Karen National Union
Encyclopedia
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
National Union is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army
Karen National Liberation Army
The Karen National Liberation Army is the military branch of the Karen National Union , which campaigns for the self-determination of the Karen people of Burma. The KNLA has been fighting the Burmese government since 1949....
(KNLA) that represents the Karen people
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
of Burma. It operates in Eastern Burma, and has underground networks in other areas of Burma where Karen people live. In Karen, this Karen area is called Kawthoolei. Some of the Karen, led primarily by the Karen National Union (KNU), have waged a war against the central government since early 1949. The aim of the KNU at first was independence. Since 1976 the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State.
Overview
The United Kingdom representative of the organization is Nant Bwa Bwa PhanNant Bwa Bwa Phan
Nant Bwa Bwa Phan is the United Kingdom representative of the Karen National Union, a political organization representing the Karen ethnic people of Burma. She is also Vice-Chair of the Karen Community Association – UK, and on the board of the European Karen Network...
.
The KNU was dominated for three decades by its longtime leader Bo Mya
Bo Mya
Bo Mya was a Karen rebel leader born in Papun District, which is in present-day Karen State, Myanmar. He was a long-standing chairman of the Karen National Union , a political organisation of the Karen people, from 1976 to 2000...
, who was president from 1976-2000. The KNU was for many years able to fund its activities by controlling black market trade across the border with Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and through local taxation. After the failed 8888 Uprising
8888 Uprising
The 8888 Nationwide Popular Pro-Democracy Protests was a series of marches, demonstrations, protests, and riots in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma...
of the Burmese people in 1988, the Burmese military government
Military government
Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...
turned to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
for help in consolidating its power. Various economic concessions were offered to China in exchange for weapons. The Burmese Army was massively expanded and began to offer deals to groups fighting the government. The groups were offered the choice of cooperating with the military junta or being destroyed.
The KNU's effectiveness was severely diminished after the fall of its headquarters at Manerplaw
Manerplaw
Manerplaw is a city in the Kayin State of Burma and is also the suggested capital of the proposed Kawthoolei state that the Karen people of Burma have been trying to establish since the late 1940s. The headquarters of the Karen National Union were located in Manerplaw until January 1995.The...
, near the Thai border, in 1995.
Also in 1994, a group of Buddhist soldiers in the KNLA, citing discrimination by the KNU's overwhelmingly Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
leadership against the Buddhist Karen majority, broke away and established the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army is a breakaway group of Buddhist former soldiers and officers of the Karen National Liberation Army , one of the larger insurgent armies in Burma...
(DKBA). They were led by a monk widely thought to be an agent of the Burmese dictatorship. The DKBA quickly agreed to a ceasefire with the Burmese army and was granted business concessions at the expense of their former KNU overlords. The KNU and DKBA have since been in regular fighting, with the DKBA actively supported by the Burmese army.
Pado Mahn Shar
Pado Mahn Shar
Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan was the secretary general of the Karen National Union , which is the largest insurgent group in Burma. -Early life:...
, the secretary-general of the union was shot dead in his home in Mae Sot
Mae Sot
- External links :* * : an audio documentary.* *...
, Thailand, on February 14, 2008, possibly by soldiers of the DKBA.
Since then, the KNU and KNLA have continued to fight the Burma state military (Tatmadaw) by forming guerrilla units and basing themselves in temporary jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
camps on the Thai-Burmese border. Following its principle of no surrender, the KNU continues despite a precarious state of existence. Nonetheless, their fight continues to garner the sympathy of people around the world since the KNU has been fighting for the Karen people, one of the many ethnic nationalities of Burma that are experiencing ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
under the military regime's Four Cuts campaigns (Pyat Lay Pyat), a strategy where intelligence, finances, food and recruits are eliminated through a scorched-earth policy.
Several attempts have been made to conclude a form of peace with Burma's military junta, the State Peace and Development Council
State Peace and Development Council
The State Peace and Development Council was the official name of the military regime of Burma , which seized power in 1988. On 30 March 2011, Senior General Than Shwe signed a decree to officially dissolve the Council....
(SPDC), but with little success. The 2004 peace talks yielded only an informal ceasefire which the regime used to reinforce their frontline troops. Analysts realized this was a ruse, and sure enough, offensives against KNU held areas have resumed in earnest.
The Karen conflict is the longest internal war in the world, having been waged since January 31, 1949. The KNU wants a political settlement and supports a federal Burma.
Following the assassination of Padoh Mahn Sha elections were held and the current Secretary General of the KNU is Naw Zipporrah Sein
Naw Zipporrah Sein
Naw Zipporah Sein is a Karen political activist and Secretary General of the Karen National Union. Zipporah Sein was born in 1955 in Kayin State, Burma, and trained as a teacher before fleeing to Thailand in 1995. In From 1998 to 2008, she was the coordinator and executive secretary of the Karen...
.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Naw-Zipporah-Sein/61381418827 She was formerly head of the Karen Women's Organisation.
Direction (2011)
- Secretary General: Naw Zipporrah SeinNaw Zipporrah SeinNaw Zipporah Sein is a Karen political activist and Secretary General of the Karen National Union. Zipporah Sein was born in 1955 in Kayin State, Burma, and trained as a teacher before fleeing to Thailand in 1995. In From 1998 to 2008, she was the coordinator and executive secretary of the Karen...
- Vice President: David TharckabawDavid TharckabawPhado/Pado Saw David Takabaw/Takapaw/Takarpaw/Taw/Thackrabaw/Tharkapaw/Tharckabaw/Htaw.Saw David Tharckabaw is Vice President of the KNU and living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He is married....
- President: Saw Tamlabaw
2008
The 14th KNU congress was held from 6 to 20 Oct. It was held on KNU-controlled territory2009
Karen National Union's fighting force has been reduced to 3000-5000 fighters and on June 25 KNLA's Brigade 7 headquarters is overrun.2010
On 2 November 2010, the Karen National Union became members of an alliance which includes: the Karen National Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Chin National Front (CNF), Kachin Independence OrganisationKachin Independence Organisation
The Kachin Independence Organization is a political organization of Kachins in Burma which effectively controlled the Kachin State during 1960s-1990s until the 1994 cease-fire with the Myanmar government...
(KIO), New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Shan State Army North (SSA-N).
External links
- Armed-groups: KNU
- Karen National Union
- http://www.karenwomen.org/
- Revolution Reviewed: The Karens' Struggle for Right to Self-determination and Hope for the Future Saw Kapi, February 26, 2006, retrieved on 2006-11-30
- Fifty Years of Struggle: A Review of the Fight for the Karen People's Autonomy (abridged) Ba Saw Khin, 1998 (revised 2005), Retrieved on 2006-11-30
- Determined Resistance: An Interview with Gen. Bo Mya The IrrawaddyThe IrrawaddyThis article is about a newsmagazine. For other uses of the term, please see Irrawaddy.For the Second World War battle honour, see Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations...
, October 2003, Retrieved on 2006-11-30 - Karen Heritage Karen History and Culture Preservation Society
- Karen National Union Homepage
- Karen Martyrs' Day Marked by Calls for Unity Saw Yan Naing, The IrrawaddyThe IrrawaddyThis article is about a newsmagazine. For other uses of the term, please see Irrawaddy.For the Second World War battle honour, see Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations...
, August 13, 2008 - Remembering our heroes and rethinking the revolution Saw Kapi, Mizzima, August 13, 2008