Interview with Gen Bo Mya, Sunday P (r)

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Bangkok Post, Sunday Perspective
(Jan. 1994)

INTERVIEW WITH GEN BO MYA

Gen Bo Mya, chairman of the Democratic Alliance of Burma and leader
of the Karen National Union told Ralph Bachoe of his views
concerning the recent going-ons between the Slorc and members of
the Alliance.

  Peace talks being held between Slorc and the Kachin Independence
Organisation (KIO) are part of the attempt by Burma's military
regime to drive a wedge into the unity of the country's armed
opposition, claimed Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB) chairman Gen
Bo Mya.

  Slorc recently announced it was close to signing a peace
agreement with the KIO, the military wing of the Kachin
Independence Council (KIC). The Kachin forms the strongest and
largest group after the Karen in the DAB. DAB is an umbrella
organization made up of 20 dissident groups which includes students
and elected politicians who fled the country to the Thai-Burmese
border after the popular democracy uprising in 1988 and the 1990
general election which was ignored by the Slorc.

  The DAB chairman, who is also leader of the Karen National Union
(KNU), said the Slorc's new strategy is to infiltrate the armed
alliance and sign individual peace treaties with its members to
make the revolutionary groups bow to its wishes. He accused the
Slorc of lacking sincerity in solving the ethnic minorities
problems. Their so-called peace offers and treaties are aimed at
disintegrating the alliance and ensuring continued military
domination in Burma.

  Gen Bo Mya made the statement in an interview with Sunday
Perspective during his brief stay in Bangkok on his way to
Manerplaw, the KNU headquarters and base of the Burmese parallel
government.

  The stocky 66-year-old general expressed bitterness with the
KIO's defection. He lashed out at KIC Chairman Brang Seng for
betraying the DAB by holding talks with the Slorc (the ruling State
Law and Order Restoration Council).

  He said Brang Seng is one of the pioneers of the DAB who
participated in the drawing up of its constitution, so he knows
when negotiating with Slorc it has to be done as a group and not on
an individual basis. He described Brang Seng's move as an act of
betrayal not only to the Alliance but to the Kachin people as well.

  However, he said if the Kachin leaders have realised the error of
their ways and decide to reform by scrapping the peace talks with
Slorc they are welcome to return to the DAB fold. But if they
continue to deal with the enemy, then he will have no choice but to
abandon them. ``I consider them as brothers always and have a
strong attachment to the Kachin,'' he said. 

  Gen Bo Mya said that he has been informed that the rank and file
in the KIO are unhappy with Brang Seng's decision to cut a deal
with the Rangoon government.

  ``That is the reason why I will continue to organise all the
Kachin people and those in the rank and file of the KIO who desire
genuine peace,'' he said. ``It was the Kachin leadership alone that
is to be blamed.''

  The Kachin guerrilla group was the fifth to defect to Slorc since
the military junta announced in November last year a unilateral
ceasefire with the guerrillas and asked for bilateral talks.

  Commenting on the situation, the Karen leader said these groups
have now begun to realise their mistakes. ``They have contacted me
and the DAB realising that they have noting to gain by negotiating
with Slorc and have now begun to resume their revolutionary
activities.

  ``If they [the Slorc] really desire genuine peace for the
country, they must hold face-to-face talks with all opposition
organizations, both armed and unarmed alike, to find the solutions
at the negotiation table,'' Gen Bo Mya emphasised. It is ``useless
for Slorc to declare ceasefires when they refuse to talk to the
opposition groups and come to terms'' to address the problem of
peace and unity in the country. ``This is a political problem, and
we need to find a political solution to it. They are restricted
from discussing politics, so it is useless for both the DAB and the
KNU to talk to these people.''

  The general said what the DAB desires, if the military regime
wants to establish peace and unity in the country, is for Slorc to
initiate a nationwide ceasefire and to announce to the people of
Burma and the world of their intentions to hold talks with the DAB.
The talks must be held in a neutral country like Thailand and not
in Burma. Also a United Nations representative must be present at
the talks. And as a gesture of Slorc's sincerity they must release
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners and restore full
democratic rights to the people.

  When asked about the peace overtures he recently made to the
Slorc, he said it was done in his capacity as chairman of the DAB
and not the KNU. He said two letters were delivered to Gen Than
Shwe explaining DAB's stand on establishing peace and unity in the
country to counter rumours that the DAB and the KNU were not
interested in ending the turmoil in Burma.

  ``We are always seeking peace, true peace, unlike the Slorc which
is not sincere about it,'' Gen Bo Mya said. He also revealed that
the KNU had turned away several emissaries sent by the Slorc to
enter peace negotiations with them because it was against the DAB
policy.

  The poker-faced general who is often photographed looking stern
broke into a smile and then loud laughter when told that readers
have never seen a cheerful looking Bo Mya in newspaper
publications. He replied that unlike some people he can't lie. ``I
like talking straight. If I have something to say, I say it
straight to one's face.''

  He cited as example the secret talks conducted between the KIO
leadership and the Slorc which began since the last rainy season.
``When we confronted them [Brang Seng] on the issue we received a
point blank denial. But when the BBC came out with the announcement
of the on-going negotiations between the two sides, they had to
admit that they had been deceiving the DAB all along'' said the
general with a smile.

  Talking about the students the Karen general said they should
never have to worry about the KNU entering into a peace agreement
with the Slorc. ``The KNU will never abandon the students since it
strictly adheres to the DAB policy of negotiation by a single body
comprising all members of the Alliance,'' he said. He added that
the KNU is concerned about the welfare of the students who must be
strong-willed and dedicated to the cause and not be side-tracked by
unfounded rumours.

  The All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), who are fighting
alongside the opposition politicians and ethnic groups demanding
autonomy from Rangoon, announced a few days ago that it will only
``accept negotiations on behalf of our umbrella rebel group [the
Democratic Alliance of Burma]''. Naing Aung, chairman of the ABSDF
told reporters at a jungle camp in Burma, ``The militia student
community condemns Slorc for cutting deals with individual armed
factions''.

  According to Reuters, Naing Aung said ``Despite the Kachin
agreement with the Slorc I am confident that the over one thousand
students who have been fighting alongside the Kachin will continue
fighting.'' The ABSDF has yet to hear from the students on the
Kachin front since the KIO announced the split.


Bo Mya claims that 44 years of struggle as revolutionaries have
taught them to differentiate between right and wrong in conducting
a revolution. Others lacking this experience have been taken in by
the cunning enemy, held negotiations, and finally surrendered. The
KNU, however, will never be intimidated by the enemy to do this.
``We will carry on with our struggle until human rights and peace
are restored to the country,'' the general insisted. Gen Bo Mya
wants all other ethnic groups and organizations to think carefully
before deciding on the future to avoid falling into the trap of the
enemy.

  In the past when the Burma Socialist Programme Party announced
amnesty orders, a lot of organizations and many leaders surrendered
and returned to the legal fold. He believes those people must have
done something wrong to take advantage of the amnesty granted by
the military. The KNU as a revolutionary force, he said, will never
accept amnesty because it has done nothing wrong.

  Talking about the Chinese arms supply to the Burmese regime, Gen
Bo Mya said that during his trip to the United States in June this
year he had been assured by top US government officials that the
Chinese will be persuaded to stop the arms flow to Rangoon. He also
revealed the growing Chinese influence in Burma, especially in
Mandalay where more than 25,000 Chinese families from the mainland
have settled.

  Another source said Burmese military officials are learning the
Chinese language while the Chinese have made operating Burmese
tutorial classes a booming business for the citizens of the
northern Burmese capital. The general expressed concern that in
another five to ten years Mandalay could become another Tibet if
the flow of Chinese immigrants is not nipped in the bud.

  Asked about his recent trip to London, during which he was
accompanied by CRDB (Committee for Restoration of Democracy in
Burma) Chairman U Tin Maung Win and Pado Aung San of the KNU, the
general said the sole purpose of his visit was to counter Slorc
propaganda.

  A team of Burmese bureaucrats led by a Slorc official recently
made trips to the United States, Australia and Europe to tell the
world that all is well in Burma and that steps are being taken to
form a democratic government. Gen Bo Mya refuted it, saying both
the Burman and the country's minority races are being persecuted.
Many of them have been forcibly removed from the homes and land at
a short notice and relocated to wayout places.

  His statement was backed by a visitor who recently returned from
Burma that such practices are common not only in the districts but
also in the suburbs of Rangoon. He said he had the opportunity to
clarify many points about the true situation in the country during
the three BBC interviews during his stay in London.