon round the long shoulder of the Pegu Yomas. Government forces raided Saya San’s camps often, always to find that the bird had flown. Sympathy of the villagers was with Saya San and his men. The Government used force on the one hand to suppress the rising, and on the other it tried to appease with offer of amnesty and rewards. For long months the guerrilla war continued, but in the end Saya San fell into the hands of the police while retreating into the Shan State where he hoped to get rest and recuper­ation from his illness with malaria, resources to rebuild his army, and, if ~possible, contacts in China which might supply modern arms.
The rebellion gave heart to nationalist leaders everywhere. In the Legis­lative Council, members were careful to disown any association with the rebellion, but they pressed the Government hard for a grant of general amnesty, and severely took it to task when its cruel and excessive measures —such as the beheading of the Galon dead and the exhibition of the heads at police stations in the affected areas — were exposed. When the Government moved the Burma Rebellion (Trials) Bill which sought authority to set up a Special Tribunal to try Saya San and the leaders, members, in heated debate rejected the motion, on the ground that the need did not exist to invent a special tribunal when the ordinary courts and procedure could adequately conduct the trials.’(N.48)
Sympathy for the Burmese nationalist cause was widespread even in India. When the Government of Burma took to repressive measures to meet Saya San rebellion and its grave aftermath, protests were made also in the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi. Under dyarchy Burma sent three representatives, chosen by countrywide elections, to the Legislative Assembly and one to the Council of State. Normally Members from Burma were lost in the Assembly; they took their seats and listened; they went to the many social functions to which they were automatically invited; they drew their allowances and returned. After Saya San, however, Burma gained prominence in the Assembly. The Government of Burma had banned the ‘Soe Them GCBA’ early in 1931 alleging the association’s complicity in the rebellion. A Burmese Member, U Tun Aung, (N.49) reading reports of the ban in the Indian press tabled a motion for adjournment in the Assembly to discuss ‘the dec­laration by the Government of Burma that the General Council of Burmese Associations are unlawful under the Criminal Law Amendment Act.’ The motion received the required support from not less than 25 members, and a debate ensued in which prominent Indian members such as Sir Han Singh Gour gave their support to Burma’s cause. ‘Repression, Sir,’ U Tun Aung said, ‘begets only resentment and reaction and no good results can be expect­ed from repression.’ There was applause. When the vote was taken there was an exciting tie of 42 against 42, and the President of the Assembly, ‘following the well-recognized practice of status quo ante’ voted against and declared the motion lost. (N.50)
U Kyaw Myint, another Burmese Member, making his maiden speech in the Legislative Assembly, also denounced the repressive measures taken by the Government of Burma. ‘I do not know what would happen to me if I said in Burma today what I am saying here now,’ he said, after a forceful indictment against the Government. An Indian Member interrupted: ‘Don’t. go back to Burma!,’ and U Kyaw Myint replied: ‘An Hon’ble Member has been pleased to ask me not to go back to Burma. But I must tell him that it is my duty to go back to Burma and face whatever awaits me.’ There was prolonged applause.(N.51)
In Burma, the trials of Saya San and the leaders conducted inTharra­waddy, Pyapon, and other towns of the affected districts, drew great public interest. A Judge of the High Court, Justice J. Cunliffe. was appointed President of the Special Tribunal, and U Ba U and A. J. Dawood members. Young lawyers sprang to the defence of the rebel leaders. The brothers Dr. Ba Han and Dr. Ba Maw, and other young banisters such as Kyaw Din, Htoon Aung Gyaw, Kyaw Myint, Ba Si, Them Maung, Ze Ya, Po Aye, Chan Tun Aung and Tun Aung appeared at the trials or took the appeals to the High Court after the convictions were entered. A young, ambitious, and publicity-seeking third grade pleader, Maung Saw, also volunteered his services for the defence at the trial. Maung Saw admired Saya San, and himself, so much that he called himself Galon Saw, wrote a spirited pamphlet about the rebellion which promptly got proscribed, won fame and fortunes for himself in politics, wrested the premiership of Burma for a brief and dazzling moment of glory, and finally ended, even as Saya San did, on the gallows, though dying as a despised felon and not as the national hero that Saya San came to be recognized as.
The trials were conducted in open court under the eyes of the press and interested audiences. Sir Arthur Eggar, the Government Advocate, led the prosecution team. An impish and irrepressible man, Sir Arthur had advised Dr. Ba Maw and other defenders that they might perhaps succeed to change the charge from that of waging war against the Crown to that of rioting against tax-collectors. When that obvious line of defence was followed, Sir Arthur was delighted, and he had the accused brought into court every morning chained and ironed and heavily escorted to impress deeply upon the Tribunal that they were trying not mere light-hearted rioters but dangerous and ruthless rebels. ‘Purely a piece of brilliant stage management,’ Sir Arthur said about his tactic.(N.52)
Saya San, U Aung Hla, and other rebel leaders were hanged on November 16, 1931, but the nationalism that they helped to further quicken refused to be buried with their bodies.

8. SEPARATION FROM INDIA

For the next few years after the rebellion the great debate which engaged the political mind of the country was whether to separate from India or not. The Simon Commission had recommended separation, and the Government of Burma desired it, nor was London averse. The GCBA, having boycotted everything, found itself rejecting separation too. Political parties and groups sprang up, for separation or against, or against separation for the time being but for separation later. The debate drew forth new young leaders, like Dr. Ba Maw, with the old ambition for office. There were new alliances and new adjustments in the political world.
His Majesty’s Government resorted to the practice of having round table conferences with leaders from India and Burma to plan the future of the two countries. The Indian Round Table Conference which took place in London from November 12, 1930 to January 19, 1931, was attended by 73 leaders from ‘India’ who included U Ba Pe, U Aung Thin, U Ohn Gaing, and Sir Oscar de Glanville from Burma. ‘Four gentlemen were chosen as delegates from Burma,’ U Kyaw Myint said, opposing the principle of separation, in the Central Legislative Assembly, ‘and no invitations were issued to anyone else. Of the selections made by Sir Charles Innes, one was a European gentlemen who has throughout been the foremost advocate of separation at any cost, and another a gentleman who represented nobody. (Laughter). The remaining two, Sir, were members of the People’s Party. These two gentleman actually protested against the unrepresentative char­acter of the delegation. Their protest was overruled, and rightly or wrongly, these two gentlemen attended the Round Table Conference under protest.” (N.53)
The Round Table Conference, however, accepted separation on principle, and decided to convene a separate Burma Round Table Conference to discuss and draft a new constitution for Burma which would be in no way inferior to that which was being drafted for India. The Conference took place from November 27, 1931, to January 12, 1932. The inaugural session took place in the King’s Robing Room in the House of Lords and the Prince of Wales, delivering the welcome address, remembered his visit to Burma, and ‘its romantic scenery, its great river, its hills and forests, its wonderful pagodas, and, above all, the friendliness of its people.” (N.54) He asked the delegates to bear it in mind that those whose duty ‘is to build up a new framework of govern­ment or to adapt old one to new conditions, must be wise and careful archi­tects, remembering that their building will have at once to bear the strains and stresses of a very difficult and restless phase of human history’ and wished them ‘God-speed’ in their labours.
The interesting feature of the Conference was that some of those Burmese political leaders whom the Prince of Wales had missed on his visit to Burma were there. U Chit Hlaing, the leader of the GCBA, and U Ba Si, who were among those who were sent off by the Lieutenant-Governor into temporary exile during the visit of His Royal Highness were there at the Conference. U Chit Hlaing had at first refused to go to London, but he was at last l)ersuaded, and went carrying the mandate of the Sangha associations to demand ‘full and immediate responsible self-government’ for Burma. There were 24 members on the delegation from Burma and two advisors to the delegates from the Shan States.(N.55) Lord Peel was elected chairman of the Conference, and members of the British delegation included Sir Samuel Hoare, M. P., the Marquess of Lothian, C. H., Mr. Isaac Foot, M. P., Mr. G. H. Hall, M. P., the Viscount Mersey, Major D. Graham Pole, Mr. J.S. Ward­law-Milne, M. P., and the Earl Winterton, M.P..
It was a representative delegation. The Burmans were there representing several political parties and groups. Miss May Oung, ably representing the women of Burma, demanded equal rights for them, because Burmese women have from time immemorial, ‘taken part as law-givers, as judges, as writers,
ii as administrators, and as great philosophers.(N.56) The gallant gentlemen of Britain had nothing but sympathy and admiration for the sentiments and the charms of Miss May Oung. There were the different communities of Burma at the Conference including the Indians and the Anglo-Indians and the British and the Karens. All their representatives spoke forcefully for their rights in the new constitution. The Shans were there, represented by the Sawbwa of Hsipaw and the young Sawbwa of Yaunghwe, (N.57) to make eloquent plea for their preservation as a separate entity, the Federated Shan States in the direct charge of the Governor.
In the first plenary sessions the delegates from Burma made their speeches and told their stories about their parties, defined their policies and their aspirations for the future of the country. There was some debate over the question as to whether the Conference should proceed on the assumption that separation of Burma from India would be sealed in the constitution, but the chairman ruled that the debate on that question must rest in view of the stated view of His Majesty’s Government in favour of separation.(N.58) The chair­man also wanted to avoid such ‘general phrases’ as ‘full responsible govern­ment on the lines of Dominion constitutions’ which the delegates had pressed should be the declared goal, because, he said, ‘general phrases’ would ‘lead to misunderstandings.’ He would prefer to say that the purpose of the Conference was to devise ‘a constitution which will have in it the means of growth towards the declared goal of complete responsible government, but will contain provisions necessary to safeguard certain obligations and interests.(N.59) U Chit Hlaing, U Pu and U Tun Aung Gyaw, considering that the chair­man’s promise of a constitution with the ‘means of growth’ for responsible government fell short of the aspirations of the people of Burma, boycotted the Conference from its sixth meeting of the committee of the whole confer­ence. They walked out of the conference hail and stayed away for the day in token of their protest, and at subsequent meetings they ‘remained present’ without ‘actively participating therein’.
The sessions and the sub-committees went thoroughly into the details of the new constitution, and at the end of their labours the constitution was in the shape and form in which it was embodied in the Government of Burma Act which was passed in 1935 and came into operation on April, 1937.
The prospect of a new constitution stirred up a frenzy of political activity in Burma. New parties and new personalities emerged, new alliances were made, and new directions too. The GCBA which had so consistently stayed out of the Legislature, contested the elections in November 1932 which were fought on the major issue of separation. Their pledge to the people ~vas to fight the new constitution ‘from within’. There was a joining of forces between the Chit Hlaing GCBA and the Su GCBA, an alliance which was popularly called the ‘Hlaing-Myat-Paw’ after the leaders U Chit Hlaing, U Myat Tha Dun and U (later Sir) Paw Tun. This alliance was against sepa­ration. Another group of young leaders also took up the anti-separation cause: the Maw-Myint-Bye group, named after the leaders Dr. Ba Maw, U Kyaw Myint and ‘Ramree’ (or Yan-Bye, in the Burmese pronunciation) U Maung Maung. Dr. Ba Maw had looked about for a party to join, but later decided that the quicker way to top leadership was to form a party and give it a name and appoint himself leader. Dr. Ba Maw, with his good looks, his special cut of clothes, his musical voice and his well-trained gestures, was an immediate hit with the villagers to whom his mystical message was:
‘Separate! But do not let go of the association with India!’
For separation were the People’s Party, the former ‘Twenty-One Party’, led by U Ba Pe, U Pu and U Them Maung, and the Independent Party (or the ‘Golden Valley Party’ named alter the aristocratic suburbs where the leaders of the party lived) led by Sir J. A. Maung Gyi. The Independent Party was already discredited by then as the ‘stooges of the British’, and ‘J. A.’ with his Saya San rebellion fame was not a man to lead a party to electoral victory.
The ‘anti-separationists’ won, but in the Legislative Council there was indecision. On December 22, 1932, two rival motions were sponsored. U Tun Pe, representing the special constituency of the Rangoon University, moved a resolution that the Council accepted separation and the new constitution drafted by His Majesty’s Government. The rival motion, sponsored by Rain­ree U Maung Maung. was to the effect that the Council rejected separation but favoured continued association with India with the right of secession reserved for Burma. U Chit Hlaing, who had been elected President of the Council, allowed U Tun Pe to move, and ignored the rival mover, and this led to an uproar in the Council. and a no-confidence motion against its President. Accusations were flung by Dr. Ba Maw and his group at the President that he was playing politics, and his design in disallowing U Maung Maung’s motion was to put U Tun Pe’s to the Council with the certainty of its rejection. When the separation motion was thrown out, the anti-separation decision, total and unqualified, would stand. That, it was accused, was U Chit Hlaing’s design, and a President with designs was not an impartial umpire who must hold the Council together. The no-confidence motion brought down U Chit Hlaing, alter a brief few months of office, and put Sir Oscar de Glanville in his place. After all the heat and uproar, the Council adopted the resolution to stay with India with the unreserved right to leave at any convenient time in the future.
The separation issue did not end there. His Majesty’s Government decided that the resolution of the Legislative Council was equivocal. It must be, it said, separation now, or association with India for ever alter. No secession could be allowed at a future date. Once again the Legislative Council debated. From April 25, 1933, to May 6 when the Council was prorogued, the members debated brilliantly, long-windedly. some speakers like U Ba Pe totalling a handsome 40 hours of speech-making during the period. The weight of opinion was against separation, and members who were against teamed up and sent cables to London and New Delhi conveying their decision that if it must be for or against separation and nothing in-between they were against. His Majesty’s Government in London, bothered by the goings on in the Council in Rangoon, once more invited leaders to come over and talk round the table. Twelve members made the Burmese delegation which discussed with the Joint Select Committee of the Lords and the Commons between November 29, 1933 and December 20, 1933 before the final decision was made.(N.60) ‘We have satisfied ourselves,’ the Committee reported, ‘by discussion with the Delegates from Burma representing the anti-separationist parties that they have no real desire to see Burma included in an Indian Federation; and indeed they frankly admit that on their own terms they would unhesitatingly prefer separation.’(N.61)
Thus at last the die was cast: separation it was to be. The Government of Burma Act was then passed giving the blessing of the British Parliament to Burma’s new constitution. Fifty years after the annexation of Upper Burma, thus, Burma, regained her separate identity.

9. THE GOVERNMENT OF BURMA ACT

The new constitution gave a liberal dose of democracy. The Legislature, and the elective element, were enlarged. The Governor, representing His Majesty, and the Legislature in its two chambers, made the law-making authority. The House of Representatives, the popular chamber, had 132 seats of which 92 were filled on a non-communal territorial constituency basis, while the rest were reserved for Karens, Indians, Anglo-Burmans, Europeans, and special interests such as labour, commerce, and the Rangoon University. The Senate had 36 seats of which half were filled by the Governor by nomination, and the remainder by election from the House of Representa­tives on proportional representation.
Wider play was given also to the principle of responsibility to the Legis­lature. The Council of Ministers, the Instrument of Instructions issued by His Majesty to the Governor said, should be appointed ‘in consultation with the person who, in his judgment, is most likely to command a stable majority in the Legislature, those persons who will best be in a position collectively to command the confidence of the Legislature. In so acting, he shall bear constantly in mind the need for fostering a sense of joint responsibility among his Ministers.’
Law and order and several other departments were placed under the charge of Ministers who were, technically, advisers of the Governor, appointed to hold office at his pleasure, but in fact enjoyed the powers and privileges which were invested in the Cabinet of a self-governing Dominion. The Burmese, quick with a name, soon began to call the new constitution the ‘91-Depart­ments Scheme’ because by their calculation there were 91 departments which were placed under the charge of Ministers. The rest of the subjects were either the ‘special responsibilities’ of the Governor those in which he exercised his ‘individual judgment’ but might consult his Ministers, or reserved subjects’ in which he used his own ‘discretion’ though he could appoint Counsellors to assist him in the exercise of the discretion. The prevention of any grave menace to the peace or tranquillity of Burma or any party thereof’ was a special responsibility, while ‘defence’ was a reserved subject. The ‘safeguarding of the financial stability and credit of the Govern­ment of Burma’ was a special responsibility, while the control of monetary policy, currency and coinage was a reserved subject. The ‘safeguarding of the legitimate interests of minorities’, the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of public servants, the prevention of discriminatory treatment against members of the communities, or against imported goods of the United Kingdom and Indian origin, were some of the special responsibilities. The Governor was enjoined, however, in the Instrument of Instructions, to use his powers in such a way as to give his Ministers full scope for the discharge of responsibilities which were properly their own.
Reserved subjects also included ‘ecclesiastical affairs’ which meant the established Church and not the Buddhist order as people in Burma, and the Sangha, feared. Chaplains in the Army, and the administration of the Church were the main items in the subject for which expenditure was limited under the act to Rs. 2,84,000 per year.(N.62) ‘External affairs’; the administration of the ‘Excluded Area’ or the areas specified in Part (I) of Schedule II annexed to the Act, viz, the Federated Shan States, the Arakan Hill Tracts, the Chin Hill Tracts, the Kachin Hill Tracts, the Somra Tract, the ‘area known as the Triangle’, the Hukawng Valley lying to the north of the Upper Chindwin District, the Salween District, and ‘all tribal territories which at the date of the Coming into operation of this Act are unadministered’; these are also subjects reserved for the discretion of the Governor. In the subject of ‘defence’, the Governor was instructed to ‘bear in mind the desirability of ascertaining the views of his Ministers when he shall have occasion to consider matters relating to the general policy of appointing persons of Burmese domicile as officers in Our Burma forces or the employment of Our Burma forces on service outside Burma.’
The new constitution was an important experiment with democratic form of government on the Dominion pattern. The power of veto was with the Governor both in the executive and the legislative functions in the performance of which he was guided by the Instructions from His Majesty and occasional directions from the Secretary of State for Burma. But, the In­structions reminded him, he ‘should so exercise the trust which We have reposed in him that the partnership between Burma and the United King­dom within Our Empire maybe furthered, to the end that Burma may attain its due place among Our Dominions.’ Another democratic feature of the constitution was the independence of the Judiciary. The functions conferred on any court or judge by any existing law were declared by the Act to be separate from the executive authority of Burma. The High Court of Judi­cature and the courts under its supervision were independent of the Gover­nor, and even in the event of a grave emergency when the constitution could be suspended under section 139 and the Governor resume all powers, the High Court would still stand independent.
The new constitution worked from April I, 1937, for nearly five years until the entry of Japan into the Second World War and the evacuation of Burma by the British. In the first elections for the Legislature under the new constitution, held in November 1936, the contest was keen. The Nga­hwint-saing (the cluster of ‘Five Flowers’) or the ‘United GCBA’ was led by U Ba Pe, and it declared for a unity of parties to fight for national welfare and freedom within the constitution, now that the differences of opinion over participation or boycott, separation with India or otherwise, had been removed or rendered irrelevant. Leaders of the Twenty-One Party, the Separation Party led by U Maung Gyee, the Central Sangha Association led by the Ye-U Sayadaw with its adherent U Su GCBA, the Yadanabon As­sociation of Mandalay, and the Twenty-One Party of Mandalay were the five flowers that decided, in an assembly held before the elections at Manda­lay, to blossom together. The GCBA led by U Chit Hlaing also fought the elections. Among other contenders were the Komin Kochin Party (Our King, Our Kind) of young men who called themselves thakins (Our Own Masters), and the Fabian Party, led by U Ba Choe, publisher of the Deedok political weekly journal. Dr. Ba Maw, the brilliant inventor, had invented the ‘Sin yetha Party’ or the ‘Proletariats’ and even drafted a manisfestoe out­lining his principles and his programme. Thoughtfully, the Sinyetha Party directed its main attention to the villagers — who also happened to be the big majority of the electorate — and promised democratic village administration, we]fare schemes and free and compulsory primary education, the distribu­tion of land to the landless, the use of taxes collected from villages on the welfare of the villages instead of appropriating them to the funds of the central government, and many other attractive reforms.
In the elections the ‘Five Flowers’ ~von 45 seats, the Prolctariats r6, U Chit Hlaing and his GCBA won 12, the Komin Kochin Party 3, the Fabians r, and ‘Independents’ of sorts collected the remaining 17 of the elective seats.
No one party enjoyed a clear majority over the others combined, and it w just a situation which challenged and pleased Burmese genius for political manoeuvre. The Governor, Sir Archibald Douglas Cochrane, D.S.O., a former naval officer, felt a little at sea in Burma’s politics or perhaps it should be said, noting his former regular profession, a little on dry land, but he did a thorough and honest job in his term of office. He invited U Ba Pe to form a government, and after several days of desparate trying U Ba Pe failed. It was then Dr. Ba Maw who could readily submit his list of names for the first Coalition Cabinet under the new constitution, having won over U Pu from the ‘Five Flowers’ and other leaders and ‘independents’. Dr. Ba Maw became Prime Minister, and members of the Coalition Cabinet were Sir Paw Tun, Home Affairs; U (Thai-rawaddy) Maung Maung, Education; Saw Pe Tha, Forests; U Htoon Aung Gyaw, Finance; Dr. Thein Maung, Commerce; U Ba U, Finance and Revenue. U Chit Hlaing was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, and thus redeemed for the humiliation of his fall from the position in the last Legislative Council.
In the House politics promptly became a fast and furious scramble for the marginal majority that was required to seize office. No-confidence motions became the regular feature of sessions. There was intrigue and manoeuvre, in which the uncommitted ‘independent’ member was highly priced. The Euro­peans in the House, forming a small but decisive Moc, also became the arbiters of the destiny of every Cabinet. The quality of debate in the House was goad, and a vigilant opposition always kept the Government on its alert. ‘Burma­nization’ of the services was pressed for in the House and by the Cabinet also, with greater success, so that the higher-paid posts and the ‘Secretary of State services’ such as the Burma Civil Service Class I, the Burma Police Service Class I were opened to more and more Burmese recruits. Those prized jobs usually went to the sons of Ministers or sans of friends and sup­porters of Ministers, or the prospective sons-in-law, but deserving young men were also able to force their way in by sheer merits.
While in the House politics tended to become primarily a scramble for office and power, outside in the country new nationalist forces were gathering. There was a great restlessness sweeping the land, a big yearning in the hearts of the people for the things that they were always promised but never really given, for escape from poverty and the low life to the vast heights of freedom and fulfilment. More and more, on the Burmese political scene, it was the people who came to matter, and not the well-dressed, well-fed politician in the House of Representatives or the Senate with his fine words and phrases and the plans which seemed to spend themselves in the planning.

10. YOUNG HERALDS OF A NEW AGE

On May 26, 1930, riots broke out in Rangoon between Indians and the Bur­mese. The cause was economic. Dockyard labourers, traditionally Indians, had struck for higher wages and for two weeks the unloading of cargo ships was at a standstill. Burmese labourers were brought in, and this led to the explosion. The riots, starting from the dockyards and between labourers, spread quickly through the city, and racial feelings were roused, and all who wanted a little excitement joined in the free-for-all. The riots were at last put down, but the deep restlessness and frustration that led to them re­mained.
On June 24, the prisoners in Rangoon jail tried to stage a break-out. A group of conspirators fell upon the warders and sentries, took charge of a few rifles, and tried to force out. Military Police opened fire, and a brief, brisk battle followed in which 28 prisoners, and several Military Police and jail sentries were killed, and 55 prisoners seriously injured. The jail-break that was attempted had no political significance, but it served to heighten the tension that gripped the country.
Later, there were riots again between the Chinese and the Burmese in Rangoon. A small quarrel at a road-side chop-stay shop began a wide­spread series of fighting in the streets, ambushes in the shadows of the city’s nights, stonings and stabbings executed by solitary adventurers or by angry organized masses.
At year’s end, the biggest explosion of all, the Saya San rebellion, burst upon the nervous scene.
Thus, the 1930’s began, and the mood of anger and frustration which seized the people caught the young intellectual even more firmly than it caught the others. Even as, in the days of the YMBA, the England-returned barristers, brought back with them from abroad, the liberal ideas of politics and society, now in the 1930’s it was the senior students of the Rangoon University, and the young writers who went out from it into the uneasy world of the country who began to dream and, being young and eager and energetic, dare to strive for the fulfilment of those haunting dreams.
Around 1930, the Dohbama Asiyone (Our Burma Association) began to take form and shape. First, it was a few young men meeting to exchange their views and dream together. Thakin Ba Thoung and Thakin Lay Maung, two of the prominent founders, had left the University to begin their careers in life, the former as a writer, and the latter as a politician. They found they could not get into the Class I services, for which they needed ‘backing’ by influential people. They could not stoop, after the college education, to be clerks. The only freedom they had was the freedom to dream, and their dreams came out in statements and essays, manifestoes and songs. When the riots with the Indians broke out, the Asiyone issued a statement calling on the Burmese to unite and protect national honour. ‘Comrades,’ read the call, ‘is Burma not our mother country? Love her, we exhort you!’ Burma is our land, the Asiyone slogans went, Burmese is our language; love our land, respect our language and letters. Even those simple slogans sent a wave of thrill through the country.
The Dohbama song composed by the young leaders of the Asiyone, who called themselves Thakin’s (Our Own Masters), also caught on quickly. The song remembered the ancient days of Burmese glory when the armies of the Kings marched as conquerors into neighbouring countries, and the name of Burma commanded respect everywhere; now it was the sacred task of the young generation to recapture that glory, to wipe out the national humiliation of being under an alien ruler. The young £hahins grew in numbers and their enthusiasm rose. They wore the pinni, coarse, home-spun clothes, they wore wooden slippers, shunning the imported leather shoes (which symbolised the West, and subservience to it), and the clatter of their thakin feet on the streets became a familiar sound. Their enthusiasm gushed into odd channels. Reading somewhere that political freedom alone was not enough but there must be economic freedom as well, the young schoolboys and thakins preached boycott of foreign goods, organized small shops themselves or sold things in the streets. Over-enthusiastic young leaders even organized secret societies and pledged themselves to ambush and beat up one Indian, symbol of economic exploitation by foreigners, per night.(N.63) But they soon found that it was not enough to beat up the poor Indian shop-keeper who saved some money by working hard, harder than the Burmese, and living cheaper; the ills of the country could not be cured by giving an Indian shop-keeper a broken nose. Like the riots, the nocturnal adventures of the young schoolboy leaders and thakins were meaningless. But they reflected the mood of the times, the impatience and the enthusiasm to try everything once, stopping at nothing.
In the Rangoon University too, about this time, a small group of senior students was forming which wanted to change the old order and quickly bring in the new. In the 1934—35 session, U Nu, ncw Prime Minister, had re­turned to the University to read for the post-graduate degree in laws, after spending a few years as a teacher at the National High School, Pantanaw. There he met U Ohn, a senior student, who introduced him to ‘three figures in the College who would make history’, Aung San, Kyaw Nyein and Thein Pe.(N.64) They discovered they were like minds. In the following session, 1935—36, they all contested the elections to the Executive Committee of the Rangoon University Students’ Union. Elections were quiet affairs before. The Union was a statutory institution which had the blessing and support of the Univer­sity authorities and its Principal D. J. Sloss, and it had kept clear from politics, even in the most restrictive sense. The 1935—36 elections changed everything. U Nu offered himself as a candidate for the presidency of the Union, and Kyaw Nyein, Them Pe, Aung San, and M. A. Raschid, contested for membership in the Executive. They all won, and under their leadership the Union became more lively, and took a keener interest in contemporary affairs. They took strict care to keep clear of party politics, but invited political leaders of opposite views to come to the Union Hall and debate publicly on subjects of national interest. They promoted art and culture, .exhibitions, and social events, encouraged sports and competitions.
The year 1936, however, had a bigger destiny in store for the Students’ Union than that of a social and literary club. Early in the year, U Nu as presi­dent of the Union, made a speech criticizing the administration of the Union by its Council and the authorities. Principal Sloss became angry and served Nu with the expulsion order. Soon afterwards, another expulsion order was issued, this time against Aung San who, as editor of the Oway annual magazine, organ of the Union, had published an article entitled ‘Hell Hound at Large’ in which a member of the University staff, easily recogniz­able by the description, was severely attacked. Aung San was first asked to reveal the author of the offending article(N.65) and when he refused he was ordered to leave. The final examinations were round the corner then, and the Principal probably thought that the students would be too engrossed in their studies for the examinations to worry about the expulsions.
The contrary was the case. The Union convened a mass meeting of students, and reported what had happened and invited suggestions for action. The Executive Committee of the Union, in private discussions, had been inclined towards cafling on a strike, but they could not be sure about how the students would respond. The meeting, however, dispelled all doubts. Raschid presided, and fiery speeches were heard from Khin Maung Gale, Kyaw Nyein, and others. U Nu eloquently appealed that students should consider the issue on principle, and not be swayed by any sentiments for him. Students in India were on strike, he pointed out, and returning their degrees to the Universities as a gesture of contempt for the slave education. Not degrees only were they giving up, but their lives. The rich in India were giving up their wealth and taking up the nationalist struggle, They should serve as an example. U Nu’s call was answered with enthusiasm and emotion. When Raschid rose to speak and find out the mind of the meeting, his voice was drowned in shouts of, ‘Let’s go out, go out!’ and ‘Down with the Princi­pal!’ Outside the Hall, thoughtful buses were already waiting, and students stepped onto the buses and drove round on the campus, shouting they had gone on strike, and asking their friends, and the girls in the women’s halls, to come out and join. Thus, on February 25, 1936, with carefully organized spontaniety, some 700 men students of the University College, and some 25 woman students, went to establish their striker’s camp at the Shwedagon Pagoda.
At the camp there had to be hasty consultation among the leaders as to what they should say their grievances and demands were. The expulsions were good cause but not entirely adequate to be the sole subject of demands. The University Act itself must be challenged, and, of course, ‘slave education’, and looking beyond, the evil colonialism that held the country enslaved. Thus, at night while the students slept at the camp, or talked or sang or played cards in their little dusters, Raschid who was legally minded, and U Nu who was not attracted at all to matters of detail but was always ready to soar into airy heights of dream and eloquence, and the other leaders, got down to reading the University Act for the first time to discover how it could be criticized.(N.66)
The demands, however, were unimportant. What was of historical significance was that the strike released a massive wave of nationalist movement that was to sweep people through vital years to ultimate inde­pendence. The expulsions of U Nu and Aung San from College quickly paled and faded from sight as the strike became an expression of national defiance against alien authority. The press and the people gave the students their whole-hearted support. Food parcels and funds flowed in, and students lived well in their camp. The young leaders were national heroes. Their speeches were reported under prominent headlines; their pictures were carried by the newspapers into every home. The publicity pleased the young leaders. Some of them admired Adolf Hitler whose rising star they had watched on the western sky. Some admired Mussolini, and practised the fascist salute, and posed to cameramen. U Nu practised his gestures in public and in the privacy of the small group of his colleagues; he perfected the admonishing finger which he still uses today with some effect. Aung San was the emotional one, swinging between steel resolve and soft tears. Raschid was the organizer, the calm rock of strength; students depended on him. Kyaw Nyein, who had given up his finals in the English honours degree to join in the leadership of the strike, was the brains, and in charge of public relations, with the help of friend Nyo Mya, author of the famous and fateful ‘Hell Hound at Large’ article. There were others too who worked hard to keep the strike going, who collected the funds and the food parcels and kept the morale up: Khin Maung Gale, U Ohn, Tun Win, Tun On, Thi Han, and a host of others. The young bodies helped too, and their very presence at the camp was a big tonic for the morale of their male comrades: Ma Ah Mar, Ma Khin Mya, Yi Yi and others are among the remembered names.(N.67) U Kyaw Myint, the barrister, headed a committee of elders who took upon themselves the task of keeping the camp provided and of guiding the young leaders in their campaign.
The strike spread all over the country. The Government, with Dr. Ba Maw in charge of the Education Ministry in the last dyarchical set-up, negotiated and came to terms with the students. ‘What are your minimum demands,’ Dr. Ba Maw would ask Nu, Raschid and the student leaders in private discussion, ‘eight annas in the rupee? Then ask for twelve, and I shall see that you get our eight.’ Then the discussions would proceed between the Government, with its dominant British element, and the students, and the students got their eight annas in the rupee. It was a great victory, and the strike was called off, and students returned to their examinations. It was, for the young leaders, their first big test, and their first real coming together. Destiny was to throw them together more for they, the young heralds of the new age, had only just arrived.

II. THE ‘YEAR OF REVOLUTION’

U Nu drifted into politics, after returning his B. A. degree to the University. He joined the Dohbama Asiyone and became Thakin Nu, the Asiyone’s principal dreamer and fund-raiser. Kyaw Nyein went back to take his Lonours degree, then took a job in the customs department to earn enough to keep himself and his political friends while he worked for his law degree. Raschid went back to lead the University Students Union, collect his law degree and start his practice. Aung San also went back to take his B.A. degree and venture into a little law, to preside over the Union and the All Burma Students Union which grew out of the strike; in October, 1938, he too left the University to join the Dohbama Asiyone and become Thakin Aung San.(N.68)
The young thakins opposed the new constitution brought in by the Govern­ment of Burma Act. Though three of their comrades won their way into the House of Representatives, their vow was to wreck, rather than work the constitution, and to proclaim their disinterest in any profit for themselves they refused to draw their salary as members. On April I, 1937, the day that the constitution came into life, Thakin Nu and some fellow thakins stood solemnly in front of the High Court buildings and burnt the Union Jack and a copy of the Government of Burma Act in a gesture of contempt. The deed was reported in the Sun and the New Light of Burma newspapers, and it was thought that the Government would take severe action against the offenders. But Dr. Ba Maw, newly installed as Prime Minister, refrained; the young leaders’ bravado was much after hi~ own heart, and though separated by a considerable gap in years from them there was some affinity between the young thakins and himself and considerable, if grudging, mutual admiration.(N.69)
1938, or the year 1300 of the Burmese Era, was the ‘year of revolution’. There were riots in July in which, once more, the Indians in Rangoon and the Burmese went mad, killing and wrecking at random. The origin was religious. One Saya Shwe Phi, a Muslim teacher, of Myedu, a village in Shwebo town­ship, had, in 1931, brought out a pamphlet of religious discussion, in which Buddhism was somewhat scathingly criticized. The first edition of the pam­phlet went unnoticed. A new edition was brought out in 1936 by a Rangoon publisher, and this time, with nationalist feelings at a high pitch, the com­ments on Buddhism were taken up by the few Burmese who read the pamphlet as an insult delivered to the people. The pamphlet was reviewed in the Sun, the New Light, and New Burma newspapers, and it was thus that in July 1938 the pamphlet, and Saya Shwe Phi drew upon themselves the anger of the Burmese. The Sangha convened an assembly at the Shwedagon on July 26, and denounced the pamphlet, and demanded a Government order to ban it. The young Sangha then marched through the streets of the city, and their anger and enthusiasm mounted as they marched. A solitary and ill-fated Indian milkman who crossed their path was stoned, and excite­ment seized the demonstrators. When they reached the Thaingyizay market in the city, they were already a mob, and Indian Muslims who caught their eyes received the treatment. The riots had begun. For several days the riots ran wild, and it was only towards the end of August that the Government could pronounce the situation normal. A Riots Enquiry Commission was formed, and it reported in due course,(N.70) but the riots had left their deep and ugly mark on the uneasy scene, and that mark could not be erased by the Commission.
Soon after the riots came the troubles in the oilfields of Yenangyaung.(N.71) Workers there had made their demands for better conditions, but the em­ployers, the British-owned Burma Oil Company, did not respond. For some months the workers waited, and then they decided to go on strike and march down to Rangoon, 400 miles away, to lay their grievances at the very door of the Government. The march became an epic. It caught the imagination of the people, particularly the students, and won the enthusiastic support of the nationalist press. Dr. Ba Maw sent one of his Ministers, Dr. Them Maung, to Yenangyaung on a mission of conciliation, but the mission was fruitless for the B.O.C. refused to yield. Some 2000 workers joined the march, and they were fed and encouraged by villagers all along the way. The All Burma Students Union sent out from Rangoon its president, Ba Hem, and its secretary Ba Swe, to meet the marchers and bolster their morale. At Magwe, the march was stopped by Government order, and Ba Hem, Ba Swe, and Thakin Soe were placed under arrest. (N.72)
There was uproar in Rangoon. Students protested against the arrests. The Rangoon University Students Union passed resolutions and held de­monstrations. On December 20 they marched in a mighty procession through the streets and surrounded the Secretariat offices, planting pickets at the gates. A tense morning slowly passed, and in the afternoon the students withdrew their pickets and assembled to march away. Their leader, Hla Shwe (N.73) president of the Union, addressed the assembly, and there was confusion as students scrambled to hear him. In that confusion stones were thrown and the mounted police charged, beating with their batons and trampling students under their horses. Many were hurt, and one Aung Gyaw, a 22 year old student from Henzada township, was struck on the head several times by heavy baton blows. He was admitted into hospital where he died. Aung Gyaw Immediately became a martyr; his funeral became a huge rally of silent pro­test, and it was filmed and shown all over the country to people who mourned the death as if it was that of a son. A Secretariat Incident Enquiry Commit­tee was appointed by the Government, but Committees could not cope with the situation. (N.74)
The peasants also marched, organized by the All Burma Peasants Or­ganization, a wing of the Dohbama Asiyone. They caine out from Thara­waddy, from Pyu, and from Pegu, in sympathy with the oilfield workers. There were also strikes of workers in Rangoon factories; even-the girls who rolled cheroots at Ma Sein Nyunt’s shop in Rangoon went on strike. Like contagion the strike spread through the country, and more people were striking or marching in 1938 than working at their jobs. Early in 1939, the students went on strike again to lend support to the nationalist movement, and partly to evade their on-coming examinations. Their strike was purely political now. Aung San and others who had left the University for politics wanted the students to take more active part, in fact to be fully active, in politics, on the argument that it was time for struggle, not for study. There was restlessness everywhere. In Mandalay, the strike was led by senior students of the Intermediate College, and Khin Maung Gale and other teachers of the National High School. The strikers camped in the Aindawya pagoda, and the Young Sangha Associations actively supported them. Feelings were so high after the Aung Gyaw incident, that young Buddhist monks went about the town persuading the young men to let them shave off their heads to rid them of the western-style hair-cut, the badge of servitude.(N.75) The monks also went about in the Zegyo main market in the city, persuading young women to give up wearing their imported foreign voile; the monks carried scissors which they generously employed to cut up the jacket of any unresponding young woman.
On February 10, 1939, a giant demonstration was staged by students and the sangha through the streets of Mandalay. The Government in Rangoon issued instructions to the officers in Mandalay to stop the procession. A clash was expected, and the hand of fate seemed to lay heavy on the assem­bly which started from the Aindawya Pagoda. The procession was over a mile long. In fact when its head reached south-west corner of the moat which surrounds the palace of King Thibaw, the tail-end was still wagging impatiently in the Pagoda, itching to leave. The district officials stopped the procession and warned that if there was no dispersal the police would be ordered to open fire. Elaborate precautions had been taken by the officials. There were layers of police, and the military, taking command of tactical points all along the road, and armed with rifles and machine-guns. The sangha who carried banners at the van ignored the warning and marched firmly on, and the police opened fire, and seven sangha sagged with mortal wounds, hugging the banners that they carried. More volleys were fired, and in a matter of few minutes seventeen were mown down. Seven were Buddhist monks, the rest were students and civilians, of whom one boy, Tin Aung was of tender years, being aged 12.
The funeral of the martyrs of Mandalay was a huge and emotional affair, followed by demonstrations in Rangoon and the appearance of ‘suicide squads’ of volunteers who led the demonstrations daring the fate that befell the martyrs. In Rangoon and the district towns, thakins and student leaders expressed their disapproval of the Ba Maw Government by burning the effigy of Dr. Ba Maw or staging mock funerals. ‘Down with the Coalition Cabinet,’ was the ringing cry, ‘Ba Maw and Ba U with their repressive laws are such a nuisance,’ sang the songs. In the House of Representatives the j intrigues and shifting alliances moved in tempo with the times. The British bloc was getting tired of the uncertainties and the unrest which were bad for business; also they were getting tired of being ordered about by Dr. Ba Maw. ‘Galon’ Saw with his energy and ruthlessness was also pushing his way up. There were few loyal followers, hardly any consistent policy or ideology; the whole thing was a game which went to the quick and the sharp.
In February, after the funeral of the martyrs and the many mock funerals of himself. Dr. Ba Maw fell in one of the regular seasonal no-confidence motions. It was said that when the House met to consider the motion, the leader of the British bloc had two speeches in his pocket, one in support of the existing Government, one against, so that he might watch where the wind blew, and make up his mind and read out the relevant speech. The wind blew against Dr. Ba Maw, and the British member made the speech which denounced the Government in frank and forceful terms, and it was time for Dr. Ba Maw to go. U Pu, who was Minister in the Ba Maw Cabinet, became Prime Minister, and ‘Galon’ Saw, leader of the ‘Myochit’ (Patriot) Party joined as Minister for Forests. Saw Po Chit, a Karen leader, joined the Cabinet as Education Minister, and U Htun of the ‘Five Flowers’ as Commerce Minister. Sir Paw Tun remained, with U Htoon Aung Gyaw, in the new Cabinet.

12. THE COMING OF WAR

As War in Europe became obviously imminent, in the House of Repre­sentatives members pressed their demands for building an adequate defence for Burma. There was not much of a Burma Army,(N.76) and few Burmans in what was there of it. The Government had raised a Sappers and Miners battalion, and a few Rifles battalions admitting Burmans with great hesistance. It hoped that war would not come to Burma, and if at all it came, the natural barriers such as the massive mountains would keep the invader out; those few of the enemy who might trickle into the country would then be adequately met with the support of the forces of India.
Outside the House, the young thakins rather hoped that war would come soon for then ‘Britain’s difficulty would be Burma’s opportunity.’ More and more they began to feel that freedom could not be won by strikes and slogans, that it must be fought for, with foreign military assistance if that could be procured. The Nagani (Red Dragon) Left Book Club, started in December 1937 by Thakin Nu, U Ohn Khin, and Thakin Than Tun(N.77) published trans­lations of stories of the Irish fight for freedom, and other leftist and revo­lutionary booklets which thousands of eager readers hungrily consumed. The Nagani journal also breathed fire and sedition with Saya Tun Shwe working as its devoted editor, and Saya Ham, and several other enthusiasts helping out in various capacities.(N.78) The Sun, the New Light, the Deedok journal, the Kyipwayay (Progress) magazine, and the New Burma English tri-weekly newspaper, were among those which helped to keep nationalism aflame.
Dr. Ba Maw resigned from the House of Representatives in 1940 declaring that the centre of gravity of political struggle had shifted outside it. A ‘Freedom Bloc’ was formed by Dr. Ba Maw, as leader, styling himself the ‘Dictator’ or ‘Anarshin’. Thakins gave the bloc its backbone and Aung San was its secretary. Up and down the country the leaders went uttering sedition and Courting arrest. Thakin Nu was arrested in that year, shortly after his return from a goodwill visit to China,(N.79) prosecuted for sedition and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment. Thenceforth he proceeded from jail to jail till the Japanese invasion. Dr. Ba Maw too was prosecuted in Mandalay, and with majestic scorn he left the courtroom where his trial was proceeding and gave a political speech to the audience which had gathered outside. He too got a year in jail.
Thakin Aung San visited India in Mrach that year to attend the Ramgarh session of the Indian National Congress. With him were Thakin Than Tun who was destined to become the top Communist in Burma and his bitter political enemy. The delegation visited places and met several leaders, and Aung San came back more impressed with Subhas Chandra Bose than with Mahatma Gandhi. Aung San too soon earned a warrant of arrest with a five rupee reward attached to it. A year or so in jail was not, however, what he wanted.
He and a small group of close associates who called themselves the ‘Burma Revolutionary Party’ had been doing some hard thinking about how to get military aid from outside. It was all rather vague and romantic. Aung San, himself had at first suggested that ‘mass action’ could be organized and aroused in the country without foreign help. Strikes, and militant propa­ganda could be intensely carried out, and when war approached the British administration would be paralysed, and troops would come over to ‘our side’, and if Japanese invasion came, then a National Government of Burma could negotiate with the Japanese, or even fight and repel the invasion. That was the grand plan of my own’ which his comrades could not feel enthusiastic about because they were ‘hesitant before any decisive action even though we might think and talk bravely’ and ‘though we might talk about mass action and mass struggle we were not so convinced about its efficacy.(N.80) ‘Thus, the BRP decided that foreign aid was essential, and Aung San, after hiding from the police and his warrant of arrest for a little while, slipped out of the country to search for foreign contacts.
In the House of Representatives, ‘Galon’ Saw had risen. He brought down the U Pu Cabinet, of which he himself was a member, and formed his own Government on September 9, 1940.(N.81) Galon Saw was a ruthless and ambitious man, and he stamped out opposition with thoroughness; his ‘Galon Army' which carried bamboo staves would break up meetings of thakins in district ~towns by force. U Saw was also fond of the spectacular, and performed the ploughing ceremony’ which the early kings used to do to invoke the blessing of the spirits for good crops. He would wear his ‘Galon General’s’ uniform at such occasions, looking a little plump and puckish with his dark shining ~skin and his square face in which a flat nose seemed to have been stuck lather at random. He would go up in his private aeroplane and pay his respects to the Shwedagon from the air, a thing that the orthodox Buddhists considered to be quite disrespectful.
When the Second World War started in Europe, and Burma was declared by the Governor to be automatically at war with the Axis Powers, there was :dissatisfaction among the people because they had been dragged in without being consulted. In the House there were questionings and grumblings. The Atlantic Charter raised hopes of getting from His Majesty’s Government at least a pledge of Dominion status for Burma after the war, but that pledge did not come. U Saw, desperate because a hero’s place in history was evading him, decided to visit London and see Mr. Winston Churchill about it. Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, who had arrived as successor to Sir Archibald Cochrane, reported to Mr. L. S. Amery, the Secretary of State for India and Burma, recommending that U Saw should be invited to London for general talks. Churchill agreed. ‘Certainly let an invitation be sent,’ he wrote in a minute to Amery. and added in a wry sort of humour a proviso that in general you see U Saw.'(N.82)
U Saw went, taking with him U Tin Tut, the seniormost Burman of the Indian Civil Service. People in Burma were a little intrigued but unimpress­ed with what U Saw later called his ‘Journey Perilous.” (N.83)An anonymous playwright wrote a play called ‘U Saw’s London Diary’ and the New Light serialised the satire for several weeks much to the delight of the readers.3 In London U Saw saw Amery and Herbert Morrison and other Ministers. He visited military establishments and gave his attention to civil defence measures. He wrote letters to the Times commenting on special articles published in the newspaper on Burma, or on letters from its readers.(N.84)Com­menting on an article published on October 14, 1941, he asked ‘what status is to be given to Burma in the British Commonwealth when the war is ended. What Burma wants to know is whether, in fighting with many other coun­tries for the freedom of the world, she is also fighting for her own freedom.. The demand for complete self-government is a unanimous demand of the Burmese people and it was made incessantly long before the Atlantic Charter.’ In his letter he made a strong case for Burma, dealing ably with the sug­gestions that Burma was yet to gain maturity to govern herself, and ended with a plea to the ‘British people to put us to the only true and real test of our ability to govern ourselves, and that of allowing us to do so as in the case of the Dominions.’ He signed the letter ‘Saw’ at the Dorchester Hotel where he and U Tin Tut stayed.(N.85) ‘There will always be some Englishman who will never be satisfied that Burma is fit for self-government,’ U Saw wrote to the Times on another occasion in reply to certain ‘disparaging remarks’ of a correspondent, ‘and I acknowledge that they may hold that view in all sincerity. But present conditions in Europe might on the same line of reasoning well suggest to the Burmese people that, viewed by results, no country in Europe is at present fit for full self-government.’ (N.86)
On October 22, U Saw spoke to Members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons in a Committee room of the Commons on ‘Burma after Separation.” (N.87)He met Churchill and was rejected in his demand for an as­surance that immediately after the war, His Majesty’s Government would establish Burma as a self-governing Dominion. He expressed his disappoint­ment at this ‘rather sharply’, as an editorial of the Times commented in its November5th. issue. On November 4,
U Saw was guest speaker at the luncheon given by the East India Association and the Royal Empire Society. Mr. Amery presided, and said that the Government could not bind itself to definite dates until it could see at least the outline of the problems which would face it at war’s end. But the Government would stand by the declared aim of promoting Burma’s attainment of Dominion status as the ‘goal and objective of constitutional progress’.(N.88) On November 27, Mr. Maxton, Mem­ber for Glasgow, Bridgeton (Independent Labour Party), raised a question in the House as to whether ‘any immediate steps are to be taken to establish sell-government in Burma.’ Mr. Amery, in reply, said that the visit of U Saw had’ provided for the establishment of personal contacts which are always most valuable and for an exchange of information and views between him and Ministers here on a number of matters of interest to Burma and His Majesty’s Government.’ But, admitted Mr. Amery, when pressed with a supplementary question, it was ‘not practicable to give the kind of definite assurance that he (U Saw) came over here to seek’ and U Saw did ‘not al­together’ agree with that view.(N.89) In fact U Saw differed violently and said so. ‘The result I have achieved is not satisfactory,’ he wrote in his statement to the press, ‘and is not commensurate with the amount of risk I have under­taken in coming to England.’ It was his desire ‘to see that both Burma and Britain pull well together’ and ‘people of the Empire should be quite united as members of the same family.’ The British Government had given an assurance that self-government would be bestowed on Burma one day, but no one knows when Burma will get self-government.’(N.90)
With that, U Saw flew to the United States where he received a polite but cool reception, and, with Japan’s entry into the war, he turned back to fly home via Europe. He never got home for the war. The British Government, on receipt of intelligence reports that U Saw had turned to Japan, decided that he should be interned for the duration of the war. U Saw was therefore stopped on the way and taken to Uganda. His arrest did not cause any excitement in Rangoon. Sir Paw Tun who had become a permanent fixture in every Cabinet, took over as Prime Minister. The constitution was suspend­ed, and the Governor invoked section 139 of the Government of Burma Act to take over the legislative and executive powers in the emergency.(N.91) Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith was ill-fated as a Governor. He was a charming politician, a Member of the House of Commons and a Minister before he became Governor. He came flashing his winning smile. But the situation in Burma, the ugly mood that prevailed among the people, and then the war, were more than smiles could adequately deal with.

CHAPTER II

WAR AND JAPANESE OCCUPATION

I. THE BURMA INDEPENDENCE ARMY

The Burma Revolutionary Party had felt the need for getting arms and assistance from some friendly foreign power, but they could not be sure about who that power would be. In fact the ‘BRP’ itself was a vague and formless body of young thakins who met in secret places or on a secluded corner on the University campus at dark nights and dreamed their dreams aloud. Thakin Mya was the oldest among them. A leader of the first students strike of 1920, Thakin Mya practised law in Tharrawaddy and drifted into politics, winning a seat in the House of Representatives on the ‘Komin Kochin’ ticket. He was the unemotional, unflustered kind, and the younger ihakins learned to look to him for counsel in crisis. There was also Thakin Chit, or Saya Chit, the schoolmaster, who was also looked upon by the younger set as teacher and guide.(N.92) There was Thakin Kyaw Nyein, intellectual as well as energetic, working in the customs department by day, to earn enough to feed himself and his friends and the BR?, the provider and the brains. Ba Swe who was a student leader in the Tavoy high school, had also been specially brought over by the Rangoon University Students Union, to organize the student body and the BRP. Aung San, of course, a thakin leader now, and Secretary of the Dohbama Asiyone, after having ousted Thakin Ba Sein and Thakin Tun Ok who went and formed their own Asiyone, Secretary of the Freedom Bloc.
Those were the leaders of the BRP. Their headquarters was the Dohbama Asiyone, or the Students Union Hall. Their associates were the thakins, and the students, the youth associations such as the ‘Steel Corpse and the ‘Let yon Tat’, where young men wore uniform and drilled with bamboo staves. Hla Maung, a law student, and president of the All Burma Students Union, keeper of house and conscience for Kyaw Nyein, was the liaison man of the BRP, a diplomat even then who could search in the high or the low places for ‘contacts’ and meet the police hunting parties with an innocent smile. Hla Maung and Thakin Hla Pe crossed into Thailand once on a search mis­sion, and the police intelligence in Rangoon came to know about it when they had gone and come back. An alibi was convincingly made, with U Myint, lecturer in the law faculty giving the advice, and U Tin, owner of the New Light of Burma, aiding in the conspiracy by publishing false reports about Hla Maung’s activities in Rangoon when, in fact, he was away.(N.93)
The conference of the Dohbama Asiyone, held in Tharrawaddy late in 1939, had resolved non-cooperation with the British and, indeed, resistance with arms. That was the declaration of war, and the Government started rounding up prominent thakin leaders and putting them away in jails. That was the time, therefore, that the BRP frantically sought ‘contacts’ and arms. Both were hard to come by. Ba Swe was put in charge of ‘military operations’ and for his gigantic task he had one revolver which did not fire, but that did not matter for there was no ammunition anyway. But a dead revolver could be used at least for waylaying people at night and collecting their money and jewels. Ba Swe and his boys did just that, one night, using the deadly looking revolver to hold up a man, but unfortunately for the revolution the man -happened to be poor and had nothing to offer but his sweaty shirt, and the revolutionaries had to let him go with apologies.(N.94) Two young men were keen enthusiasts in the conspiracy. One was Maung Maung, a medical student and secretary of the University Students Union. He had got hold of a few British army training manuals, and having read them, he appointed himself chief of military training, and went about the city in his small old Ford, training the cadres in the use of firearms. Another was Aung Gyi, an intense student leader who having passed out from high school in Paungde. had come to Rangoon t3 take a job in a Government office and collect ‘vital information’ and work for the BRP at nights. (N.95)There were several others like them who were making war on the British with no funds, no firearms but an endless supply of fury and fanciful ideas and keenness. Revolutions in history are made by such men.
There was at first a glimmer of hope that Japan would lend the support that the BRP sought. In Rangoon, the Japanese Consulate passed word through Dr. Ba Maw and Dr. Them Maung that they were willing to discuss, but when the BR? eagerly went after, they turned cool, because, Aung San later discovered, ‘they thought we were Bolsheviks!’ There was also a section in the BRP which was suspicious of Japan and her known ambitions. The result was that Aung San, with Thakin Hla Myaing, smuggled out by boat to Amoy on the China coast. His mind was open. If he could make his way Into China and contact the Communist Eighth Route Army, whose exploits they had heard of and admired, he would decide for China. Otherwise it could be Japan. And Japan it was, for the earlier contacts made in Rangoon started working, and while Aung San and his colleague were spending their tune in the international settlement of Kulangsu island in Amoy, a Japanese major of the military police came looking for him, armed with a copy of his photograph which had been sent out from Rangoon. On 12th. November, 1940 Aung San and his friend flew into Tokyo. ‘After two or three days stay m Tokyo,’ Aung San wrote, ‘we were taken to a country hotel.’ Colonel Suzuki who had met them at the Tokyo airport, introducing himself as Mr. Minami Chief Secretary, Japan-Burma Society, then ‘asked us at the hotel if we would like to take any woman. (I was up to that time a hundred percent bachelor.) We were abashed to hear it and we replied, No.' (N.96)
Thus began the adventure, without women, without wine, in all the seriousness that the 27-year old Aung San, and the much older and more sophisticated Suzuki could jointly muster. Keji Suzuki was the professional soldier. After graduating from the Japanese Military Academy, he had been assigned to the Phillippines where he acquired interest and information in island warfare in particular and South-east Asia in general. Later he served at General Headquarters as ‘Chief of the Vessel Department’. He was a free-lance at heart, however, and his dream was that ‘instead of presenting a special kind of fruit to the Emperor he would present a country.' (N.97)But his ambition was tempered with ideal. He wanted a country for a special fruit for the Emperor but a fruit not to be eaten up but prized and preserved and protected. Aung San’s patriotism impressed him. The young man’s honesty, which was also one hundred percent, commanded respect. Together, then, the young man from Burma with the mission of his country’s liberation from foreign yoke, and the older adventurer whose ambition was to engineer Japan’s expansion into further shores, worked on their plans for Burma, each in his way feeling that the destiny of that country lay in his hands.
Japan was not at war yet in November, 1940, and Suzuki could not get full official support for his conspiracy, having to collect money and men from where he could. Aung San and his colleague were moved about and passed off as Japanese students. Aung San’s Japanese name was Omoda Monji’, Hla Myaing was ‘Itoda Sadaichi’. November, when they arrived, and the following months were cold, and they had only their shabby summer clothes, and ‘Col. Suzuki purchased overcoats for them out of his own pocket-money and Mr. Sugii sold his camera and bought mats, pillows, food.' (N.98)Gradually, however, more support became available for the mission, and the Japanese Imperial Army, to which Suzuki belonged, and the Imperial Navy which had given more attention to the South-east Asian region and had at first looked upon Suzuki and his band as amateurs and interlopers, decided to join hands and establish the ‘Minami Kikan’ for the concentration and coordination of their efforts on the region.
In February, 1941, Aung San went back to Rangoon, disguised as an officer on the ‘Shun Tein Maru’, with one of the leaders of the Kikan, Mr. Mitsuru Sugii, disguised as purser of the ship. Their mission was to contact the Burma Revolutionary Party, smuggle out ‘thakin members’ to Japan for military training, and ‘to collect all information regarding Burma.’ The ship harboured at Bassein, and Aung San and ‘two members of the crew donned their crew’s clothes, and left by the front gate on the pretext of wanting to purchase bananas. Entering a nearby village Aung San changed into Burmese clothes. Putting on false teeth as a disguise, he entered Bassein town. Travelling by way of Henzada he arrived in Rangoon.’ The BRP was met, in Rangoon, and the young thakins marshalled for the Japan journey. Earlier on the faction of the Dohbama Asiyone led by Thakin Ba Sein had tried independently to get Japanese contacts and lay their own plans for the war. Now in the heat and hurry of the moment, faction was forgotten. Young thakins were smuggled out in batches by sea. ‘From February to June, eight voyages were undertaken,’ noted Sugii in his diary, and during this time almost all the ‘thirty comrades’ were smuggled out of Burma. The ‘Varsity-Co-operative Stores’ which Tun On, of the 1936 students strike, was managing, was the convenient hiding place and assembly point for the young volunteers. When the day came for them to embark, they would dress as crew of a Japanese vessel, hold a bunch of bananas in the hand as a signal, mingle with the real crew and pass through the police barrier at the wharf, and hide in the engine room of the boat till Rangoon was left safely behind. Sometimes it was in the engine room only that the ‘Ba Sein thakins’ and the ‘Aung San lhakins’ discovered each other and found they were launched on the same mission. They quickley welded together into a force. (N.99)
The ‘thirty comrades’ as they later came to be celebrated, trained in Japan for several months specialising, in selected groups, in sabotage and fifth column work, in administration, in general staff duties, or general warfare. Aung San was marked out for command of the ‘Burma Independence Army’ which was to be launched into Burma, and Thakin Tun Ok, the co­-leader of the Ba Sein-Tun Ok faction of the Dohbama Asiyone, was prepared for administrative duties. The comrades also changed their names, partly for disguise, and partly to render their mission auspicious. Thus Aung San became ‘General Teza (the Powerful)’; Hla Myaing was ‘Bo Yan Aung (Conquerer of all Foes)’; Hla Pe was ‘Bo Let Ya (the Right Hand man)’; Shu Maung was ‘Bo Ne Win (Brilliant like the Sun)’, and so on. Suzuki himself also took on an auspicious Burmese name, and became ‘Bo Moe Gyo (General Lightning)’.(N.100) Everything was ready now: the training was done, the plans were made, and even the assumed names had been found. Soon the time came to march.
In Rangoon, the BRP leaders waited. War was declared. Japan swooped on Pearl Harbour. Rangoon was bombed, first on December 23rd., then repeatedly later, and soon the city was deserted. The Governor withdrew, and the military which had promised to hold Rangoon at all costs, also began, one morning, its slow northward trek. From the radio, a sweet female voice cooed daily about the beauty of the Fuji Yama and the cherry blossoms, and the imminent arrival in Burma of the Nippon liberation army. Thakin Tun Ok took a more angry tone, and exhorted the Burmese people to fall upon the British and hurl them out of the land. Kyaw Nyein, Ba Swe and their BRP comrades impatiently waited in deserted Rangoon for news, and arms to hurl the British out with. The houses were empty now, and there was no shortage of headquarters and camping accomodation. They rode about on bycycles, and when the Japanese aeroplanes dropped leaflets, they would ride out and snatch copies, eagerly reading between the lines for any messages. At last the first group of the ‘BIA’ led by Bo Ne Win arrived in Rangoon to muster the men who had been training with bamboo staves, and to work behind the lines. In a few weeks, the BIA came up from Moulmein and Mergui, gathering numbers as it came. The Burmese who had settled in Thailand had provided volunteers, and the villages all along the routes which it took had offered eager recruits. The men came, wearing assorted uniform, carrying assorted arm, flying the BIA banner of the dancing peacock, the national bird, in a background of red, green and yellow. Enthusiasm ran high. Students and teachers, politicians and professional men, bad hats and dacoits, all joined, some to serve the country, some to serve themselves and settle old scores.
Victory came easily. Here and there skirmishes broke out as the invading forces and the retreating British army collided. At Shwedaung on the way from Rangoon to Prome, the British made a stand, and the BIA, under its young commander, Bo Yan Naing, had its first real taste of battle. With dash and daring the BIA fought, hurling itself, often with disastrous results, on tanks and machine-guns. The British troops at last withdrew, and the Shwe­daung victory and its hero, Yan Naing, became the subject of songs.
The Japanese had promised, before the battle for Burma, to equip and launch the BIA into the country and stay out themselves, to support the country’s independence as a friend from afar. It was a promise which was lightly given and, in the face of easy victory, quickly forgotten. Thus, after Rangoon, the growing BIA became a growling force of discontent against the Japanese. There was also the usual jealousy of arms on the field, the anxiety to get there first. To prevent clashes, the commanders decided that the armies should march separately, the Imperial Army by road from Rangoon to Toungoo and north to Mandalay and beyond, and also over the mountains through the Shan State northward, while the BIA took to the Irrawaddy river and passed through the Delta region and proceeded to Mandalay and Bhamo. Aung San commanded the BIA in the field, with Bo Let Ya as chief of staff. The army split in two main columns with Bo Zeya (N.101) and Bo Ne Win in command of each. (N.102)Bo Moe Gyo acted as commander-in-chief, the father of the BIA; he had come to believe in his legendary role as the ‘lightning’ which ‘.vas to strike and destroy British power in Burma; he went about wearing Burmese dress, complete with gaungbaung, and feeling very Burmese.
What was important about the BIA was not its victories which were few. Its real service was in bringing Burmese nationalism to full stature. The British had not trusted the Burmese to defend themselves; in crisis they had appointed a Burmese Counsellor of Defence (N.103)and raised a small militia, a small naval reserve force, and a small air force.(N.104) Those emergency measures did neither touch nor tap the vast masses of the people. The BIA, on the other hand, touched every home, and drew forth the father and the son into its open arms. For the first time since Bandoola (N.105)the Burmese could form themselves into a patriotic army and march under the national banner.
On its march, the BIA committed atrocities and excesses, but served generally to bolster national morale, and keep law and order. In the Delta it clashed with the Karens who, believing the British word that there would be no retreat but only some adjustments of positions. resisted with arms. In the towns, the BIA adopted drastic measures to restore and maintain law and order; they would try and sentence thieves and dacoits and take them out into the open grounds to put them to the bayonet under the eyes of the people.
There were opportunists too among the thakins, many of whom wanted to be put in charge of the ‘peace preservation committees’ which administered the towns and villages in the interregnum, for that gave them power and chances to get rich. Aung San, marching with his men to Mandalay, wore his one set of uniform all through with no change, no bath, and was gloomy and morose. He wanted the thakins to march with the BIA, and learn to fight, for the fight had just begun.

2. MILITARY ADMINISTRATION

In April and May 1942 General Bo Moe Gyo issued several orders, first appointing Thakin Tun Ok, alias Ishihara, the chief administrator of Burma, and instructing the people to give their full support to him. Thakin Tun Ok was also authorised to collect funds for the central administration and the BIA. Then there were directives issued by Thakin Tun Ok. Directive num­ber 1. mapped out administration policy. The territorial divisions into village, township, subdivision, etc., were to continue, and at each level there was to be a committee with a president, a secretary, and members for finance, justice, health, education, defence, transport, BIA recruitment, supplies, and propaganda. Directive number 2. prohibited forcible recruitment for the BIA, and forcible collection of funds. All British currency notes were put out of use, and those who were found using it were to be severely punished. Administration committee members who had come into funds, currency or coins, must not keep them, but render accounts to the central administration and surrender the money.
The committees were, however, short-lived. By May almost all the country, with the exception of the Chin hills and the remote hill areas in the north, had come under the occupation, and the Japanese Military Administration took over, dissolving, and often brusquely dismissing the committees. Japanese Military Administration was thorough and total, tolerating no rival authority. The BLA which had grown to 5o,ooo was also gradually restricted. First the army was regrouped in Bhamo, and later at Amarapura, an ancient capital of the kings, outside Mandalay. General Aung San issued an order to his men to keep away from politics in general and from partici­pation in committees in particular.
Thakin Nu, transported from jail to jail, found deliverance when the Mandalay jail was broken. His jailmates, Thakin Soe, Thakin Kyaw Sein and Thakin Ba Hein, also found freedom, and tried to make their way into China to carry on their fight against the Japanese. (N.106)Thakin Than Tun was in jail in Monywa, and round about in the area were scattered ‘Deedok’ U Ba Choe, and others. Kyaw Nyein and Them Pe had also moved up from Rangoon, and Khin Maung Gale had joined the BIA and was now an earnest officer carrying a big sword. People from Rangoon, and officials, had also arrived in the area after running all the way from the war. Soon, the exodus began again as politicians made their way to the capital, and officials and government staff too to find employment and build a life under the occu­pation.
Dr. Ba Maw, in Mogok jail, waited for the call he knew would come. Kyaw Nyein and Thakin Thein Pe had journeyed through the fighting to Mogok to persuade him to escape and come away with them.’ But Ba Maw refused. With an unerring sense of drama and history, he knew that the Japanese would come looking for him, and offer him the crown. He took his time to have his dramatic ‘escape’ from the jail, and Japanese officers, specially charged with finding him, found him at last in a Shan village, waiting calmly for his hour. (N.107)
The BIA was disbanded by the Japanese, and a small ‘Burma Defence Army’, 3 battalions strong, was built out of its more reliable elements. Aung San was appointed commander of the new Army with the rank of colonel. Bo Moe Gyo was packed away to Japan. Dr. Ba Maw was given the task of re­building the government machinery, and on August I, 1942, Lieutenant-General Shojiro Iida, commanding the Imperial Army in Burma, inaugurated the Burmese Administration with Dr. Ba Maw as its head. (N.108) Government staff were reappointed in their jobs, and the British administrative and judicial systems were revived. By Military Ordinance Number 6, issued on July 7 1942. General Iida had reopened the courts and the ‘business of public prosecution and the conduct of ‘judicial administration’ holding that ‘judiciary is essential for the preservation of the right and enforcement of duty of the people and also for keeping public peace and order.’ The courts were ‘taken over’ by the Burmese Administration. The Supreme Court, invested with the appellate jurisdiction of the former High Court, was started on 10th. March, 1943, and Sir Mya Bu, one of the senior judges of the High Court, was appointed Chief Justice. Sir Ba U, Sir Maung Gyee, and U Myint who was Law officer on Special Duty to Dr. Ba Maw, were appointed puisne judges. The original civil and criminal jurisdiction of the High Court was given to the Rangoon City Court, and U Chan Tun Aung, an able barrister, was made Chief Justice. The same laws were administered. (N.109)
The Administration quickly got into working order. There was enthusiasm and energy. Conditions were hard, and it wasevident everywhere that a war was on Imported goods, raided from the big stores during the campaign, flooded the markets at first, but they quickly disappeared to be stored away by blackmarketeers, or were consumed. Prices kept shooting up till, towards the end of the war, a substantial meal was costing Rs. 100. Commissioners of divisions and Secretaries to the Government, the top-ranking officials, drew monthly salaries from Rs. 6oo to 8oo; Directors of the various bureaux received Rs. 400 to 6oo; District Superintendents of Police drew Rs.500 and Subdivisional Officers Rs. 350 to 300; Township Officers received Rs. 200 Ministers received Rs. 1,200, and Judges of the Supreme Court Rs. 1000. Due to the ‘roaring prices of foodstuffs’ the Salaries Revision Board recommended, in 1944, the grant of a small ‘war allowance’ for those whose salaries were Rs. 300 per month or less.(N.120)
The Government staff were, therefore, poor, and became poorer as the war went on. Their morale, however, was good. Most of the high officials wore pinni homespun clothes, and walked to work, being unable to afford a motor car. The trading people, the labourers, and the drivers of pony-carts or trishaws - the main forms of transport in the towns — earned enough to live comfortably by wartime standards. Business was simple, and profitable. A man would carry a bag of rice with him by railway train or motor bus from Rangoon to Mandalay; the journey was slow and a little uncertain, but when he reached his destination the bag of rice could be sold easily and for a handsome profit. One or two such trips a month would keep his earnings higher than those of a Minister — the regular salary of a Minister, that is. Many high officials chose to leave the services, or keep from entering, and went into trading.(N.121) In politics, there was a merger of the ‘Sinyetha’ proletarian party which Dr. Ba Maw had led, and the Dohbama Asiyone. The new ‘Dohbama Sinyetha Asiyone’ was served, at its early stages, by Thakin Nu as its secretary-general. There were no other political parties. Thakin Soe who was a confirmed communist and ‘anti-fascist’, finding his way out into China blocked by the war, roamed ‘underground’ in the Delta, preaching resistance. Thein Pe had tried to push the Japanese out of Burma with pamphlets, and when he found that the Japanese did not succumb to his ideological barrage he escaped into India, leaving his namesake Thakin Thein Pe of Mandalay to the wrath of the Japanese military police. (N.122) Others had been absorbed into the Army or the Government services. Thakin Kyaw Nyein was Secretary to the Prime Minister. Thakin Ba Hein, the communist, was also in the services, and later to go to the Foreign Office.
Dr. Ba Maw was supreme- except for the Japanese. It was a situation he enjoyed and thrived in. Democracy had dealt with him badly. His downfall by no-confidence motion in 1939, particularly the voting of the British bloc against him, had left an ugly scar on his memory. Even in the Freedom Bloc he had styled himself ‘Dictator’. Now the war made him one. He owed his power to no vote. The nightmare of no-confidence motions could not disturb his sleep now. The power to do good or ill was in him, and he felt good and alive. He threw himself into the task with dedication and ability. ‘The basic value,’ Dr. Ba Maw wrote in his ‘New Order Plan’, ‘is human energy, human labour and its values. It is radically different from the old democratic plan which was based on vote-value instead of labour-value. A real plan, that is a57 revolutionary plan, must be built on labour-value whether it gets votes or not — the votes must wait till the work is done and the peril is averted, when people may go back to their old political play-acting if they should still want to be amused that way.” (N.123)

3. ‘INDEPENDENCE

On January 28, 1943, during the 8oth. session of the Imperial Diet, the Japanese Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo announced the intention of his Government to recognize Burma as an independent state within the year. In March Dr. Ba Maw, Dr. Them Maung, Thakin Mya and Aung San, promoted to be Major-General, visited Tokyo for talks. They were received by General Tojo on March 22, and by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor on March 23 when they were decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun. ‘I am profoundly touched and overawed by the boundless magnitude of His Imperial Graciousness,’ Tojo said at the closing session of the 8ist. Imperial Diet. ‘In connection with the independence of Burma, I stated as an earnest hope of Nippon that New Burma would, through her own incentive and responsibility, speedily substantiate her status as a fully independent State, at the same time to co-operate closely with Nippon as a new State founded upon ethical principles as a member of Dai Tooa Kyoeiken (The Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere) thus contributing to the creation of the New World Order, and especially that Nippon expected New Burma would speedily complete her national structure consonant with the requirements of the successful prosecution of war.’
‘With regard to territorial composition of the New State of Burma,’ Tojo continued, ‘it is to include the whole territory of Burma with the exception of the Shan and Karenni areas. Furthermore, I expressed the desire that the nation be determined in accordance with the aim harmoniously embracing various peoples within her territory. Political organization is naturally a matter to be determined by Burma herself, but Nippon desires the adminis­tration of State to be made simple but effective. Also as regards the economic affairs, I expressed my earnest desire that New Burma should promote her economic development by just and unhampered activities under her own authority as a unit in the general economic construction of Greater East Asia.” (N.124)
The pledge was written on solemn document and given to Dr. Ba Maw and his party in Tokyo. The Burmese, however, did not hug the document to their heart and carry it home. ‘Escorted’ by Major-General Isomura, deputy chief of staff of the Japanese Army in Burma, the party flew back, stopping in Manila for one day. Isomura who ‘made his presence felt all the time to u as if we were all his children,’ wrote Aung San, ‘asked us not to go out as the Fillippinos were not reliable and so forth.’ The crisis, however, rose only at Saigon, the next stop. ‘When we arrived there, Dr. Ba Maw remembered that he had left General Tojo’s document in the Manila Hotel. At once the fact was intimated to Isomura who then talked as if he would have to commit suicide. When a suggestion was made to him to wire to Japanese Army headquarters in Manila, he said that it would not be enough, he and Dr. Ba Maw would have to go back; but actually Thakin Mya who was Dr. Ba Maw’s deputy then and Colonel Uyeda had to go back to Manila to search for it.(N.125)
Back in Rangoon, an Independence Preparatory Commission was appoint­ed consisting of Dr. Ba Maw and his Cabinet; Major-General Aung San; Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, executive member of the Dohbama Sinyetha Asi­yone; Thakin Nu; U Chit Hlaing; U Aye, formerly Home Minister; U Mya; U Aye Maung; U Tun Pe; Dr. San C. Po; U Thwin; Sir Mya. Bu, Chief Justice; U Them Maung. formerly Advocate-General; U Set; U Khin Maung Dwe of Mandalay; and U Kyaw. The Commission was asked to draft a constitution for ‘New Burma’, ‘simple but effective’, as General Tojo had suggested, and very quickly. A deputy of the Japanese commander-in-chief would come to every meeting of the Commission and wait for results, listening to the learned deliberations which he could not understand. The older members were impish. They took delight, knowing the Japanese were impatient, in rambling endlessly over technicalities. Was the new state to be a republic, a democracy or a dictatorship? How were the main organs of the state to be constructed? The younger men, Aung San, Thakin Nu, and others, were uninterested, and wanted the whole affair to be over and done with quickly. (N.126) U Chit Hlaing moved that the Commission should not proceed with its work until the Japanese gave an undertaking to include the Shan and the Karenni states in the new constitution. ‘Dr. Ba Maw said that he could not do so (demand the undertaking from the Japanese), but I said ‘please convey to the Japanese that you will not proceed any further with the constitution until the Shan states and the Karenni states are included.’ A few days later our demand was granted and we included the states within Burma.' (N.127) When, after several weeks, the discussions were yielding no results, the Japanese commander-in-chief invited the Commission to meet him, and gave them a good scolding. The Commission came away quietly laughing, and produced the constitution in time. (N.128)
On August I, 1943, Burma was declared to be an independent sovereign state, and a co-equal member of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. The state was to be ‘ruled over by the Head of the State who shall have full sovereign status and powers.’ Dr. Ba Maw became the Head of the State, or Adipadi, and Prime Minister as well. On the recommendation of Dr. Ba Maw, the Prime Minister, Ministers of the Cabinet were appointed by Dr. Ba Maw, the Adipati. The Ministers were responsible, ‘both collectively and individu­ally’ to the Head of the State who was also the ‘Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese Armed Forces.’ Certain fundamental rights were guaran­teed to ‘Burma nationals’ such as freedom of religious belief, and inviola­bility of person, property and dwelling, and freedom ‘within the limits of law and morality’ of expression and peaceable assembly. No means, however, were laid down in the constitution for the enforcement of those fundamental freedoms in the event of violation.
The Supreme Court was to continue as the highest Court of Record, and the ‘administration of law and constitution of law courts shall be in accord­ance with the existing laws.’ The Chief Justice was appointed by the Adipati after consultation with the Prime Minister or Minister concerned. Other Judges were appointed by the Adipati after consultation with either the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice or with the Minister concerned and the Chief Justice. All Judges were declared to be independent in their judicial functions.
Major-General Aung San joined the Cabinet as War Minister, and Colonel Ne Win took over as commander of the Army which was re-named the ‘Bur­ma National Army’. Thakin Nu became Foreign Minister. Thakin Than Tun, the Communist leader, became Minister for Forests and Agriculture, and grow to like being a minister, and the power and pomp that went with the office, so much that he easily forgot his communism for a considerable length of time. Thakin Tun Ok, whom General Moe Gyo had made Chief Administrator of Burma, was banished to Singapore for the period of the war, and Thakin Ba Sein to Java.
The in dependence was ushered in with due ceremony. At the auspicious hour, the Ministers, the Commanding General of the Japanese Imperial Army, officials, and guests, assembled at the Adipati’s House where, a little over a year ago Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith had resided and conducted the affairs of state. At the auspicious moment, the Adipati entered the hall, and the master of ceremony cried, ‘Silence! The Adipati approaches!’ And everyone stood, and remained silent, and the Adipati mounted the steps and stood on the dais, looked round and smiled and nodded graciously, then sat himself on the golden throne. The Japanese General read the announcement of the end of military administration. The Burmese prophets blew their shell-horns to announce the arrival of independence. Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, misty-eyed with the joy of seeing Burmese glory restored, gave Dr. Ba Maw the oath of office. ‘Adipa~i Ashinmingyi, 0 King!, dost thou promise to rule this land with justice and mercy? 0 King, dost thou solemnly pledge to rule as your forefathers ruled, upholding the laws of time immemorial?’ The Adipati graciously pledged himself. Then the Ministers received from his gracious hands their certificates of appointment, and the assembly dispersed for the morning. Later, there were the ceremonies of fixing the signatures of Dr. Ba Maw and the Japanese Ambassador Renzo Sawada to the Treaty of Alliance;(N.129) and the declaration of war by the new state against the Allied Powers, for which ceremony Dr. Ba Maw got into his specially made urn-form of supreme commander to broadcast the declaration from the radio. Thus August 1 passed, a busy day of colour and ceremony, and Dr. Ba Maw and his colleagues went back to the task of holding the nation together in the midst of a relentless war. (N.130)
‘Independence’ did not bring large material gains. The Japanese lived mainly off the land and their appetites were huge. Cattle were slaughtered for food, so that less and less were available to pull the plough in the paddy fields. When, with the daily bombings, rail transport became fitful and risky, the Japanese army comandeered cattle and men for transportation. Their demands only increased, and Minister for Agriculture, Thakin Than Tun, and Minister for War Co-operation U Tun Aung had a whole-time job bar­gaining with the Japanese commanders to cut down their demands, and then trying hard to delay the supply. The basic needs of life went out of the market; medicine, foodstuff, clothes, all disappeared, and the people were reduced to near-primitive conditions. The majority were undernourished and covered with various skin diseases; sellers of crude sulphur ointments did brisk trade shouting in the markets and the streets: ‘Do not delay, do not despair !
Buy this ointment and rub it in well, and you will scratch no more in public!’But ‘independence’ was a great psychological tonic. People could see that they had their own national Government, their Courts, and more heartening 5till, their National Army. It was a dream come true. Also, overbearing be­haviour of some Japanese soldiers, the promptness of their infamous Kempetai or military police to arrest and torture people on the flimsiest reports, and the peril of war-time drew the people together. They were united and resolved. New values emerged. The social distinctions which were so important before the war crumbled. Town-dweller who used to look down on the peasant with contempt, could no longer do so when he had to seek refuge from the war in the village. The war threw the rich and the poor together; the son and the daughter of the rich man drew water from the well in the village, and cut wood for fuel, and manual labour, so essential for survival, was no longer a despicable thing. The war and independence changed the very basic structure of society and its values, and in many ways the change worked good.

4. RESISTANCE

In October, 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose and his ‘Indian National Army moved into Rangoon to set up their ‘Provisional Government of India’ and begin their ‘march on Delhi.’ The Burmese Government and people made them welcome. They were comrades in a common cause, sharers of the same perils and vicissitudes. Indians in Burma rallied to the call of Bose who was their Netaji, their Leader.
In November, a conference of the leaders of the Co-prosperity Sphere nations was held in Tokyo, and Dr. Ba Maw went,resplendent in his field-marshal’s uniform. It was the first meeting of Asian leaders from the region as free men and gave a great boost to morale.But the fortunes of war were turning, and morale alone, or magic words, could not arrest their ebb and flow. In Burma, the anti-Japanese feelings slowly mounted. The Army was restless. The senior commanders, some of whom had been of the ‘thirty comrades’, smarted under what they considered to be Japanese insults.. They remembered the dismissal of the Burma Independence Army, and their earlier hopes of immediate independence which were shattered. The im­petuous among the young officers had wanted to fall upon the Japanese even before the dispersal of the BIA, but calmer and wiser counsels had prevailed.
In the Delta, Thakin Soe, the communist leader, had not lain low. He roamed and prowled, organizing the village cadre, and bombarding with letters his comrades in Rangoon, Thakin Than Tim, Aung San and others, accusing them of betrayal. Thakin Than Tun, the confirmed communist, was wearing European clothes and touring the country as Minister; a ‘Japanese puppet’, Thakin Soe called him. General Aung San, who had been associated with a Marxist study group in his thakin days, could not be so accused for he was leading the national army, and fast becoming a national hero; Thakin Soe used milder words with him therefore and only appealed for action. Thein Pe who had escaped into India had made his contacts with the British headquarters and was helping the Special Force 136 and Psychological Warfare planners. He soon elevated himself to be representative of the anti-fascist forces in Burma and later when the forces did gather and organize it was convenient for the leaders in Burma to call him their representa­tive.
In the Burma National Army, the hot-blooded young officers started crying for a showdown soon after the independence which made it possible for the Army to expand free of Japanese restraints. They began to read up literature about revolutionary struggles and resistance movements, to translate treatises on guerrilla warfare, to draft their plans and their pro­gramme, and print leaflets for circulation in the Army and the villages. Aung San at first waited. He ignored the messages from Thakin Soe, and the ur­gency of the young officers’ appeals. He worked first to build Karen-Burmese understanding and unity. The Karens were hurt and suspicious, after their clash with the BIA in the Delta, and Aung San tried to get their two leaders Kya Doe and San Po Thin to join the Army and raise Karen battalions in it. Kya Doe, the brilliant Sandhurst man, and San Po Thin the exuberant musician, were at first suspicious, but Aung San convinced them of his sincerity, and they came in. Soon Karen young men were serving in the National Army, and San Po Thin’s military band was playing at parades. This success was carried by Aung San and Thakin Nu into the civilian front as well, and their visits to the Karen villages in the Delta were highly successful. (N.131)
The people too were looking more and more to Aung San to provide leadership in the national cause. Unassuming and truthful, forthright and frank, Gen. Aung San was a shining example and a sharp contrast from the more colourful Dr. Ba Maw. The Adipati had fine words for every occasion; Aung San would keep his silence like a vow, and break only to utter words of terrible moment and truth. Even his silences, people began to see, were pregnant with momentous message. When every leader was praising Nippon to the skies for granting Burma’s independence, it was Aung San who dared to warn, at the first anniversary of independence, that the thing was not the genuine material which the people must fight and struggle yet to attain. His utterances, fortunately few and far between, disturbed the Japanese high command, and his own colleagues in the Cabinet alike, but they pleased the people no end. Dr. Ba Maw was smooth and silken, ‘a picture of suavity swathed in silks’ was the description of him by an admiring profile-writer; (N.132) but Aung San, in his dark-green tunic which obviously needed pressing and mending, was the hero of the common man.
By the beginning of 1944, the young officers were openly organizing for resistance. Prominent among them were Aung Gyi, Tin Pe, Chit Khine, Aye Maung. and Ye Htut who were serving with units in the field. At the War Office, Bo Khin Maung Gale, Bo Win, Maung Maung and others were using Colonel Ne Win’s office as the headquarters of the widening conspiracy. The ‘Burma Revolutionary Party’ revived again, and Thakin Kyaw Nyein, Ba Swe, Thakin Chit and Thakin Mya were once more holding their secret sessions to mastermind the imminent movement. The All-Burma Youth League, led by U Ba Gyan, T. K. Boon and others who had served as leaders of the University Students’ Union and helped in getting the ‘thirty comrades’ off to Japan, was the ‘second-line’ Burma Army and, with its network of branches, an ideal agency for district organization. (N.133) Thakin Than Tun and Thakin Ba Hein, the communists, lent their ideology, and indoctrinated the men in the Army; but fortunately, the men were intensely nationalistic and wanted to fight for freedom and not for Marx or Stalin, and few of them were converted. ‘The Communists nearly split the Army, though,’ General Ne Win recalled when he inaugurated a course of training for psychological warfare officers of the Burma Army recently, (N.134) ‘and if the resistance had not been started their mischief-making could have been disastrous.’
In September Ba Swe who was then chief of the Keibotai civil defence corps, Thakin Chit, Kyaw Nyein, Bo Khin Maung Gale, Bo Aung Gyi, Bo Maung Maung, and Ba Swe Glay, went out to meet Thakin Soe at Dedaye in the Delta to discuss terms for a united force of resistance. Thakin Soe, com­munist to the core, promised everything. He would place the resistance first, he pledged, and forget ideology in the common struggle. He would agree to having one front under one leader. Lastly he pledged continued struggle even after the Japanese had been driven off and the Allied Forces had arrived, until Burma’s independence was made real. That Dedaye meeting was the beginning of the ‘Anti-Fascist Organization’, the forerunner of the ‘Anti­Fascist People’s Freedom League’ (the AFPFL) which became the vanguard of the national movement after liberation, and has been the party in power since independence.
Thakin Soe went to Rangoon to meet Aung San. He went disguised as a Burma National Army officer, and moved about freely in Rangoon and among the troops. From months of hiding and prowling he emerged into a wider world to do larger planning. Thakin Than Tun also joined in now for he would not be left out of what he saw would be the making of an important chapter of the country’s history. Thakin Soe, Thakin Than Tim and Thakin Ba Hem worked on the Army, forging, they thought, a weapon out of it, for them to use in hacking their way to a communist state in Burma. The trio were different from each other in every way except in their fierce ambition. Thakin Soe was called the ‘sayagyi’, the teacher, the prophet, who was sup­posed to be the one man in the whole country who could fathom the fathom­less Marx. He was uncouth in his behaviour and uninhibited. But he was realistic, for when, later on contacts with the Allied Forces in India were established, and requests for arms and supplies could be transmitted by wireless, the first requisition he made was for lipstick and nylon for his woman disciples for he knew that it needed more than Marxism to keep them happy. Thakin Than Tun was the able, designing organizer, cool and dear and infinitely patient. He had married the sister of Aung San’s wife (N.135) and that probably sharpened his jealousy of the young general who was growing under his very eyes into a national hero. Thakin Ba Hein was the artist and the poet. He was soft as a sigh, and smooth, but his belief in communism was unshakeable. The three communists agreed only in the grand design of using the Army and borrowing Aung San’s prestige till such time as they could do without them, and then they would, or the war would, destroy Aung San and the Army.
The Anti-Fascist Organization formally came into being at the residence of Thakin Nu one day soon after the Dedaye meeting. It was an alliance of the Army, the Burma Revolutionary Party, and the Communist Party. Aung San was the natural choice as leader, and members of the supreme council were Bo Ne Win, Bo Let Ya, Saw Kya Doe, Thakin Than Tun, Thakin Soe, Thakin Chit, U Kyaw Nyein and U Ba Swe. The military operations council was composed of Bo Ne Win, Bo Zeya, Saw Kya Doe, Bo Yan Aung, Bo Ye Htut, Bo Aung Gyi and Bo Maung Maung. Thakin Nu, The man of peace, preferred to stay out. Dr. Ba Maw was also informed of the movement by Thakin Nu, Thakin Than Tun, and later by General Aung San, and persuaded with persistence to join in. But Dr. Ba Maw had his interpretation of historical forces, as he liked to describe situations, and, giving his younger friends loyal protection where he could, would not
his lot with them.
Meanwhile the Allied Forces began their thrust into northern Burma. Feeble contacts between the A-F.O. and the Allies grew into firm agreements, and soon Burmese agents were slipping across the borders into India and dropping back by parachute at appointed rendezvous to begin operations. Force 136 also sent its teams out to establish centres of activity in the Karen and with the Burma Army. (N.136) In Mandalay, the Burma Army garrison under Major Ba Htu could wait no longer for the signal to strike. In February as the Allies pounded at the gates of Shwebo, then rolled on into Sagaing, the garrison fell upon the Japanese, who were then in force in Mandalay and around, and after inflicting severe damage, withdrew into the Shan hills to wage long and bitter guerrilla war. In Rangoon, the Japanese were suspicious, and of divided mind about Aung San and the Army. On the one hand there was suspicion which Major Ba Htu and his men certainly did not lay to rest. On the other, however, there was the need, at that desperate hour, of using every available hand to stay, if not stop, the inrushing Allies. While the Japanese high command wavered, Aung San produced his plan for sending ~it the Army to positions along the Irrawaddy river where it could meet and fight the Allies, he said. The Japanese approved eagerly, and supplied the army with arms. On a fine morning in March, 1945, the Army gathered on the open grounds west of the Shwedagon Pagoda, and in ceremonial parade pledged to fight the ‘foe’ to the death.
Dr. Ba Maw in his field-marshal’s uniform, Ministers of the Cabinet, and the General Staff of the Japanese Imperial Army, attended the parade to say fare-well and God-speed. A few Japanese aeroplanes, the few which still flew the sky, flew overhead and swooped in salute. But of those who came to say good-bye, the people of Rangoon, the old who were bent with age and the burden of war, and the young who were still unbowed and full of hope, the men and the women, the girls and the children, they were those who im­pressed deeply on the young men of the Army the aim and purpose of their mission. The women wept as they gave the soldiers leaves of eugenia for good luck.
The Army then melted away quickly as small units hastened to their al­lotted positions and assigned duties. On March 27 the resistance began all over the country.(N.137)

CHAPTER III

LIBERATION AND FULFILMENT

I. RETURN TO RANGOON

When it became obvious to the Burmese Government that the Japanese Army could not withstand the weight of Allied numbers and armour under the daily carpet-bombings, it sent delegations to plead with the commander-in-chief to spare Rangoon. especially the Shwedagon Pagoda. The delegations, made up on most trips of U Tun Aung and UThein Maung, started going to the Japanese headquarters from October, 1944, when the writing on the wall was already visible to all, and it was apparent that the Japanese Army must either roll back from Burma in retreat or make a bitter stubborn stand to the death.
The Japanese commanders were not sympathetic towards Burmese sentiments at first. The Shwedagon, they said, was dispensable. Rangoon was dispensable. In fact there was nothing that was indispensable in a total war, not lives, however precious, nor property, nor temples, however treasured or sacred. But not Rangoon alone, Tokyo itself, came under dire peril then. War began to hit the very heart of Japan. and in the desperate months that dragged before the end, Japan was having to resort to desperate methods. Youths of tenders years were recruited into the ‘Kamikaze’ suicide squadrons, taught to fly and die on their missions of death. Young men volunteered in their thousands, willing, indeed anxious, to die for their Emperor and their country. The Japanese Government wanted some foreign leader of stature to visit Japan and meet the boys and inspire them, and others like them to join. Dr. Ba Maw was the excellent choice. He spoke well ; Burma was at the frontline of the war even as Tokyo itself was now. So the invitation went to Dr. Ba Maw, and he donned his field-marshal’s uniform again, and with friend U Tun Aung and a small staff. flew out to Tokyo in the month of November. Their aeroplane crashed after leaving Saigon, and they were badly shaken though unhurt. Dr. Ba Maw’s sword was twisted, and the entry into Tokyo was thus a dramatic scene: the field marshal from the battlefield arriving, through many dangers, with torn uniform and twisted sword.
The visit to Tokyo and the repeated visits to the Japanese headquarters in Rangoon at last resulted in a settlement of terms. Rangoon would be spared, and the Shwedagon would stand. The Japanese Army would fall back on Moulmein. then retire into Thailand. The Burmese Government was, how­ever, to go along with the Army, to work together, it was said, for the word ‘hostage’ was a little harsh.
The retreat began on April 23, 1945, nearly a month after the resistance began. On April 25, Subhas Chandra Bose, leader of the Provisional Govern­ment of India, flew out of Rangoon by a last aeroplane, leaving behind a message to the people of Burma in which he thanked them for the hospitality, and promised that he would return one day soon and organize the ‘march on Delhi’ again. (N.138) The city grew silent for several days: some lootings went on in the streets. Later, the Burmese guerrillas emerged under the leadership of U Kyaw Nyein, U Ba Swe, Bo Khin Nyo and others. Kyaw Nyein was to have gone out with the Burma Army to Toungoo where Thakin Than Tun had already gone underground. Ba Swe was to have been in charge in the Rangoon area. But the Japanese Kempetai arrested him just before the retreat, and Kyaw Nyein stayed behind to try and get him out; Ba Swe was saved, and so was Kyaw Nyein for, it later came to light, the communists had made arrangements to get rid of him in the Toungoo camps.(N.139)
In the hills and jungle the guerrilla war of the resistance raged. There was heavy fighting in the Delta where Bo Ne Win commanded the troops and Thakin Soe strived to capture ‘their minds, and the Japanese in division strength tried to break through it all to the regrouping points east of the Sittang river. There was heavy fighting along the Toungoo-Rangoon road, and all along the Sittang which was, for the Japanese, the last river to cross before they reached safety. After the fighting was done and the final sur­render came, General Slim commanding the XIIth. Army sent a message to General Aung San to congratulate ‘you and all ranks on the part which the Patriot Burmese Forces has played in the final stages of the liberation of your country. Your co-operation with the regular forces has contributed effectively to the heavy casualties that have been recently inflicted on the Japanese. I trust that the spirit of patriotism which has inspired all ranks to help their country against the aggressor will be further exemplified by their desire to safeguard it in the future as members of the Burma Army. (N.140)‘Patriot Burmese Forces’ was a proud name well-earned.
Buns were soon silent on the battlefields: beginning in the farthest north where the Chins and the Kachins, hardy warriors by tradition, had risen in their levies and their guerrilla organizations, right down to Rangoon, the Patriot Burmese Forces and the Allies fighting side by side. The PBF were given every recognition by the Allied Forces, under the direct orders of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the Supreme Commander, South East Asia, and they were paid and disbanded prior to their absorption into the regular re-formed Burma Army. (N.141)
The shift was now from the battlefield to the political arena. Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, in exile in Simla, was keen to come back to Rangoon. While Burma remained under military administration, Sir Reginald could not ap­propriately go back. It was therefore decided between Mountbatten and the Governor that the latter should fly out to Rangoon and hold a meeting with leaders of political parties in Burma ‘on board a British warship in the Rangoon river, an expedient which would avoid H. E. the Governor’s setting foot on Burmese territory before he had resumed responsibility for Govern­ment. (N.142) The meeting took place on June 20, 1945, on board H.M.S. Cumber­land. The AFPFL and the PBF, along with other parties and groups, were invited to send their representatives to meet Sir Reginald in the middle of Rangoon river. Both Mountbatten and Sir Reginald realized that the AFPFL under Aung San’s leadership was the predominant political organization, but took great caution to appear not to recognize this fact, for to do so would take them a step nearer to recognizing the AFPFL’s claim that it was not a party, nor even a coalition merely, but a ‘National Government’.
Sir Reginald brought back to Rangoon the White Paper stating the policy of His Majesty’s Government on the future of Burma, and his own famous smile. ‘Let us get on with the job,’ he said cheerily on the Cumberland, for Burma’s fight for freedom was over. The White Paper envisaged an extension of the personal rule of the country by the Governor, under section 139 of the Government of Burma Act, for three more years, ie. till December, 1948. Within that period, general elections would be held, and the parliamentary government restored, ‘with the same degree of authority over the same range of matters as it enjoyed before the Japanese invasion.’ A second phase would then follow during which ‘the ground will be prepared for the attain­ment of full self-government.’ Chosen representatives of the people should then draw up a constitution, and after discussions and agreements with His Majesty’s Government, ‘full self-government within the British Com­monwealth can thereupon be established in Burma proper.’ The Scheduled Areas were, however, to be ‘subject to a special regime under the Governor until such time as their inhabitants signify their desire for some suitable form of amalgamation of their territories with Burma proper. (N.143)
While the regime of the Governor’s personal rule lasted he could have an ‘Executive Council so as to give Burmans a share in the administrative task of restoring the economy of their country, subject to the retention of the Governor’s powers of supervision and control.’ He could also have a ‘small Legislative Council’, as an interim body. And on the Cumberland Sir Regi­nald promised: ‘During the caretaker period, I will try to make the Executive Council and the Legislative Council as representative as I can, after consul­tation with representatives of the principal political groups. (N.144) With that promise, and the invitation extended to parties to cooperate in ‘getting on with the job’ of rebuilding Burma, Sir Reginald flew back to Simla.
Life soon flowed back to Rangoon. Aung San and the leaders of the AFPFL and the PBF arrived back to forge their united front. On August 19, the AFPFL leaders and the commanders of the PBF who still had the mud of the fields on their boots, reported to a huge rally of people at the ‘Naythuyain theatre’ in Rangoon on the successes of the resistance. Resolutions were also passed to urge the British authorities to absorb the PBF as it stood as the nucleus of a new Burma Army for independent Burma, and to take early steps for the return of civil government to the country. The conference also called on the ‘anti-fascist fighters and all those who want to take their share in the rehabilitation of their own country’ to immediately form a ‘Provisional Government’ because ‘it is clear in the course of history that a Provisional Government should follow an armed insurrection before the convention of a Constituent Assembly.’ Then the elections to the Constituent Assembly must be held, it was resolved, to draft the constitution of a ‘free Burma’ and the necessary agreements with Britain, to send ‘Burma’s representatives to foreign countries, if necessary’ and to the Peace Conference’ of the Powers also. (N.145)
Aung San, Thakin Than Tun, U Ba Pe, Ba Kyaw Winn, Bo Maung Maung, and other staff officers went to Kandy in Ceylon to meet Mountbatten, General Slim and commanders of the SEAC to discuss the future of the PBF. It was there agreed that 200 commissions in the new Burma Army would be granted to officers and suitable personnel of the PBF, and other ranks also would be open to those PBF personnel who were fit and willing to serve. Mountbatten invited Aung San to lead the new Army, starting first as one of the two Deputy Inspector-Generals to be appointed with the rank of brigadier. It was an attractive proposition, for never before had any Burman attained the rank of brigadier in the Army and never before, needless to say, was a Burman given the opportunity of building the Burma Army. Aung San. however, refused. He saw that his destiny lay elsewhere. The leadership of the AFPFL was more urgent and vital, for now the climax to the national movement for freedom was coming.
In October, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith returned to Rangoon to take over administration from the military and its Civil Affairs Staff (Burma). more he promised that Burma’s fight for freedom was over, and by gradual steps and controlled stages the forward march to self-government d now be made. Sir Paw Tun, Sir Htoon Aung Gyaw and other Ministers staff who had evacuated to Simla, also returned to Rangoon, all full of will and good intentions, glad to be home and back in power, but out of e with the mood and temper of the peoples of Burma.
Dr. Ba Maw also came back after a few months in Sugermo jail in Japan. He had evacuated with the Japanese troops from Rangoon in April, and after t hardship, had found his way to Japan where he was interned by the Allies after the surrender. His friends and associates went and pleaded with Reginald to secure his release and return, and at last, early in 1946 he arrived back in Rangoon by a Royal Air Force ‘plane, wearing a jungle green-shirt, and sporting a Hitler-moustache.
Thakin Ba Sein and Thakin Tun Ok also returned from exile to seek their fortunes in politics. U Saw returned from Uganda, older but still undaunted, ‘Galon’ Saw at heart. A reader of minds in Uganda was reported to have U Saw and studied him and said that everyone he had known who had Saw’s features and skull had ended on the gallows, and U Saw was the remarkable exception who achieved not the gallows but the premiership of his country. Little did he know that U Saw, patriot though he undoubtedly was, was destined to make his way along uncertain paths of politics to that tragic end.
By the beginning of 1946, thus, all were back in Rangoon. Aung San and the leaders of the PBF; Thakin Mya, Thakin Nu and others who followed Dr. Ba Maw on the retreat; Thakin Than Tun, Thakin Soe, and other Communist leaders; Sir Reginald and his loyal Ministers; Dr. Ba Maw, complete with moustache, still the Adipati; U Saw, Thakin Ba Sein and Thakin Tun Ok, back from their sojourns abroad, Thakin Thein Pe, the wanderer, back from his travels in India. (N.146)

2. AUNG SAN AND THE AFPFL

In January 1946, the AFPFL convened its first great assembly of peoples on the slopes of the Shwedagon Pagoda. People came from all over the country and from all walks of life. It was a great upsurge. The general mood was a peculiar and unique amalgam of war-weariness and the great relief that was felt at war’s end, nationalism and the pride of having emerged from the war as an ‘independent’ nation which was much battered and bruised but still whole and functioning, and hero-worship for Aung San and the joy and relief felt in having found in him a man to whom the future could be entrusted. Aung San was the hero of the hour, the Bogyoke —the Supremo. People needed someone whom they could trust without reservation, and blindly follow, and Aung San was that someone. He had led the Burma Independence Army, he had led the resistance. He was without selfishness; he was as poor as the people themselves, having acquired nothing during the war — when people in his position were gathering fortunes — except a loving family, and a solid reputation with the people
It was a situation of a kind that rises but rarely in a country’s history, when a people who are looking for a hero and a man who is looking for his mission meet, and there is happy union and the two merge into one. Aung San was not the attractive personality that could charm or bewitch. Nor was he a good speaker. He spoke for several hours at the AFPFL convention, touching on endless subjects, mostly in a dull academic manner. People drifted in and out while he spoke, or unrolled their mats and went to sleep. They accepted what he said even though they did not hear or understand him. What the Bogyoke said or did was right. When he asked for funds, girls took off their gold and gave them to him. When he asked the people to act, they did without questioning. It was a unique situation, and it would be unkind to compare any later leader with Aung San, for that situation could not be made to order.
The AFPFL, by acclaim, elected Aung San its leader. The Communists tried to seize the leadership but failed, and Thakin Than Tim contented himself with the Secretary-Generalship of the League. They had started organizing their Party immediately after their return to Rangoon in 1945, thereby breaking the war-time pledge to work together in a united front until the struggle for freedom was over. They were everywhere. They preach­ed complete co-operation with the British and the surrender of arms; al­most like an echo of Sir Reginald they said that the fight for freedom was over. They gave courses of indoctrination at their Party headquarters in Rangoon, and men from the PBF, disbanded and at loose ends, drifted to them in the hundreds. At the Party young men and women boarded to­gether, discussed politics and sex openly, heard their hero Thein Pe recount his adventures and exploits in India, their prophet Thakin Soe preach Marxism, and their cool-headed teacher Thakin Than Tun analyse the world situation in dialectical terms. The Communists went far in capturing young minds then; but within the AFPFL they remained the seeming followers of Aung San.
Dr Ba Maw could not dazzle the people anymore. At a civic reception in Rangoon on his return from Sugermo he said he was out of party politics now, but he was available if the nation as a whole called to him. With that he sat aside and waited, but the call never came. He could not work with the younger man, Aung San; people did not work with Dr. Ba Maw, they worked for him.
U Saw too saw Aung San several times, but could not bring himself to work with the younger man. ‘He’s only a boy,’ U Saw said as he finally broke the talks for joining the AFPFL. He went back to form his ‘Myochit Party’, got together a handful of men, and made his demands to His Majesty’s Government in London to grant self-government to Burma immediately, or he would look elsewhere for aid. HMG did not seem to have been disturbed.
What disturbed HMG and Sir Reginald in Rangoon was the opposition offered by the AFPFL. Sir Reginald had invited the AFPFL to participate in his Executive Council, and the League had put forward eleven candidates for appointment. Sir Reginald could accept only seven, having objections in particular to Thakin Thein Pe, and also could not accept an AFPFL nominee as Councillor for Home Affairs which position he had reserved for Sir Paw Tun. (N.147) There was deadlock and accusations, Sir Reginald hinting that the AFPFL was ‘fascist’, and the AFPFL retorting pithily. The League thence­forth refused to co-operate with the Governor, and the Executive Council and the Legislative Council became empty affairs. The Governor’s writ soon ceased to run in the country. The ‘People’s Volunteer Organization’ (PVO) which was originally a welfare organization for ex-PBF men, now expanded fast, taking in young men and women who wore uniform and drilled in the open grounds in Rangoon and the district towns. Aung San’s prestige rose and the Governor’s fell every day. The rift between the League and the Governor was tragic, for it could have been avoided. The contest of wills was bad for the country. Lawlessness stalked the land. Weapons discarded by the British and the Japanese armies had fallen into the hands of villagers and bad hats and armed dacoities became rampant. ‘We came down far from our original stand for the formation of a National Government which must consist of all Burmans and which must have all powers.' So spoke Aung San (N.148) ‘We agree to the reservation of important subjects like Defence, Exter­nal Affairs and Scheduled Areas in the hands of the Governor and we agree to accept the Governor’s nominees both Burman and British. We even do not grudge a very important portfolio like Finance being held by one of his nominees, The only thing we ask of the Governor is that though legally he has the sole responsibility for administering the country, he should as by convention democratise his rule. To that we attach one condition that one of our nominees should be given the Home portfolio.’
The Governor himself was not in an enviable position. Loyalty to the older politicians who had followed him into exile in India, and for those who waited for him through the war in Burma, lack of a correct appraisal of the strange and fluid situation — which appraisal would escape even the shrewd­est political analyst, unless he knew the Burmese moods and mind — and the need to take instructions from London, which was still much further away from the heart of affairs, on matters of policy, made his task and position extremely difficult, (N.149) He went ahead and appointed an Executive Council, trying to get in as many representatives of the younger set, the thakins ,and other parties as possible (N.150) and nominated a Legislative Council with U Chit Hlaing as its President. The Legislative Council went through the gestures of law-making and debate on important public issues; the Executive Council tendered advice to the Governor in the exercise of his personal rule. But the gestures were empty and sad. The Councillors meant well, and did their best to serve, but they enjoyed no powers but what the Governor granted them, and the Governor had no real powers in the country, for the people did not obey his writs anymore, but followed Aung San and the AFPFL.
The Legislative Council debated, and made their demands. ‘Let us get the British Parliament to agree,' urged its President U Chit Hlaing, ‘to our elections being held in November, 1947 with franchise at 18 or 21. The whole House is agreed that there should be elections in November. Therefore, we must try and have elections by means of a resolution in this House.(N.151) Let us demand, Thakin Kyaw Sein, a Member, moved, that Burmans be given responsibility in the administration of reserved subjects, now that Burma was on the eve of full self-government. (N.152) Such motions were passed, and passed on to the Governor who, presumably, passed them on to London where, presumably, they got lost or mislaid, as things do get lost or mislaid in travel­ling through the long and tortuous official channels. The result was frus­tration. ‘Say no more,’ Thakin Lu Tun, a Member, cried in anguish, when U E Maung, Advocate-General, explained that it was not within the competence of the House to make laws, ‘shame us no more! We are already ashamed because the people and the press are saying that we have no power, and we are useless!" (N.153) Sometimes the frustration made some Members sour. Thakin Tun Ok who became an Executive Counsellor, would bitterly attack Aung San and the AFPFL. ‘U Aung San, president of the AFPFL committed a crime,’ he burst out, ‘and I could give the details, the place and the time. During the British retreat, those who were suspected of being British agents were put to the death.” (N.154) This, however, did not help Thakin Tun Ok very much when he himself, in a war-time book called ‘My Adventure’ had proudly told how he had cut off the heads of several dead British soldiers. The AFPFL, with Thakin Than Tun as Secretary-General, was quick and sharp, and supplied its friends in the House of Commons with the information, and questions were asked if Thakin Tun Ok would be dismissed from the Gover­nor’s Executive Council for what he had done.(N.155) This bitter political strife did not help at all in the rebuilding of the country.
In London. the new Labour Government, enjoying for the vital post-F war years a massive majority, slowly got round to reconsidering the policy towards Burma. In Parliament questions on Burma frequently came up. Labour Members Tom Driberg, who had covered the war in Burma as a newspaper correspondent and become a friend of Aung San and Thakin was one of the most vocal spokesman for the AFPFL and its cause. He likened Aung San to Tito in Yugoslavia, against the cry of the Conservative Members that Aung San's Army had been disloyal to the Crown and had come over only when the Japanese were losing. The debates in the House and the reports in the press served Burma’s cause well. Now it was not matter of royal commissions and round-table conferences to find out the situation in Burma or measure her fitness to govern herself. The world had grown small, Rangoon was better heard in London, for people were speaking to people across the oceans.
Aung San and the League grew stronger in Rangoon, drawing into their arms not the young PVO alone, but the older politicians and senior officials such as U Them Maung, the first Advocate-General, Sir Mating Gyee, U Ba Pe, U Tin Tut who retired as the top Burman officer in the civil service to join the AFPFL and work with Aung San in politics and Dr. Set who was also a senior official and a financial expert. All the mass organizations joined the League: the peasants, the youth, the workers, the service unions, the Muslim League, the women’s associations. Rival parties were reduced in their followings to their leaders. Dr. Ba Maw, with his ‘Greater Burma’ organization, stood or sat, mightily alone waiting for the call from the nation to lead. U Saw and his ‘Myochit Party’ were reduced to a handful as prominent leaders such as U Mya, the big businessman of Henzada, left and joined Aung San. Thakin Tun Ok was in office, and Thakin Ba Sein was trying to get into office; they had, however, no following; their Party had little more to show than big signboards.
It was the tragedy of Burma that in those crucial years after the war, energy could not be channeled entirely into creative purposes. It was tragic that available talent and leadership and resources could not be marshalled into nation-building and the winning together, without anger or bitterness, of self-government for Burma. They meant well, and they served; the Governor, his loyal politicians, the revolutionary AFPFL, U Saw, Dr. Ba Maw, the men in the Executive Council and the Legislative Council, but fate and circumstances tore them apart, arid as they were torn, the country’s reha­bilitation was hampered and delayed. As the bitterness in politics increased, so did lawlessness in the country, and restlessness. Standards of behaviour declined: the means were unimportant, if the end was achieved.
The strife between the AFPFL and the Governor also probably swayed the minds of Aung San and his associates towards Burma’s complete in­dependence outside the British Commonwealth. The pre-war demand of all Burmese nationalist politicians had been for self-government or dominion status. Even as late as 29th. August, 1945, when speaking an the resistance movement at a meeting of the East and West Association in Rangoon, Aung San had hoped that ‘in the interim period before Dominion Status’ the Burmese would be ‘actively associated in the measures taken for the defence of the country.’ But, editing his speech in the middle of 1946, when the strug­gle was being whirled along to its climax, Aung San found it necessary to add as a footnote to the speech, in his Burma’s Challenge: ‘When I made this reference, I made it on the basis of the declared British policy, without arguing yet about the pros and cons of ‘Dominion Status’. Now after further clarification of the policy of AFPFL in the due course of events, this reference should be construed merely as a reference, without meaning to imply the acceptance of ‘Dominion Status’ by me or the AFPFL.’

3. THE RISE OF HOPE

There were incidents and eruptions all over the country after the negotiations between the Governor and the AFPFL were broken off. The tension only grew with time. In May peasants held demonstrations at Tantabin, a town ~s few miles north of Rangoon, and the police opened fire — using 68 rounds of ammunition in all — and three were killed and several injured. There was uproar, and Aung San attended the funeral, and the dead became martyrs. (N.156) There were risings in Insein jail. There were hunger marches by villagers. In Rangoon the AFPFL rallies grew larger, louder and angrier. The climax came at last when the Government staff went on strike. Quickly the strike spread They went on strike — all of them — and it is interesting to note that the main demand of the strike was freedom for Burma, and a Provisional Government that was suggested by the ‘Naythuyain Meeting.’ The police did not strike for more wages or less hours of work. The Ministerial Services Union joined the police, the Postal Services stopped, the Railways stopped, the facto­ries stopped, the offices stopped — everywhere everything started stopping.' (N.157)
Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith went back to London, and in August, 1946. Major-General Sir Hubert E. Rance who had been in charge of the Civil Affairs Organization (Burma) under SEAC, was appointed Governor in his place. Sir Hubert came, promising the Burmese that he was not a soldier who had come brandishing a mailed fist but a friend to help and work together with. The Governor took an early opportunity to call on Aung San, who was ~ laid up with illness at his home in Rangoon’s Tower Lane, and the two soldiers who had served together in the liberation of Burma had frank and friendly talks and an exchange of memories. In September the Governor announced the dissolution of the old Executive Council and the formation of a new one with Aung San as Deputy Chairman or its de facto leader. (N.158) The entry of the AFPFL into the Executive Council ushered in a new and happy climate of goodwill and co-operation all round. ‘Independence within one year, which was Aung San’s pledge to the people, became something more than a slogan: a pledge which promised fulfilment.
In December His Majesty’s Government led by Mr. Clement Attlee invited Aung San and Burmese leaders to visit London for talks on Burma’s future. The AFPFL had asked, early in the year, for facilities to send a delegation to London, and HMG had not been prepared ‘to receive deputations from any individual party or organization but nevertheless that should two of their members wish to visit the U.K. in an entirely private capacity to make informal contacts, endeavours would be made to help them to obtain sea passages to the U.K. once the present extreme pressure on accomodations was eased.'(N.159)Now in December, the AFPFL was in the Government, and going to London as guests of HMG. The long and bitter night of 1946 thus drew to a close with the bright and cheerful sun of hope rising on the horizon.(N.160)

4. DRAFTING THE CONSTITUTION

The talks in London between Mr. Attlee and his Labour Government, and Aung San and the Burmese delegation led to satisfactory conclusions.(N.161) There was some suspicion at first among the Burmese leaders, Mr. Attlee later recalled, and they ‘could not believe that we were prepared to abide by the choice of the Burmese people. They had, unfortunately, committed them­selves to their followers in favour of complete independence and a Republic. They had also to face the Communist Party. As the talks proceeded, their distrust disappeared and I think that some of them — particularly their leader, Aung San, a strong character, began to realise the desirability of remaining in the Commonwealth, though it may be that, like India, they would have opted for a Republic.(N.162)
There were also moments of suspense in the meetings. On the night of Sunday, the 26th. January, ‘the meeting which began at six in the afternoon had ended in a deadlock at eight in the evening, when the conference broke up temporarily to enable each side to think over the points at issue during the dinner interval and to meet again at ten o’clock that same night in their last effort to reach agreement.’ So wrote U Tin Tut, a member of the Burmese delegation, and one of the principal advisers to Aung San.(N.163) ‘We pondered long, and just before the time for resuming the conference at 10 p.m. we had come to a decision. We sorted out from the points remaining in dispute those we considered vital from the point of view of Burmese aspirations.
We would adhere to these points and refuse to enter into any agreement which did not concede these points to Burma. We would do this and face the consequences, whatever they might be. The points of lesser importance we would agree to waive.’
In that spirit of give-and-take, the final agreement was drafted, and signed on Monday, January 27th. ‘It was a historic moment,’ U Tin Tut noted, ‘and there was tense silence. Mr. Attlee and U Aung San inscribed their signatures with firm hands to both copies. We had made history; a new era of Anglo-Burmese friendship and co-operation had begun.' U Saw and Thakin Ba Sein refused to associate themselves with the agreement, but Mr. Attlee, swell­ informed in regard to the relative strength of the political organizations in Burma’, decided to proceed without them.(N.164) Back in Rangoon the two dissenting leaders went about saying that Burma had been sold, and Aung San had signed the agreement under pressure, and that his hand had trembled at the moment of signature. The AFPFL and the people, however, accepted
the agreement, which has come to be popularly known as the ‘Aung San-Attlee Agreement’ as a big step forward towards the goal of independence ‘within one year’. ‘We did not get 100 percent of what we wanted,’ Aung San admitted at a civic reception given to him by the city of Rangoon,’ but we now have a Government which is, by convention though not in law, a popular one. Soon the Constituent Assembly will meet to draft the constitution of independent Burma. We are free to stay in the Commonwealth or leave. The choice is ours. The way is open for us to march to freedom.(N.165)
The Agreement called for general elections to the Constituent Assembly in April 1947 using the electoral machinery prescribed under the Government of Burma Act, 1935. It was also agreed that the Executive Council would be the ‘Interim Government of Burma’ to be conducted ‘generally in the same manner as the Interim Government of India at the present time’ and to be treated ‘with the same close consultation and consideration as a Dominion Government’ enjoying the ‘greatest possible freedom in the exercise of the day-to-day administration of the country.’ The Interim Government was also to have financial autonomy, and full association with the disposal of business in defence and external affairs. It was agreed that a High Com-­ missioner for Burma should be appointed to represent the country in London, and that His Majesty’s Government would request Governments of the countries with which Burma wished to exchange diplomatic representatives to agree to such exchange. HMG also agreed to support Burma’s application for admission to the United Nations Organization, and other international bodies. The Government of Burma was to get control, forthwith, of all Bur­mese forces, while, in accordance with settled practice all British forces stationed in Burma were to remain under the ultimate control of HMG. In regard to frontier areas, the agreed objective was declared to be ‘the early unification of the Frontier Areas and Ministerial Burma with the free consent of the inhabitants of those areas. The leaders of the peoples of the areas were to be asked at the Panglong conference to be held in February, or a special conference to be convened for the purpose, to express their views on their future relations with Burma.(N.166)
The Panglong conference, attended by Aung San and the AFPFL leaders, all the Saophas of the Shan States, and leaders of the Chins and the Kachins and representatives of the Supreme Council of the United Hill Peoples (SCOUHP), started early in February and reached agreement on February 12, celebrated today as Union Day and a national holiday to commemorate the coming together of the peoples. It was a unique occasion. Never before had the leaders of the peoples met in conferences: the ‘scheduled areas’ were shut off from ‘Burma proper’, and it had been the assumption that the two could not, or would not, come together. The saophas of the Shan States, princes and princelings, depended on the British, and all along their in­clinations had been towards some vague federation with Burma while enjoying the continued protection of His Majesty’s Government. In the Kachin hills, there were the chieftains who were similarly placed as the saophas. and who fondled similar hopes and dreams. The chiefs in the Chin hills who owed their appointments to the British commissioners, after the age-old system of elective chieftainship had been abolished by them, also could not think of their future except in association with British rule and protection.
In February, 1947, however, the situation had changed. The hill peoples had seen the war, and fought it on their own. They had tasted victory and freedom, and the wider world beckoned them from their solitary hills. Their delegations to Panglong in 1946, were made up mainly of the chiefs, and Thakin Nu, for the AFPFL, and U Saw, and other leaders, had visited them at their SCOUHP conference, and urged them to join a Union of Burma. In 1947, the delegations became more representative, being composed of com­ moners and chiefs, soldiers who had led in the resistance, and younger leaders who wanted bolder, nobler things than foreign protection. It was these delegates that Aung San met and impressed with his and the Burmese sincerity to work together and build a future for the Union. Fears and suspicions, which were unallayed by the intrigues of some of the die-hard British officers of the exclusive ‘Frontier Service’, were put to rest by the honesty and earnestness of Aung San. He spoke a language which the hill pies could understand and appreciate. He promised them equal democra­tic rights, and every assistance in building their backward areas; but his promises were sincere and not offered as bribes. The Kachins asked for an autonomous state within the Union, and the issue was debated hard and long, for the Kachins only had their snow-capped mountains which would be inadequate resources for a separate state. The Chins, led by their young leader Vum Ko Hau, asked Aung San if he would take care that the Chin hills got good roads and schools; he promised, and they decided to join the Union not even bothering for a separate State. The unreserved acceptance of Union by the Chins paved the way for agreement. The Shan saophas threw their lot, and the Kachins who were promised that the question ‘of demar­cating and establishing a separate Kachin State within a Unified Burma’ would be studied with consideration.(N.167)
The Panglong Agreement laid the foundation for the Union of Burma, d the Frontier Areas Committee of Enquiry, led by Lt.-Col. D. R. Rees­ Williams, (N.168) after conducting the necessary investigations on the spot under the terms of the Aung San-Attlee Agreement, could report favourably for the Union concept on April 24, 1947. ‘The views of the witnesses from the Federated Shan States and from the Kachin Hills are strongly in favour of a federated Burma in which the Federated Shan States will form a State or unit and the Kachin Hills another,’ noted the Committee, while ‘represent­atives from the Chin Hills do not desire to federate.. but prefer an amalgamati­on of their area with Ministerial Burma, stipulating only that there should be no interference with their tribal customs and traditions and that their chieftains should be allowed to administer their tracts as at present.' (N.169) The Committee thought that there should be a Federal Council ‘somewhat on the lines of a Legislature’ with such subjects as may be allocated to the federal sphere. The SCOUHP, it thought, had scope for playing an important part in the development of the Federation. External affairs, defence, posts and telegraphs and communications, currency and coinage, customs, and titles and honours, were considered to be the common subjects which should be dealt with by the federal organ. Representatives of the ‘frontier peoples also asked for the right of secession and the Committee warned that ‘if any such right is to be contained in the federal constitution of Burma, it will have to be carefully limited and regulated.' (N.170)
In April there were country-wide elections for the Constituent Assembly. Aung San and the AFPFL canvassed energetically. ‘Elect the candidates that we name,’ Aung San said at public meetings, ‘for they are trusted and true. The Constituent Assembly may yet turn into a Revolutionary Council. We may have to fight for freedom still. We do not need ‘educated’ men. We want revolutionaries.’ In that vein he spoke up and down the country, and everywhere, at the elections, young PVO leaders, men of the resistance, and men who were picked by the AFPFL headquarters as the true revolutionaries won with landslide majorities, and in many places uncontested.(N.171)The elec­tions went off without any untoward incident. The Communist Party, which had been ousted from the AFPFL by that time, contested, and won 7 out of 255 seats in the Assembly. The racial groups were also represented: the Karens, though their one great leader Saw Ba U Gyi chose to stay out; the Shans; the Kachins, the Chins, the Karenni; the Anglo-Burmans.
The members of the Constituent Assembly were energetic and keen. They came from different walks of life. Most of them wore their khaki uniform, as members of the PVO, or ex-PBF men. Members of the Socialist Party invented a uniform of their own, consisting of khaki two-piece suit and red neck-tie. Those who did not wear uniform, wore pitwzi jacket and Burmese longyi, bamboo topee, and Burmese slippers, and slung their shoulder bags in which they carried papers and books and assorted things. They went to work without delay or ceremony. In May the AFPFL held its first ‘small Constituent Assembly’ at Jubilee Hall in Rangoon where a ‘III-member committee’ was appointed to draw the first draft of the constitution. The committee worked night and day, and on the last day of the conference, May, 23, 1947, the draft was produced and adopted. Aung San enunciated the several basic points which must form the heart of the constitution: that Burma must rise as a sovereign independent Republic in which the demo­cratic rights of the citizen, irrespective of race, birth, religion and sex, shall safeguarded; a Union in which democracy and socialism are forever brined.(N.172) On 9th June, the Constituent Assembly met. Thakin Nu was elected President of the Assembly on IIth June. Bogyoke Aung San moved his basic points on 16th. June, and on the 18th. a resolution was adopted to point a Constitution Committee of not less than 75 members to study and use the draft. The Committee also had several Sub-Committees for special subjects such as’ Union and State Powers’, ‘The Judiciary’, ‘Constitutions of States’, and ‘Fundamental Rights’. There were several other special Committees to select the state seal, the Union flag and the national anthem. committees, the sub-committees, and the special committees worked d while U Chan Htoon, constitutional adviser, and a small selected staff (N.173) t feeding them with drafts and memoranda. On 29th July the Constituent assembly began its second session to consider the constitution clause by clause. The draft was then given to the Drafting Committee which worked r it and had the final draft ready for the third session which began on 15th September.
Several drafts were thus prepared, and in the drafting the principles which were adopted at the AFPFL conference formed the basis while a draft pared by U Chan Htoon, referred to by the committees as the ‘pink book’ because it had pink covers, gave guidance on matters of form and ail. The constitution of the Republic of Ireland was also frequently consulted for inspiration and guidance. So was the constitution of the Republic of Yugoslavia, perhaps because there was some sentimental regard Marshal Tito, whose exploits had been likened to those of Aung San, and resistance men. India also helped in the drafting. U Chan Htoon and staff visited New Delhi to gather ideas and techniques, and the Constitutional Adviser to the Government of India, Sir B. N. Rau (N.174) also visited Rangoon to advice on the final draft of the Burmese constitution.
he third session of the Constituent Assembly, at which the Karenni State gates were present for the first time thus making the Assembly fully ‘esentative, adopted the constitution on September 24. The constitution, kin Nu said in moving adoption, contained seeds of freedom for all, and only for a favoured few. ‘Keeping at heart the good of the masses who at present sunk in the depths of poverty I urge the members to lavish all the care and attention that seedling of Burma’s freedom immanent in the constitution, and make it sprout and grow into a great and flourishing tree of magnificent foliage.’ Thus did Thakin Nu urge, and by acclaim the As­sembly adopted the constitution of the Union of Burma.

5. FULFILMENT

And fulfilment of Burma’s aspirations came at last. In October Thakin Nu and his associates went to London to conclude the final treaty with the British Labour Government before the announcement of Burma’s inde­pendence. What is popularly known in Burma as the ‘Nu-Attlee Agreement’ was signed on 17th. October in which the British Government agreed to recognise the Republic of the Union of Burma as a fully independent sovereign State.’ Matters of detail were provided for in the Agreement and in the exchange of notes. A Defence Agreement and a Financial Agreement were also signed in Rangoon by the Burmese Government and visiting British missions. In December the Burma Independence Act was passed by the British Parliament providing that on the appointed day ‘Burma shall become an independent country, neither forming part of His Majesty’s dominions nor entitled to His Majesty’s protection.' (N.175)
The appointed day, according to Burmese astrologers, should be January 4, 1948, and the time 4.20 a.m.. Thus 4.20 a.m. on January 4 it was when Burma’s independence was proclaimed. Sao Shwe Thaike, elected President of the new Republic, and Sir Hubert Rance, the last British Governor, presiding over the ceremony of transfer of power, and that same morning Sir Hubert and Lady Rance and their staff embarked on the ‘H.M.S. Birmingham’ which was waiting in the Rangoon river and left Burma’s shores as good friends. (N.176) History thus completed a full circle from that day December 1885 when King Thibaw and his Queens were taken by the conquering British to exile in India on the ‘H.M.S. Canning’.
Fulfihncnt had not come easily. There had been struggle over the decades since the loss of freedom. There were sacrifices all along the way: the YMBA and the GCBA and the Sangha, keen and eager in their own ways, heroes in their own times; U Ottama who gave new vigour and new boldness to politics, and who died obsessed; U Wisara whose last words in jail before he died in hunger strike was ‘Be Wise’; Saya San and his ‘Galon’ Army marching on guns and cannon with drawn swords; the older politicians and their liberal ideas and constitutional methods; the younger thakins with their impatience and their white-hot zeal; the student strikers of 1920, 1936; Aung Gyaw died with skull crushed by police batons; the martyrs of Mandalay, the ~jba and the students; the Burma Independence Army that marched on 1j~y roads and became a shining symbol of defiance and victory; the rece in the jungles with boys dying with one last wish on their lips: ‘Keep prayers for me until Burma is free’; the AFPFL and the united front, great upsurge on the crest of which rode that unique young man, Aung San. uifilment had not come easily, for at the last hour before victory Aung San, the hero, the idol, was struck down and physically des­.Aung San had presided over the constitution drafting committees, his decision and his very presence had brought harmony and unanimity the proceedings. Leaders of the Shans, the Kachins, the Karens, the and the Karenni peoples trusted him and accepted his final word and e. Difficult or delicate points were overcome by a small word, or a ed joke, or a solemn promise from Aung San. Even he was sacrificed the independence struggle. On 19th. July, 1947, Aung San was having his
tive Council meeting, when a group of gunmen burst into the chambers ying bullets all round. In a few confused minutes Aung San and several his colleagues lay on the bloody floor dead or dying. this home in the suburbs of Rangoon, U Saw waited for his gunmen to .When they arrived back and reported success of their mission, he ‘Victory!’ and waited confidently by the telephone for the call from Government House which he expected. With Aung San and seniorAFPFL rs removed, the Governor would call upon him, U Saw was certain, to a Government. Once more he would return to power, ‘Galon’ Saw the ul, conqueror of all foes. The telephone call did not come, however. its stead the police arrived. U Saw and the gunmen, some of whom had unwilling but helpless under his spell, were tried by a Special Tribunal open hearings, and finally sentenced to death. (N.177) “I regarded him (U Saw),” Clement Attlee wrote recalling the London visit of Aung San, U Saw the Burmese delegation, “as a man who would ‘smile and smile and be a ‘.We had the whole party down to Chequers for lunch and my wife thought that she was entertaining a prospective murderer and his victims. " (N.178)
Thus independence came to Burma after decades of struggle and many sacrifices. ‘Does this statement mean,’ Mr. Winston Churchill hnanded leading the Conservative Opposition in the House of Commons, ‘that we pay and we go, or only that we go?’ when Mr. Attlee, the Prime Minister, announced the coming of Burma’s independence.’ (N.179) In an earlier debate in which Mr. Attlee stated that ‘HIS Majesty’s Government do not regard the White Paper Plan as unchangeable in the light of developing circumstances,’ Mr. Churchill had also complained that the ‘British Empire seems to be running off almost as fast as the American loan.” (N.180)
But history had been kind to Burma, The British might not ‘pay and go’ but at least they went in a friendly way. In the light of drastic events which are happening in the world today, one can think of other colonial powers who would have, in similar circumstances, neither paid nor gone, but stayed and established their power by force and slaughter. Thus it was fortunate that Burma had finally to deal with the British and no other. It was also fortunate that before the final phase of struggle against British rule, Japan came to Burma and brought ‘independence’ if only in the ‘Coprosperity Sphere’. It is now fashionable to condemn Japan of the war as ‘fascist’ and to ridicule Burma’s independence under the occupation as the cheap ‘Tokyo-made’ variety. But the war, and the Japanese, with their ‘Asia for Asians’ slogan, lifted the hearts and hopes of the Burmese, the Indians, and Asians under colonial rule everywhere. Their victory over the Allied Powers gave potent and vivid proof that Asians could be the equals of other peoples the world over. In Burma the independence gave the peoples their national army, their government and their courts; returned to them their pride and their confidence. The face-slapping Japanese soldier tarnished the shining sheet, no doubt, and the trials and tribulations of the total war that was being fought over Burma took much of the joy of independence away. But three years of the war, and of independence, made the Burmese peoples new, and the tragedy of the early liberation years rose from the discord between the old ideas and the old formulae of London and Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith and his old Minirters, and the new ideas and moods of these new Burmese peoples.
‘We need harbour no resentment,’ said Prime Minister Thakin Nu, about the intrusion of the West into Burma’s history. ‘We could not forever develop our own culture and maintain our old ways of life without reference to the outside world, a world which was even then growing smaller by the develop­ment of the steamship and the railway. The dash with the West was bound to come and if in that clash we lost for a time our independence we have gained in knowledge of the world and have had time and opportunity to align our civilization and our way of life to what the world demands though we have been careful not to lose in that process our national in­dividuality and the principles which we hold dear,’ (N.181)

(N.1) Thibaw’s family included his two queens and two daughters; his staff consisted of six officers and seventeen attendants (‘An Episode of Burma’s History in India,’ an article by U Hla in the Ludu daily newspaper, in Burmese, January 4, 1958) (Back)
(N.2) Premier U Nu is fond of remembering this incident in his speeches for national unity, e.g. his speech in the Provisional Parliament, congratulating the election of the Sawbwa of Yawnghwe (the son of the Sawbwa in the incident) as Speaker. Parliamen­tary Proceedings, vol. III. No. 9, page 389. (Back)
(N.3) Burmese Sketches, Taw Sein Ko, Rangoon, 1913, pp. 46—47. (Back)
(N.4) See appendix I.(Back)
(N.5) Burma Laws Act (1898), s. 13.(Back)
(N.6) Public Administration in Burma, F.S.V. Donnidion, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1953(Back)
(N.7) Burmese Sketches. Taw Scin Ko, pp. 49—50.(Back)
(N.8) eg. The Passing of Empire, London. 1913 The Inward Light, MacMillan, 1917.(Back)
(N.9) eg. Trials in Burma, Faber & Faber, 1937; The Journey Outward, Faber & Faber. 1952.(Back)
(N.10) Into Hidden Burma, Calls. Faber & Faber, 5953, p. 35.(Back)
(N.11) Prof. C. H. Luce is now special professor in oriental history at the University of Rangoon, and his monumental study of ‘Pagan’ is to be published soon by the Burma Historical Commission. His Burmese wife, Daw Tee Tee Luce, runs a ‘boys home’.(Back)
(N.12) The author met Khup Lian at his village in April, 1957. He was then old and bent double, but he still climbed the mountains easily, and his memory was clear.(Back)
(N.13) The five enemies’ are: floods: fire: Government or Ruler; thieves; those who hate one.(Back)
(N.14) Shihoe is the posture and gesture of great respect: one sits on the knee or prostrate, with hands clasped as in prayer.(Back)
(N.15) ‘The Minds begin to Move’ was the theme of ‘K’, the popular pen-name of U Khin Zaw, describing these times in his ‘Burma in My Life-time,’ which was seria]ised iu the Guardian magazine from February, 1956.(Back)
(N.16) Reliable accounts of the YMBA—GCBA period in Burma’s Political History, a book in Burmese, written by U Ba Khine, a leader of the Fabian party, and published in 1g37 in a series of articles under the same title, written by U Lay Maung. politician and journalist, now Assistant Director of Religious Affairs, and published by the Bamahhit Burmese language daily newspaper between iôth. June, and 29th. September, 1956; in Encyclopaedia Burmanica, vol. 2, and World Affairs-Half-a-Century. 3 volumes, published by the Burma Translation Society in Burmese, sg~6: Political Memoirs, by Them Pe Myint, published by Shwepyidan Publishers, Rangoon. in Burmese. 1956; ‘The Development of Political Parties in Burma’, by ‘Deedok’ U Ba Choe, published in a series of articles in the English-language Rangoon Review in its first and last year, 1945—46.(Back)
(N.17) Sir Arthur Eggar was also Professor of Law at the University of Rangoon till his retirement lfl 1938. He was awarded the LL. D. degree honoris causa, and came to receive the diploma from Premier U Nu, Chancellor of the University of Rangoon, at the Convocation ceremony held in December, 1957. He wrote and published a series of volumes on the Laws of India and Burma, and also compiled the ‘Burma Code’ of laws.(Back)
(N.18) Gaungbaung is the headgear of Burmese males worn indoors and out, a mark of rank and respect and formality.
“T is skull-cap shaped, though slightly high ‘t is unique. it hits the eye.
Just above the rounded brim
Peeps a loose end small and trim.
With a waft of sudden breeze
It licks the nose and one may sneeze...’
is the humorous description of the gaungbaung by ‘M.M.T.’ in his uproarously popular ‘libellous lyrics' of Burmese life in the Guardian magazine (April, 1957 — ‘Burmese Attire’).(Back)
(N.19) In the ‘Dawn of Nationalism in Burma’. an article in the Joiirno.1 of the Burma Research Society, April. sg~o, by J. S. Furnivall, reproducing extracts of a lecture by U May Oung in the early YMBA days.(Back)
(N.20) Report of the Joint Select Committee London, 1934, 247. (Back)
(N.21) Prom 40 to 60 percent of the members were Government officers and staff, according to U Pu whom the author interviewed on November 30, 1957.(Back)
(N.22) An obituary of Sir J. A. Maung Gyi, by Nyo Mya, editor of the ‘Oway’ Burmese daily newspaper, appears in the Guardian magazine. April, 2955.(Back)
(N.23) Profile of U Them Maung. Guardian magazine. September. 2955.(Back)
(N.24) In a condolence motion in the Chamber of Deputies U Khant (Pantanaw) gave a life sketch of U Chit Hlaing, and, incidentally, of the GCBA movement. Parliamentary Proceedings, Deputies, vol. 3 No. 2, February 24, 2953, pp. 145—154. Proceedings axe all in Burmese now.(Back)
(N.25) U Ba Hlaing runs a business, and also writes on the ‘Revolution of the Olden Times’, mainly of the GCI3A era in the Amyothtz (Nationalist) Burmese fortnightly magazine published by Dr. Ba Maw.(Back)
(N.26) ‘The policy of His Majesty’s Government, with which the Government of India are in complete accord, is that of the increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire.’ The reform schemes which were drafted in accordance this policy became popularly known as the ‘Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms’ after Mr. Montagu, Secretary of State for India, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy in India.(Back)
(N.27) Sir Reginald attributed this liberal policy of the British Prime Minister Lord Curzon to ‘an extraordinary temporary lapse of an otherwise brilliant brain.’ The Zndiats Dilemma by Sir Reginald Craddock, London. 5930, quoted by John L. Christian in his valuable book, Burma and the Japanese Invader, Thackers, Bombay. 1945.(Back)
(N.28) An account of U Ottama and his times appears in the condolence motion and speech made by U Khant (Pantanaw) in the Chamber of Deputies, and the supporting Speeches. Chamber of Deputies, vol. 4 No. s6, September 9, 5953, pp. 1451—1464. There is also a biography of U Ottama in Burmese by U Soe Maung, editor of the New Light of Burma, published by Samameitta Publishers, Rangoon, ig~6.(Back)
(N.29) The Secretary of the GCBA in its first year was U Thin Maung; U Htoon Aung Gyaw was Treasurer; Executive Committee members were U Maung Maung Ohn Ghine, U Ba Hlaing, U Ba Si, U Pu (Tharrawaddy), U Them Maung, U Msung Gyee, U Tun Wai, U Aye Maung, and U Pu, hamster.(Back)
(N.30) Our National Day’ by ‘Deedok’ U Ba Choe, first published in the Rangoon Review, reproduced in the Guardian magazine, December, 1g53.(Back)
(N.31) Befterknown as Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, the Grand Old Man of Letters and Politics. Now 84, winner of the Stalin Peace Prize. (Back)
(N.32) Author and educationist, presently Burma’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations.(Back)
(N.33) ‘Burma Legislative Council’, by U Ba Dun, in Burma Yearbook and Directory. Rangoon, 1930. (Back)
(N.34) Speech by Sir Harcourt Butler to young officers at Meiktila, 11th. August, 1926.(Back)
Collection a/Speeches, Government Press, Rangoon, 1927
(N.35) Collection of Speeches, p. 146. (Back)
(N.36) Ibid.. pp. 159—60. (Back)
(N.37) A Ministers salary was Rs 5000 (i rupee = x. s. 6 a.) per month, which was a princely
salary. Ministers became known as ‘Eaters of Five Thousand’.(Back)
(N.38) The ‘Twenty-One’ were U Ba Pe. U Pu (barrister), ‘M. A.’ U Maung Gyee, U Them Maung. U Maung Gyi (New Light of Burma), U Sam, U Thin Maung, U Kun, Dr. Ba Yin. U Ba Hlaing. Dr. Them Maung. U Hla Pe, U Maung Maung Ohn Ghine, U Ba Si, U San Lin, U Ba U, U Lun Maung, U Sein Ba, U Maung Gyi, and U Thaw. (Back)
(N.39) Speech by U Pu, Burma Round Table Conference. Proceedings, Government Press, Ra.agoon, 1932. p.53. (Back)
(N.40) Ibid.. p. 78.(Back)
(N.41) In the dyarchical scheme the line of Ministers for Education which followed were: Dr. Ba Yin, U Ba Tin, barrister, U Kyaw Din, barrister, and Dr. Ba Maw, barrister; of Ministers for Forests: Sir Lee Ah Vain (two terms), barrister, Sir 5. A. Maung Gyi. and U Ba Pe.(Back)
(N.42) Two candidates were put forward, U Ba Pe, memeber for East Rangoon who won, obtaining 46 votes, and U Ba Dun, member for West Rangoon. who obtained 24 votes. Burma Legislative Council, Proceedings, vol. 1. 1923, pp. 51—52.(Back)
(N.43) Eg. Government’s statement that the Rangoon Cantonment, including areas adjoining the Shwedagon would be placed by the Government of India in the charge of the Local Government on terms involving the construction of a new cantonment at Mingladon (which was estimated to take ~ years) and the arsenal on the Pagoda could then be moved out. Ibid. p. 5o.(Back)
(N.44) Collection of Speeches, Sir Harcourt Butler. p.155.(Back)
(N.45) Views of Local Governments on the Recommendations of the~ Indian Statutory Commis­sion, 7930, Calcutta, Government of India Press, 1930,P. 306.(Back)
(N.46) Report of the Rebellion in Burma up to 3rd. May 1931 HMSO, London, Cmd. 3900.(Back)
(N.47) Galon’ io the symbol of victory over the ‘Naga’. The Naga represents foreigners such as the English, the French, the Italians and the Russians. It is said that if a man has a ‘galon’ tattoo mark on him he becomes invulnerable, and the shot fired at him be­comes coloured fiour.~ Statement by a prosecution witness at one of the trials; Aung lila vs. King Emperor, Indian Law Reports. Rangoon series. vol. IX, p. 417.(Back)
(N.48) The Government's first motion of the Bill was lost by 39 votes to 41. The Bill was Passed on subsequent motions after heated debates. Legislative Council, Proceedings, Vol. XX—!. 593!, pp. 55—75.(Back)
(N.49) Minister under the Japanese occupation, now back in law practice.(Back)
(N.50) Legislative Assembly, Debates, Vol. I., 593!, pp. 796—834, Government of India Press, New Delhi..(Back)
(N.51) Legislative Assembly, Deb~4es, vol. III., 1931, 2082—2122..(Back)
(N.52) Retold by Sir Arthur Eggar to the author when he visited Sir Arthur in Fowey, a fishing village in Cornwall, England. in May. ig~6; Sir Arthur was spending his ad­vanced bachelor life — he had married since — fishing in the sea..(Back)
(N.53) Legislative Assembly, Debates, vol III, 193!, 2082—2122..(Back)
(N.54) Burma Round Table Conference, Proceedings, Government Press. Rangoon. 1932, p. I..(Back)
(N.55) Members of the Burma delegation were: the Sawbwa of Hsipaw, the Sawbwa of Yaunghwe, Sra Shwe Ba, Mr. C. H. Campagnac. Mr. N. M. Cawasjee, Mr. M. M. Ohn Ghine, Sir Oscar de Glanville, U Ton Aung Gyaw. U Maung Gyee, Mr. S. N. Haji, Mr. K. B. Harper, U Chit Hlaing. Mr. R. B. Howison, Dr Them Maung. U Tharra­waddy Maung Maung, Mr. Sydney Loo-Nee, U Ni, Miss. May Oung, U Ba Pe, Tharrawaddy U Pu. Mr. Hoe Kim Seing, U Ba Si, U Su. and U Aung Thin. The Sawbwa of North Hsenwi, and the Kyemmong of Kengtung were advisors to the Shans.(Back)
(N.56) Burma Round Table Conference, Proceedings, p. 39. Miss May Oung (Daw Mya Sein) is a lecturer in history at the University of Rangoon, and a prominent social worker.(Back)
(N.57) The young Sawbwa of Yaunghwe became the first President of the Union of Burma. and is now Speaker, Chamber of Nationalities.(Back)
(N.58) The primary task of the Burma Conference will be to discuss the lines of a constitu­tion for a separated Burma.’ Announcement, dated August 20, 1931. Proceedings, p.9.(Back)
(N.59) Burma Round Table Conference. Proceedings of the Committee of the Whole Conference, 277. Government Press, Rangoon, 1932.(Back)
(N.60) The delegates from Burma were U Ba Pe, U Them Maung, U Chit Hlaing, Dr. Ba Maw, Mr. Tyabji, Dr. Daw Saw Sa, Saya Shwe Ba, Mr. Campagnac, Mr. Haji, Mr. Dawoodji, Mr. Harper, and U Shwe Tha.(Back)
(N.61) Joint Committee on Indian Constitutional Reform, Report, vol. I p. 249; HMSO, London, 1934.(Back)
(N.62) ss. 59, 122, Government of Burma Act. 1935.(Back)
(N.63) See profile of U Ba Swe in the Guardian magazine, March, 1956.(Back)
(N.64) U Nu’s condolence motion in the Constituent Assembly on the assassinations of Aung San and other leaders, gives sketches of the leaders, and the 1936 strike and the thakin movement; Constituent Assembly. Proceedings, vol. II. No. x., pp. 8—24.(Back)
(N.65) Who happened to be Nyo Mya, now editor of the ‘Oway’ Burmese daily newspaper.(Back)
(N.66) Accounts of the strike appear in the following profiles published in the Guardian magazine: U Nu, Prime Minister, May, sg~ Mr. M. A. Raschid, now Minister of Mines, December, 1956: U Kyaw Nyein, Deputy Premier in charge of National Economy, March, 1955; U Ba Swe. Deputy Premier in charge of National Security, March, tg~6; Bo Khin Maung Gale, Minister for Finance and Revenue, July, ‘954; U Tun Win, Minister for Co-operatives, October, 1955; U Hla Maung, Burma’s Ambassador to Peking. July, 1955; U Nyo Mya. October, 1958.(Back)
(N.67) U Ohn, Burma’s first Ambassador to Moscow. later Advisor to the Prime Minister, U Nu. U Tun On is Commissioner, Rangoon Corporation; U Thi Han is Director of Military Supplies. Ma Ah Mar. married U Hla, and they run the Ludt~ daily news­paper in Mandalay; Ma Khin Mya is now a lecturer in the Education Faculty of the University of Rangoon; Yi Yi took her advanced degree in teaching in the Unitcd States, and is married to an Army major.(Back)
(N.68) A brief autography of Aung San appeared in the Bamahhij Burmese daily newspaper, August I, 1943, which celebrated Burma’s independence under the Japanese, and also in Burma’, Challenge, in English. by Aung San, which was prepared for publica­tion in 5946, but did not get beyond a few mimeographed copies for private circulation.(Back)
(N.69) Profile of Dr. Ba Maw. Guardian magazine, August, 5954.(Back)
(N.70) The Committee of which Justice H. B. L. Braund was chairman and U Pu Han. Mr.A. Rahim, U Khin Maung Dwe and Dr. M. A. Rauf were members, submitted its Report, on February z~’, 5939; Government Press, Rangoon, 5939.(Back)
(N.71) Forces leading to the unrest among the oilfield workers and peasants are analysed in Burma’s Revolution, in Burmese, written by Thakin Soc. who is now a Communist leader in insurrection, and published in Rangoon in 5939.(Back)
(N.72) Ba Hem became a Communist leader, and died on the eve of Burma’s independence. (Back)
(N.73) Hla Shwe became celebrated as a students’ leader, and Dictator’. He later left the movement and took a degree in medicine; in 5948, on his way to America for advanced Studies he died in an air crash. His brother is Thakin Hla Pe, ‘Ba Letya’.(Back)
(N.74) The Committee of which Justice Ba U was chairman and Senator U (later Sir) Thwin, and U Sesn Tun Aung were members, reported in July, 5939, with U Scm Tun Aung tendering a note of dissent. The Committee found that ‘the police had no justification whatsoever in charging the students in Sparks Street: and their conduct, to say the
least, is unmanly and most reprehensible.’ Report, Government Press. Rangoon, 1939.(Back)
(N.75) The author, then a student in the Intermediate College, Mandalay, was one of those whom the monks ~persuaded’ to sacrifice the western style hair-cut and be clean-shaven. The author found the cane which one monk had in his hand even mare per­suasive than the argument, and readily gave in. That was the mood of the times.(Back)
(N.76) A Government reply to a question revealed that there were only 159 Burmans, 3040 other indigenous races, 1423 Indians and 1587 British soldiers in the Burma Army shortly before the outbreak of World War II, and of officers there were 4 Burnians, ~ indigenous races, 36 Indians and 163 British. House of Representatives, Proceedings, vol. III. 1938 p. 431.(Back)
(N.77) U Ohn Khin is now proprietor of the Bama.khit Burmese daily newspaper. Thakin Than Tun, top Communist leader, is in armed rising against the Government (profile of Thakin Than Tim, Guardian magazine, October, tg~6).(Back)
(N.78) The goodwill mission, 1939, was composed of Daw Mya Sein, U Ba Lwin (now Burma’s Ambassodor to Ceylon), Mr. S. T. Leong, barrister, Thakin Nu, and others.(Back)
(N.79) Saya Tun Shwe was cast in jail for sedition, taken out in India to British evacuation in 1942, and died in jail there.(Back)
(N.80) Burma’,1 Challcnga, Aung San.(Back)
(N.81) Ministers in U Saw’s Cabinet were: Sir Paw Tun. Tharrawaddy U Maung Maung. U Aye, U Ba Than, Saw Pe Tha, U Ba Thi. U Ba Yin, and U Ba On. (Back)
(N.82) The Second World War, Winston S. Churchill, vol. III. 727. Cassell, London, 1950.(Back)
(N.83) 'Journey Perilous’ was the title of a series of articles written by U Saw in the Burmese Review, weekly English journal, published by U Tin Tut, 1946—47.(Back)
(N.84) The author was Them Pe: U Nyana, another wellknown writer and playwright, said to Thein Pe: ‘Either you must have written it, or I, for there are only two of us in Burma who are capable of such genius.’ Thein Pc admitted the authorship then.(Back)
(N.85) The Times, London, October 17, 1941.(Back)
(N.86) The Times, October 30, 1941.(Back)
(N.87) The Times. October 23, 1941.(Back)
(N.88) The Times, November 5, 2941.(Back)
(N.89) Hansard, vol. 376, p. 884. House of Commons. (Back)
(N.90) The Times, November 4, 1941. (Back)
(N.91)By Proclamation dated December 10, 1942.(Back)
(N.92) The events in this chapter and sketches of the personalities appear in the following profiles in the Guardian magazine: U Kyaw Nyein, March 1955; U Ba Swe, March, 1956; General Ne Win. October, 1954; Bo Khin Maung Gale, July. 1954; Thakin Chit Maung, September, 1954. Bo Hmu Aung, May, 1954; U Nu, May, 1955; U Tun Win, October, 1955; Thakin Than Tun, October, 1956.The facts are also gathered from interviews. Notes of speeches made on the subject by Colonel Maung Maung, Colonel Aung Gyi. and Colonel Kyi Maung, who actively took part from BIA to the resistance, and remained to build the new Burma Army, at a briefing of a visiting Yugoslav military mission in Rangoon in 1953, have also been consulted by the author. Comments and interpretations are, of course, the author’s own responsibility. (Back)
(N.93) Profile of U Hla Maung, now Burma’s Ambassador in Peking, Guardian magazine, July. 1955. (Back)
(N.94) Profile of U Ba Swe. Guardian, March, 1956. (Back)
(N.95)Colonel Maung Maung is now, perhaps appropriately, Director of Military Training in the Burma Army, and Professor of Military Science at the University of Rangoon. Colonel Aung Gyi is Colonel, General Staff. (Back)
(N. 96)Burma’s Challenge, by Aung San. (Back)
(N. 97)A History of the Minami Organ, a diary written by Mitsuru Sugii in Japanese trans­lated into English by H. Takahashi who, as ‘Colonel Kitajima’ came in with the Burma Independence Army; Mr. Takahashi is now assisting in the work of the Burma Defence Services Historical Research Institute. (Back)
(N. 98) Ibid. (Back)
(N. 99) The ‘thirty comrades were: Thakin Aung San (Bo Te Za); Thakin Shu Maung (Ba Ne Win); Thakin Tun Ok; Thakin Hla Pa (Bo Let Ya); Thakin Aung Than (Bo Set Kya); Thakin San Hlaing (Bo Aung): Hla Maung (Bo Zeya); Tun Shein. (Bo Yan Naing); Ko Shwe, (Bo Kyaw Zaw); Thakin Hla Myaing, (Bo Yan Aung); Thakin Ba Gyan (Bo La Yaung); Thakin Tin Aye. (Bo Phon Myint); Thakin Tun Khin, (Bo Myint Swe); Thakin Khin Maung U. (Bo Ta Ya): Thakin Tun Lwin. (Bo Ba La): Thakin Aung Thein. (Bo Ye Htut); Thakin Kyaw Sein. (Ba Mo Nyo): Thakin Saw Lwin (Bo Min Gaung): Thakin San Mya. (Bo Tauk Htain): Thakin Than Nyunt. (Ba Zin Yaw); Thakin Thit, (Ba Saw Naung); Ko Hla, (Ba Min Yaung): Thakin Tun Shwe, (Bo Lin Yon): Thakin Soe. (Bo Myint Aung); Ko Saung, (Bo Htein Win); Thakin Ngwe. (Bo Saw Aung); Thakin Aye Maung. (Bo Moe); Thakin Maung Maung. (Bo Nyana): Thakin Than Tin. (Bo Mya Din); Thakin Than Tin (died on Formosa island during training). Of the last-named six comrades, the five besides Thakin Than Tin died in the field either on entry into Burma. or during the resistance.Prominent among the survivors are: Bo Ne Win. General, and Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces; Bo Aung, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies; Bo Min Gaung. Minister for Transport in the Union Cabinet: Ho Let Ya, one-time Deputy Prime Minister, now in business; Bo Set Kya, one-time Member of Parliament, now in business. Besides Bo Ne Win only one more of the ‘thirty comrades’ remains in the Burma Army, and he is Bo Bala , a major. Bo Kyaw Zaw attained the rank of Brigadier, the second highest rank in the Burma Army, and was retired out for certain leakages of vital information in his possession to the communist insurgents. Bo Zeya. Bo Yan Aung, and Bo Ye Htut are with the communist insurgents.(Back)
(N.100) The Burmese tabaung or soothsayer’s song had it that the last of the Burmese dynasty would be destroyed by the British, who in their turn would be hit by the moe gyo-’ (lightning).(Back)
(N.101) Bo Zeya remained with the Army to the resistance and, in the new Burma Army, reached back to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, then led some troops in mutiny and joined communist insurgents.(Back)
(N. 102) Profile of General Ne Win, Guardian, October, 1954.(Back)
(N. 103)Sir Maung Gyee was appointed Defence Counsellor to Sir Archibald Cochrane, the first Governor of Burma under the Government of Burma Act, in the latter part of 1940. Sir Archibald visited Burma in 1957, died at his home in Scotland in April. 1958.(Back)
(N.104)The Burma Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and the Burma wing of the Royal Air Force distinguished themselves in war service after evacuating from Burma. The Vice Chief of Staff (Navy) of the Defence Forces, Commodore Than Pe was one of the first officers recruited for the BRNVR; the Vice-Chief of Staff (Air) T. Clift. and several senior officers of the Burma Air Force today also served in the RAF.(Back)
(N. 105)Bandoola was the Burmese general who fought the British in the first Anglo-Bur­mese War, and won the admiration of British field officers by his generalship.(Back)
(N. 106) In Burma under the Japanese, U Nu, MacMillans, London, 1953.(Back)
(N. 107) Profile of U Kyaw Nyein. Guardian. March, 1955. An approved version of the escape appeared in the Bamakhit newspaper (then published by the Government) on August 1. 5943.
(N. 108) Dr. Ba Maw called himself Prime Minister, but General Tojo referred to him as ‘Chief Administrator’. The role of theAdministration was, in strict law, advisory; the Japanese commander-in-chief and his military administration were the rulers. Dr.Ba Maw’s ‘Ministers’ were Dr. Them Maung; Thakin Mya; Thakin Than Ton; (Bandoola) U Sein; U Hla Pe; U Tun Aung; Thakin Tun Ok; Thakin Ba Sein, and U Ba Win. (Financial and Economic Annual of Burma, July, 1943. Government Press, Rangoon, 5943).
(N.109) Sir Mya Bu now lives in retirement. Sir Ba U became Chief Justice of the Union on independence, and President of Burma, 1951-56. (His autobiography. My Burma. has been published by Taplinger. New York). Sir Maung Gyee has retired after serving as Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. Dr. Myint is Dean of Law, University of Rangoon. U Chan Tun Aung is Chief Justice of the High Court.
(N.120). In Burma, published in September, 0944. by the Foreign Affairs Association,Rangoon.
(N.121) The experiences of a senior official who spent the war years trading in rice are recorded in River Journey’ in the Guardian, August. September, and October, 5954.
(N.122) Poliiical Memoirs, by Thakin Thein Pe, Taingchit Press, Rangoon, 1957. (in Bur­mese).
(N.123) New Order Plan, in Burma, 1944.
(N.124)Quoted in Financial and Economic Annual of Burma, 1943.
(N.125) Burma’s Challenge, by Aung San.
(N. 126) See profile of U Thein Maung, Guardian, September, 1955.
(N.127) Burma Legislative Council, Proceedings, vol. I. No. 7. p. 273
(N.128) See text of the constitution, appendix II.
(N.129) Substantive articles of the treaty read:
Art. 1. The Japanese and Burmese Governments, for the purpose of prosecuting the Greater East Asia War, agree to co-operate in military, political and economic matters.
Art. 2. The Japanese and Burmese Governments agree to co-operate in the con­struction, advance and common prosperity of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.
Art. 3. Matters of detail regarding the execution of this treaty will be negotiated when necessary.
Art. 4. The Treaty will come into force on the date of signature. (Bamakhit. August I. tg~3; Burma during the Japanese Occupation, vol. I, October,1943, Government of Burma, Simla.)
(N.130)The Ministers of the Cabinet were: Dr. Ba Maw, Prime Minister; Thakin Mya, Deputy Prime Minister; Dr. Them Maung, Finance; U Tun Aung, War- Cooperation; U Ba Win, Home Affairs; Bandoola U Sein, Propaganda and Prosperity: U Hla Pe, Forests and Mines; Thakin Than Tun, Land and Agriculture; UThein Maung. Justice; U Mya, Commerce and Industry; U Hla Mm. Education. Health, and City Develop­ment; U Aye, Revenue; Thakin Nu. Foreign Affairs; Major-General Aung San, War; Thakin Lay Maung, Transport.
(N.131) The first meetings of San Pa Thin, Kya Doe and Aung San are described in Grand­father Long Legs, by Ian Mocrison, Faber & Faber. London, xg~ç~. An account of a goodwill mission among Karens appears in the Guardian. June, 1947, under the title, ~My Karen Diary’, by U Mya Sein.
(N.132) Profile of the Adipati Dr. Ba Maw, by Htin Fatt. in Burma, 1944.
(N.133) Col. Aung Gyi. Brig. Tin Pe, Col. Chit Khine, and Lt-Col. Aye Maung are serving officers in the Burma Army. So are Lt-Col. Win, and Cal. Maung-Maung. Ye Htut is a leader among communist insurgents. Ba Khin Maung Gale is Minister of Finance. U Ba Gyan, after resigning as Minister, now practises law. T. K. Boon is also a practising lawyer.
(N.134) In December, 1951. when the first course was started, his theme being that party politics must severely be shut out of the Army.
(N.135)Daw Khin Kyi, widow of Aung San, is permanent head of the Social Services Cam­mission. Daw Ma Ma Gyi, wife of Thakin Than Tun, is with her husband in the jungle.
(N.136) A typical Burmese group which stole out of Burma into India in 1944 was led by Thakin Ba and Mahn Win Maung. Thakin Ba, Ba Them and some colleagues died in an aircrash on their return journey into Burma. Mahn Win Maung parachuted back, and broke a leg. He became Minister in the Union Cabinet, and was elected to the Presidency of Burma in March 1957. An account of the group’s adventures appears in the speech of the President-elect. Joint Session, Proceedings, Parliament, vol. 7. No. 1. March,11, 1957.
(N.137) A fuller story of the Burma Independence Army, the Resistance, and the Burma Army will be told when the History of the Wax, being prepared by the Defence Services Historical Research Institute, is published. An account of the aim and pur­pose of the resistance was also given by General Ne Win in his broadcast from Ran­goon on May 7.1945 (Text of broadcast appears in The New Burma, Nay Win Kyi Press, Rangoon, 1946, and the Guardian magazine January 1954).
(N.138) A report on the situation in Rangoon on the eve of the Japanese retreat by U Pu Glay, a senior reporter, now dead, appeared in the Ludu Burmese newspaper, March 27. 1958. ‘The exodus of the Adipadi Government’ from Rangoon, by U Tun Aung. who retreated with Dr. Ba Maw, appeared in the Guardtau, English daily newspaper, April 23, 1958.
(N.139) Profiles of Kyaw Nyein, Ba Swe, and Hla Maung. In the Guardian magazines of March, 1955. March 1956, and July. 1955 respectively.
(N. 140) Quoted by Aung San in a speech to the East and West Association, 29th. August, 1945, Burnza’s Challenge.
(N. 141) In Report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff by Vice-Admiral the Earl Mountbatten of Burma on his South-East Asia command, 1943—45, HMSO, London, 1951
(N.142) Ibid., P. 204. paragraph 85.
(N.143) Burma Statement of Policy by His Majesty’s Government,1945 HMSO, London.
(N.144) Speeches of Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, Government Press. Rangoon, 1945
(N.145) The New Burma, (English), containing APPFL resolutions, etc.. Rangoon. 1946.
(N.146) Questions were repeatedly asked in the House of Commons about Dr. Ba Maw and U Saw before their release. Thus, Mr. Sorensen asked the Under-Secretary of State for Burma if Dr. Ba Maw had been brought back to Burma from Tokyo and if the Government intended to detain him indefinitely. When the Under-Secretary of State had no definite answer, Major Lloyd asked if the Government would ‘search out more Maw’s to be detained indefinitely.’ Hansard, Commons, 1945—46, vol. 426, 488. Similarly with U Saw. Tom Driberg once asked if U Saw would be free, when back in Burma, to enter politics, and if HMG was building him up to ‘counterbalance the overwhelming popular support enjoyed by the AFPFL?’ The Under-Secretary of State replied: ‘Burma. like this country, being a free country, it will be difficult to prevent any citizen taking part in politics.’ He gave a negative reply to the second part of the question. Mansard, Commons, 1946, vol. 418, 2346. For the exploits of Thakin Them Pe, there is his own account in Traveller in War-time, in Burmese, Shumawa publishers. Rangoon, 2953.
(N. 147) AFPFL nominees were: Bogyoke Aung San, U Ba Pe, U Ba On. U Aye, U Razak, U Mya (Pyawbwe), Thakin Mya. Thakin Them Pe. U Nyo Tun, Mahn Ba Khine, and Saw Ba U Gyi (who later led the insurrection of the Karen National Defence Organi­zation). The Governor appointed. after failure of negotiations with the AFPFL: Sir Paw Tun, Sir Htoon Aung Gyaw, U Ba On and U Aye (who broke away from the AFPFL to accept office). U Lun, U Pu. Thakin Yan Aung (who is now Deputy Attorney-General), Mahn Ba Khin, U Tharrawaddy Maung Maung, Sir John Wise, and Sir Raibeart MacDaugall. See The New Burma.
(N.148)In his presidential address at the AFPFL convention in January, 1946. Reproduced in Burma’s Challenge.
(N.149) A detailed account — and an inspired defence — of Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith’s performance after liberation is in The First and Last In Burma. by Maurice Collis, Faber & Faber, London, 1957.
(N.150) Thakin Tun Ok was also appointed to the Executive Council on his return from war­time exile.
(N.151) Burma Legislative Council, Proceedings. vol. 1—12 p. 449.
(N.142) Burma Legislative Council. Proceedings, vol. 1—16 p. 1.
(N.153) Burma Legislative Council, Proceedings. vol. 1—17 p. 606.
(N.154). Burma Legislative Council, Proceedings. vol. 1---15p. 545.
(N.155) The Under-Secretary of State for Burma replied to a question by Tom Driberg that s the Government was not aware of any distress caused to loyal Burmese by the ap­pointment of Thakin Tun Ok, a prominent young Burmese politician who has recently returned to Burma from Singapore where he had been deported by the Japanese.’ Hansard, Commons. 1945—46, vol. 420. 740—74!.
(N.156) An Enquiry Committee was appointed to report on the incident, and its Report was published by the Government Press, Rangoon. 2946.
(N.157) In Burma’s Fight for Freedom, commemorating independence, Government Information. Rangoon, January 1948.
(N.158) The new Executive Council. appointed on September 27, 1946, was made up of: U Aung San, de facto Deputy Chairman or Prime Minister, Counsellor for Defence and External Affairs; Thakin Mya, Home Affairs; U Ba Pe, Commerce and Supplies; Thakin Thein Pe, Agriculture and Rural Economy; Mahn Ba Khine, Industry and Labour; U Aung Zan Wai, Social Services; U Tin Tut, Finance & Revenue; Thakin Ba Sein. Transport & Communications; and Sir Maung Gyee, Public Works & Rehabilitation. (Burma Gazette. Part I, October 12, 1946). On the expulsion of the Communist Party from the AFPFL in October, Thakin Them Pe, its representative, resigned from the Council on October 22. Saw Ba U Gyi, and U Mya (Pyawbwe) were added as Counsellors (Burma Gazette, Part I. November 2, 5946). U Saw was appointed to the Council on November 8, 1946 (Burma Gazette. Part I, November g, 2946). U Saw and Thakin Ba Sein who went to London on the Burmese delegation and refused to sign the ‘Aung San-Attlee Agreement’ resigned from the Council on their return to Rangoon.
(N.159) Hansard. Commons, 1945—46, vol. 418, 1345.
(N.160)Reports on the situation in 5946 are found in: ‘Burma in August 5946’, by U Khaut, one-time Member of Parliament. in the Guardian magazine, November, 1955; and ‘Burma Demands her Freedom.’ by Thakin Kyaw Sein in the Guardian magazine, January. 5958.
(N.161) U Aung San led the delegation, with AFPFL leaders Thakin Mya, U Ba Pe. U Tin Tut, U Kyaw Nyein, and U Aung Than (Bo Setkya). Thakin Ba Sein, U Saw, and their advisors Thakin Cit and U Ba Yin, were also on the delegation.
(N.162) As It Happened an autobiography by Mr. C. R. Attlee. Odhams, London, pp. 217—220.
(N.163)‘It was a Memorable Signature’, by U Tin Tut. in the New Times of Burma, January 4, 1948.
(N.164) Ibid.
(N.165)On February 28, 1947. Speeches of Bogyoke Aung San. Government Information, (Burmese). Rangoon, 1949.
(N.166) Conclusions reached in the Conversation between His Majesty’s Government and the Delegation from the Executive Council of the Governor of Burma. HMSO, London, command paper. 1947.
(N.167) Text of Panglong Agreement is appended.
(N.168) The members of the Committee for Burma proper were U Tin Tut, Thakin Nu, Ho Khin Maung Gale. and Saw Myint Them representing the Karen Youths’ Organi­zation; frontier areas members were the Sawbwa of Mongpawn, Sama Hsinwa Nawng, U Vum Ko Hau. and Saw Sankey of the Karen National Union. U Kyaw Nyein served as a member at the early stages but withdrew due to pressure of work as Home Minister.
(N.169) See Report of the Committee. Government Press, Rangoon, 3947.
(N.170) Ibid., p. 29
(N.171) Except for the 7 Communist members, and a few ‘independent’ members, all the successful candidates, including those representing communal interests, were either actively AFPFL or supporters of the League. The Communist members also took part in the drafting of the constitution, and supported the agreements with His Majesty’s Government.
(N.172) See Appendix.
(N.173) U Chan Htoon served for several years as the first Attorney-General, and is now a ~Judge of the Supreme Court. His staff included U Tun Tin, U Scm, U Ba Thaung. ~U Khin Maung Than, U Nan Nwe, and U Thoung. U Them Han, scholar and poet. ,Librarian of the University of Rangoon, served as officer on special duty, and trans­~Iated the English drafts into Burmese.
(N.174) ‘Sir B. N. Rau served as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations ~WIth great distinction, before he was elected to be Judge of the International Court of Justice in which office he died.
(N.175) Burma Independence Act, 1947, dated 10th. December, 2947, xx Gao 6, Ch. 3.
(N.176) Sir Hubert Rance was awarded the highest title in its gift by the Government of the Union of Burma, and he visited Rangoon in 2956 to receive it.
(N.177) ~7ho story of the assassinations may be found in the judgment of the High Court. on Appeal from the Special Tribunal, U Saw and 9 others vs. The Union of Burma, 1948 Burma Law Reports 217. Also U Sow & 4 others vs. The Union of Burma, 1948. BLR 249, Supreme Court. An interesting ‘inside story’ of the crimes was given by one of his men, Thukha, while serving his sentence, to U Hla in an intimate interview: The Jail and the Men, by U Hla (in Burmese). Ludu Press, Mandalay, 1957.
(N.178) AS It Happened by Mr. C. R. Attlee
(N.179) Hansard, Commons, 1g46—47. vol. 432, 778.
(N.180) Mansard, Commons, vol. 43!, 2343.
(N.181) Broadcast to the nation, January 4, 1948.