The BurmaNet News - 20 February, 19

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------------------------------ BurmaNet -----------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies
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The BurmaNet News, 20 February, 1998
Issue #939

HEADLINES:
==========
BKK POST: POLICE HALT PROTEST
THE NATION: BURMA'S HELP SOUGHT OVER CONTROVERSY
BKK POST: DRUGBUSTERS LACK FUNDS
VOA: THAILAND PIPELINE CONTROVERSY
THE NATION: OPPONENTS BACK YADANA OUTCOME
BKK POST: BURMESE WANT TO OPEN BORDER PASS
OIL DAILY: TRADE GROUP EYES SUIT OVER STATE SANCTIONS

Chin Special:
CHIN NATIONAL DAY GOLDEN JUBILEE STATEMENT
INSIDE NEWS: STUDENT SPORTS FESTIVAL IN CHIN STATE
MORE INSIDE & BORDER NEWS: CHIN STATE
NLM - PERSPECTIVES: STUDENT SPORTS FESTIVAL

ANNOUNCEMENT: CONCERNED SPECIFICALLY ABOUT AIDS
IN BURMA?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

BKK POST: POLICE HALT PROTEST
19 February, 1998

MANILA, AFP -- Police yesterday confiscated protest banners and 
kept pro-democracy demonstrators away from a senior Burmese leader
before a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument of a Philippine
national hero.

General Than Shwe waited at a nearby hotel until police cleared
demonstrators from Luneta Park where he later laid a wreath at
the statue of national hero Jose Rizal.

About a dozen members of the Free Burma Coalition carried black
banners reading "Respect Burmese People's Rights" across a
boulevard about 100 metres away from the monument.

Police officers first tried to cover the banners with their
bodies and then ordered the protesters to leave, before finally
confiscating the banners. The demonstrators did not resist.
     
Edgar Bilayon, a member of a railway union that supports jailed
Burmese trade union leaders, appealed to the police to allow them
to show the banners to Than Shwe.

"It is enough that General Than Shwe sees us so that he can read
[the message] that there is a movement here in the Philippines
that supports the pro-democracy movement there in Burma," said 
Mr Bilayon, who wore a traditional Burmese costume.

In Rangoon, the main Burmese opposition party announced that four
of its members were detained on February 9 and stopped from
attending a gathering at the home of pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi. One, Nan Khin Htway Myint, was sentenced to two
years in prison, it said.

A government spokesman in Rangoon said the announcement appeared
timed "to create embarrassment" during Than Shwe's visit to the
Philippines.

Nan Khin Htway Myint was one of the successful National League
for Democracy candidates in parliamentary in elections in 1990.
The opposition  overwhelmingly won the vote.

************************************************************

THE NATION: BURMA'S HELP SOUGHT OVER CONTROVERSY
19 February, 1998 [abridged]
by Rita Patiyasevi

THAILAND will seek Rangoon's cooperation in putting a quick end
to a probe into the Salween logging scandal, Deputy Foreign Minister 
Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday.

Sukhumbhand will today chair a special meeting of senior officials to 
coordinate and gather information on the case before going to Burma 
next month.

The minister said although the deforestation of the Salween National 
Park is Thailand's problem and Thai authorities must solve it, the logs 
were sent into Burma through the Salween river and then brought back.

"Logs are among 28 items which the Burmese government prohibits
from being exported out of the country," he said.

Burma allows the export of processed wood and furniture but not
cut logs. Most logging concession areas, with or without Rangoon's 
consent, are in the hands of an ethnic minority near the Thai border.

Sukhumbhand said the Salween scandal will be dealt with immediately since 
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has indicated the urgency and importance of 
the issue.

"In the past, the Thai government may not have paid much attention to
the problem," he said, adding that the area is difficult to control.

Chuan said that he would set up a committee to investigate the illegal 
logging in the Salween National Park after six forestry officials in 
charge of the park were transferred. .

According to the National Security Council, illegal logging has been 
carried out since the middle of 1996 when Thai logging firms were 
allowed to import logs  to Burma on a case-by-case basis.

The police report also claimed that the illegal business has created 
an uneasy situation along the Thai-Burmese border.

**********************************************************

BKK POST: DRUGBUSTERS LACK FUNDS
19 February, 1998

Thai anti-narcotics officials have worked hard to secure the cooperation 
of their Burmese counterparts to bust heroin refineries and mushrooming
amphetamine factories located just inside their territory.

The Burmese did not allow armed Thai police and soldiers to conduct 
operations against the criminals on their soil even though they did 
not have the funds, the manpower, nor the will to do it themselves.

Therefore, since 1996 Thai authorities have helplessly watched millions 
of amphetamine tablets flow into the country from factories located 
just metres away in Burma.

However, late last year the Burmese government quietly agreed not only 
to share  intelligence and follow up leads obtained from informants and 
arrested suspects, but to assist the Thai authorities in crossborder 
operations.

An administrative centre with representatives from both countries is 
being set up. A decision is pending whether it will be housed by the 
Naresuan Task Force or by the 33rd Infantry Regiment at Kavira Camp
in Chiang Mai.

Analysts said the key reasons for Rangoon's change of mind was that 
it wanted to demonstrate its seriousness in fighting drugs and to 
strengthen relations with Thailand. However, even more importantly 
the Burmese military government wants to counter the lucrative drug 
trade run by the ethnic minorities, and especially the Wa, which is 
helping to strengthen their struggle for greater autonomy from Rangoon.

Unfortunately for both Thai antinarcotics officials and cash-strapped 
Rangoon these joint operations may never take place. There is simply
no money.

"We were planning an operation in which Burmese soldiers would 
surround the factories and we move in, but there's no money," said a 
senior narcotics police officer. "We're not sure whether the Americans 
would fund it," he said.

Washington is said to be interested in dealing with the drug problem 
in Burma, which is the biggest supplier of heroin in the world, and 
not with Thailand's amphetamine problem. However, some American 
assistance was given at around New Year when 30 US Special Forces 
men were in the country to train Thailand's Border Patrol Police in 
the North.

**********************************************************

VOA: THAILAND PIPELINE CONTROVERSY
12 February, 1998
by Aung Hla, Washington

Intro:  In thailand, environmental and human rights groups have been 
locked in a standoff with the Thai government over the final stage 
of a 700-kilometer-long natural gas pipeline -- a joint project with 
neighboring Burma and foreign oil companies. Aung Hla of VOA's Burmese
service reports, last-minute efforts by environmentalists to stop the 
pipeline from being completed appear to be meeting with failure.

Text:  The pipeline has been at the center of a fierce debate ever since
Thailand, Burma and two foreign oil companies -- Unocal of the United 
States, and France's TOTAL -- signed an agreement several years ago to 
exploit the Yadana gas fields off Burma's coast.

Burma's military government moved quickly to complete virtually all of 
the pipeline on the Burmese side of the border.  However, In Thailand a 
group of environmental and human rights groups began a protest to stop 
completion on the Thai side of the frontier.

This week, Thailand's State Petroleum Authority (PTT) agreed to 
stop construction of the pipeline in an area near the border pending
the result of a review by a special committee.

According to Thai press reports, the widely respected former Thai 
Prime Minister, Anand Panyarachun, agreed to serve as chairman of 
that committee, which was expected to conclude its assessment within
the next two weeks. 

However, even as the special committee was being formed, Thailand's 
Prime Minister -- Chuan Leekpai -- was quoted as saying protests to 
stop the pipeline were too late.  Thai press reports quoted him as 
saying Thailand as  no  choice but to comply with contracts with Burma's 
state-run oil company - which Is controlled by Burma's military government.

The South China Morning Post quoted Thai diplomats as saying Burma 
has put considerable pressure on the Thai government to complete the 
pipeline.  The diplomats were quoted as saying Rangoon made clear to 
Bangkok that any delay would put future relations at risk.

In reports about natural gas development, Burma's military-controlled 
press consistently avoids any mention of negative reaction by human 
rights or environmental groups.  These groups accuse the Burmese 
military of human rights violations -- such as forced labor -- 
and environmental ignorance in building the pipeline on the Burmese side.

About 30 to 40 Thai conservation and human rights activists have been 
camping out in the forest in western Thailand to stop completion of the 
gas pipeline.  The activists are expected to remain at their protest site 
while the special committee holds Its meetings.

Pipob Udomittipong  is head of a group called "The Campaign for 
Popular Democracy" -- a coalition of organizations opposing the 
pipeline. He accuses the Prime Minister of trying to undermine 
attempts to find a workable solution to the dispute:

PIPOB:
"We are demanding now the public hearing because we want the public 
to learn that there are many tricks in this project. There are many 
lies that the PTT has told the public. And we want to expose that, even
[though] the PTT has a very good image of the reforestation program, of 
the other good campaigns. But underneath that they are doing something 
very destructive to the elephants, to the animal species."

Conservationists say a public hearing would persuade the panel and the 
Thai people to force Thailand's oil company to at least change the route 
of the pipeline so it will not cut through some of Thailand's last 
remaining virgin forests.

Pipob Udomittipong says the project threatens elephants and rare
animal species -- and encourages human rights violations by the 
Burmese military government:

PIPOB:
"First and foremost is the concern about environmental destruction 
that has been going on until now.  Because the project obviously 
involves widespread deforestation of the western forest, which is 
uniquely abundant.  It is home for rare animal species.  For example, 
rajani crabs -- and the kitti bat, which is the smallest mammal in the 
world. Secondly, the project [has been involved] totally with gross 
human rights abuses in burma. And our investing in burma would only 
perpetuate the human rights abuses in that country. Those are two main 
reasons why we oppose the construction of the pipeline."

Thailand's prime minister has been quoted as saying he would make
Sure that areas affected by the pipeline are re-forested.

Environmental groups in several countries joined Thai conservationists
in opposing the pipeline project.  Thailand's Petroleum Authority opposes 
any delay.  If the pipeline is not completed by July, the company may 
have to pay a fine of 125-thousand dollars a day to Burma, and a fine to 
its primary contractor.

According to "The Nation" newspaper in Bangkok, a majority of people 
questioned in a recent opinion poll support the gas pipeline project.  
But they say it should have minimal impact on the environment, include 
adequate safety controls, and be built using the highest construction 
standards.

Source: Voice of America

***********************************************************

THE NATION: OPPONENTS BACK YADANA OUTCOME
19 February, 1998
by Pennapa Hongthong

OPPONENTS of the Yadana gas pipeline yesterday announced that 
they would accept any government resolution on the project, even
if it does not protect the forest and violates the principles of 
human rights.

On the last day of testimony presented before the national committee 
set up to review the project, pipeline critics said the government 
could choose between four alternatives: cancel the project, change 
the pipeline's route, suspend construction, or continue building the 
pipeline until it's  completed. Meanwhile, officials from the Electricity 
Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) revealed that the power plant 
being built to receive the gas will probably be delayed by at least 
one month, raising new questions about the timetable for the pipeline.

Phipob Thongchai, a leader of the opposition group, said: "We 
promised that we would end our protest and leave the site [where
a camp has been set up to block construction] the moment the
government makes a decision".

However, he said, if the resolution runs counter to public opinion and 
damages the forest, it might be opposed by other groups. 'Although our 
protest has ended, other groups might take non-violent action against 
the resolution," he pointed out.

The national committee set up to review the project is attempting
to gather more information and then submit a recommendation to
the prime minister so that the Cabinet can make a final decision:

Committee chairman Anand Panyaraehun said the committee will
brainstorm and debate the information until Feb 24. Then he will
submit all the information to the prime minister and make a
presentation at Government House on Feb 25. "Making a decision 
on the issue is beyond [the committee's] authority, we are simply
ordered to gather information and submit it to the premier," he
said.

"This is not a public hearing because that should be held before
a project is approved. However, I hope that the committee's work
will create a social standard for any future large-scale
development projects so that before they are approved they must
pass through a process of participation," he said.

************************************************************

BKK POST: BURMESE WANT TO OPEN BORDER PASS
19 February, 1998

A Burmese delegation is in Thailand to confirm moves that it wants to 
open a border pass at Ban Bongti in Sai Yok district.

Maung Khin, adviser to the State Peace and Development Council on
the Thai-Burmese joint development, said the Bongti border pass is a 
vital part of the Thai-Burmese road  project to link Kanchanaburi with 
Burma's deep-sea port of Tavoy.
     
The delegation led by U Maung Khin will hold a meeting with the
House Tourism Committee at Parliament today to confirm Burma's
wish to open Ban Bongti as a permanent  border pass.

************************************************************

OIL DAILY: TRADE GROUP EYES SUIT OVER STATE SANCTIONS
13 February 1998

As the number of countries put off limits to US oil and other companies
mounts, a Washington trade group says it is considering taking legal 
action against state and local organizations that introduce their own 
sanctions on firms doing business in what they deem to be pariah nations.

States and localities have made themselves unwelcome guests in the 
foreign policy arena by enacting "selective purchasing ordinances" in 
certain nations - including oil or gas producers such as Myanmar (Burma).

And according to the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) that violates 
the US consitution - charges it hopes to prove in the courts NFTC president 
Frank Kittredge said Thursday.

The Council has already hired Washington based law firm Jones, Day, Reavis, 
and Pogue.  But "we still have to decide exactly whether to go forward and 
how to do it," Kittredge told a Cato Institute meeting on state and local
sanctions against Myanmar.

The NFTC litigation team still is deciding under which statute to sue and
in which jurisdictions.  "I would expect that we'll make that decision in the
next two weeks," he said.

Kittredge said state and local sanctions are beginning to be a real problem.
There are 26 state and local laws in place in 22 jurisdictions and 12
pending legal actions in nine jurisdictions.  Thats on top of unilateral
federal sanctions, 61 of which have been imposed on 35 nations since 
1993, many of them oil producers.

According to David Schmahmann, a lawyer who believes state and local
sanctions on Myanmar are unconstitutional, the local policies impinge on
thee federal government's exclusive authority to conduct affairs with
foreign entities, as granted by the constitution.  

"I have no doubt state and local sanctions are unconstitutional...but no 
one has challenged that in court." said  Schmahmann who co-wrote an article 
on the unconstitutionality of state and local measures against Myanmar 
last year.  Fearing a public backlash, companies have shied away from 
suits that might make them appear insensitive to the human rights issues.

"This unchallenged run should be of great concern," Schmahmann said.

It remains to be seen whether the federal government will be drawn into 
the case, but "they certainly haven't shown a great zealousness in 
protecting their turf." Schmahmann said.

The administration has its own sanctions policy against Myanmar, 
formally issued in a May 1997 executive order under the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act.  The federal sanctions, required by Senate
legislative language, ban new investments but allow existing businesses 
to continue - a partial relief to companies such as Unocal Corp.

Texaco Inc. sold its 42.9% interest in the Yetagun natural gas field in
Myanmar last year.  But Unocal has a stake in the $1.2 billion Yadana 
gas project, while Atlantic Richfield Co. has been involved in two 
offshore blocks.

Under the emergency economic powers act, the Myanmar sanctions have to 
recertified annually.  In the meantime, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who 
has made Myanmar one of his prime concerns, inserted a paragraph 
in last year's foreign operations spending bill ordering the Department 
of Labor to provide a report on labor practices in Burma.  That report is
due March 26.

Human rights groups charge that the Yadana gas pipeline, being built by
Unocal, France's Total S.A., and the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise to take 
gas to Thailand, has relied on slave labor -- something Unocal adamantly
denies.

Calls to McConnell's office were not just answered, but industry sources
just hope the report won't cause "the other shoe to drop" and lead McConnell 
to push, again, for divestiture.

But Schmahmann noted that in the area of corporate responsibility, 
"Unocal has a number of tangible successes to its credit. What on earth 
do you achieve by making them leave?"

*******************************************************

CHIN NATIONAL DAY GOLDEN JUBILEE STATEMENT
18 February, 1998
by Pu Lian Uk, MP-Elect of Union of Burma (1990)

Greetings to all readers of this article!! February 20, 1998 is the Golden 
Jubilee of Chin National Day.  Some may say that we have nothing to celebrate 
it as many of us are now in exile in foreign land and our country is under
the siege of military dictatorship devoid of democracy and human rights.
This of course is very true. 

Any how we still have to commemorate it as not only that it is the
dawning of democracy for the Chin people; but the unity among the Chin
people has been deeply founded on this day. We are to take increased
unity, courage and strength  from it in our present struggle for
democracy and self determination.  So it is still a great day which we
can not forget for us, the Chin people.  It is now much appreciable that
the Chin Communities in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Phillippines,
Thailand, Korea, India, Germany, Canada, USA and in several other
countries are commemorating the Jubilee.

Historical background:- Chin State is on the western part of the Union of
Burma bordering India and Bangladesh.  It has an area of not less than
14000 Sq. miles, inhabited uniformly by the Chin population of over half
a million.  There are also Chin population outside the Chin State. They
spread through the western part of Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers from
Patkawi range on the north, to the cape of Negrais on the shore of Indian
ocean in the south. They are one of the eight major ethnic nationalities
in the Union.

The Chin State today is only a fraction of the historical Chin homeland. 
The British colonialists invaded the Chin homeland, as an independent
territory outside the kingdoms of India and Burma Despite the fierce
resistance of the Chin people, and because of their superior military
strength, the British annexed the area as a part of the British empire in
1895.

The territory, like Burma, was to be administered as a province under a
British governor. This was established at a conference in Calcutta in
1892 soon after. But the territory was also dissected into three parts
under the policy of divide and rule. Thus the territory occupied from the
west was administered directly by the British governors from Assam and
Bengal, outside the provincial governments of British India.  Similarly,
the territory occupied from the east was administered directly by the
British governors from Burma. 

The Chin native rulers had accepted the terms offered by the British
occupying forces with the understanding that the British would recognize
their continued rule as heads of their respective areas, so long as taxes
were paid and peaceful passage and transport were given to the British
authorities.  

This law was dubbed the Chin Hills Regulation of 1896. This law 
provided that no foreigners outside the Chin territory were allowed to 
enter the Chin territory without the permit of the authorities concerned. 
This law served as an immigration law to the occupied Chin territories. 
In fact, it is still used as an inner line permit in some parts of North 
East India. This provision of the peace agreement was interpreted by many
people as enabling the British to take the responsibility of preserving
the integrity of the Chin territory and their distinct national
identity.

Section 2 of the law defined that the term "Chin" includes the Lushai,
Kuki, Naga, and Chin residing in the Chin Hills and in the adjoining
areas.  Thus the Chin native rulers could continue ruling their respective 
local areas in the traditional hereditary system of administration 
throughout the British colonial period.

The Chin people in several areas, however, rose in rebellion against the
British administration to be free during the first World War when they
were forced to serve as labour corps at the front-line in Europe, far away 
from their homeland.  But the rebellion was severely suppressed by the
British forces. Houses and property were destroyed and burned, and many
people were 
killed and imprisoned. Some were accused of high treason and hanged. 

Cause for Chin National Day:- With the aim to continue fighting the
British administration for freedom, the first Chin national political
party known as Chin Hills Unity Party, led by Vum Thu Maung, was formed on 
20th February 1928. On the same day, ten years later, the Chin
population at Kanpetlet town in the southern Chin Hills staged a
demonstration at the arrival of a British Commissioner. The British
authorities censored all information about the demonstration to prevent
further rebellion from spreading to other parts of British Burma.  

But General Aung San, who later became the leader and hero of Burmese
independence, learned about the rebellion and made it known in his
anti-colonial campaign speech in a town in the Delta area of British
Burma. It is said that an arrest warrant was issued , but he escaped by
leaving Burma and from where he continued the revolution for Burma's
Independence. Thus there is a saying: "Bamah taw-hlan ye a-sah Chin taung
kah". In English, I believe it means that it was from the Chin Hills that
Burma's independence movement originated".

When India and Burma were to be given independence by the British, the
Chin homeland territory was not to be handed over either to India or
Burma, especially as it was not annexed and administered by the British
as a part of either country. The Chin territory was had, in fact, signed
an Agreement widely known as Panglong Agreement with the other Panglong 
Agreement signatory nationalities to co-operate with the Ministerial Burma
led by General Aung San to achieve immediate freedom from British
colonialism.  

The act of signing the Panglong Agreement was to continue preserving the
integrity of their distinct national identity as a people and their
homeland.  Some people even interpret the agreement as enabling each
signatory to form their respective independent state in their territories
after achieving freedom from British colonialism. Thus, it was accepted
as a quarantee of equality among the Panglong Agreement signatories. This
was reflected in the secession clause of the 1947 Union constitution. But
the procedure was made too complicated to actually implement.   	

Immediate cause of Chin National Day:-Soon after the independence of the
Union in 1948, there were questions whether the Chin territory
administration should be run by the traditional hereditary system of
chieftainship or by the elected representatives of the population. So, a
conference was held at Falam to decide this question.  The conference
held in February, 1948 was attended by 500 Chin delegates from all parts
of the Chin heartland which now forms the Chin State. 	

On the last day of the conference on February 20, the hereditary
chieftainship system with all forms of despotism was abolished through an
overwhelming majority of votes.  The conference also adopted a resolution
that the elected representatives of the Chin population will administer
the Chin Hills.    

Accordingly, the Chin Affairs Council, elected by the Chin population,
constituting the legislature of the Chin Affairs in the Union Parliament,
passed a law known as Chin Act or Chin Special Division Act 1948
replacing the Chin Hills Regulation 1896. This was the first time a
democratic system of administration was adopted in the long history of
the Chin society reflecting the Chin people's profound admiration for
freedom.

Chin Hills was renamed the Chin Special Division and, since then, the
administration of that Division was run in accordance with this law. When
Burma was under parliamentary democracy, no law of the Union could be
enforced within the Chin Special Division without the consent of the Chin
Affairs Council.

Hence, the significant points of the day is that it commemorates the
dawning of democracy for the Chin people and also marks the holding of
the historic Conference that introduced democratic principles to the Chin
people.  The conference not only dissolved the hereditary chieftainship
system of administration, but also built unity among the Chin tribes
which welcomed the independence of the Union and opted to live in
peaceful co-existence with all the constituent units of the Union of
Burma.

The Chin Affairs Council thus proclaimed 20th February to be observed 
as the Chin National Day by the Chin people every year. 

The Chin National Day has been observed as an official holiday by the
successive governments of Union of Burma because it makes the 
Panglong Agreement and the Union more meaningful. When Burma was under
parliamentary democracy, Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Union always 
sent felicitations to the Chief of the Chin people on Chin National Day.	

It has by now become one of the most celebrated traditional festivals for
all the Chin people which reminds them to be conscious of their oneness
as a people wherever they are. 

It is also the day on which they reflect the existence of their distinct
national identity as a people and extend their wish to live in peaceful
coexistence with all the races and religions of the world.

However, even under the 1947 Union Constitution, freedoms granted to the
Chin people were very limited vis-a-vis the spirit of Panglong Agreement.
This was because the Union constitution was unitary even though it
supposed to be in a federal form. Two thirds of the representatives in
the Union Parliament was from the Burma proper while the rest of the
Union territories shared the remaining seats.

The system gave the members of parliament from the Burma proper absolute 
power and to amend the Union Constitution even if the rest of the 
representatives from the territories did not consent to it.

There was no balance of power in the Union legislature and the
signatories of the Panglong Agreement did not have the legal sway to
protect their respective rights. The representatives from the Burma
proper was so overwhelming in the Union Parliament that it did not matter
if the Chin, Kachin Shan and their fellow national States had or did not
have any representatives in the Union legislature.

The situation led to discrimination against ethnic nationalities and a
feeling of mistrust for the Burmans. It also deprived the ethnic
minorities, including the Chin people, of the right to self-govern and to
have rights and status on the basis of equality and justice.

The Supreme Council of the Hill People (SCOUHP), including the
representatives of the Chin people, therefore convened a conference in
the Shan State in late 1961. The conference recommended that the 1947
Union Constitution be amended to reflect a true federal Union in which
the Chin territory would become one of the constituent States. The
Constitutional Government of the Union led by the late Prime Minister U
Nu expressed its willingness to amend the  Union Constitution. 

But, the Union Constitution was abolished and its constitutional
Government was overthrown one day before the amendment procedure was
about to be introduced in March, 1962. A group of military generals
resorting to brute force illegally took over the country. The Union
Constitution, which included the amendment clause on the federal union,
has remained defunct for almost four decades now.

The pro-democracy uprising in  the whole of the Union against the
military regime in 1988 logically implied the restoration of 1948 Union
Constitution and its accompanying constitutional amendment in accordance
with the spirit of the Panglong Agreement.

When the elections were called in 1990, members elected to the parliament
hoped to revive the constitutional amendment. But the military regime has
refused to honor the election results and to hand over the power to the
elected parliament.  The prolonged despotic military rule has dragged the
country down to the worst level.  

Burma today is one of the poorest countries in the world and the people
in the Union are undergoing all sorts of hardships and difficulties. The
situation in the Chin State today has also worsened. Successive military
regimes have launched programs that directly and indirectly contributed
to the destruction of existence of the Chin people as a distinct national
race.

The Chin people are not allowed to learn their language even in
elementary schools.  No permission is given to publish books and
literature on the Chin social life and history. 

The generals have sent in a large number of troops and armed personnel 
to the Chin State and are systematically committing all sorts of atrocities.
The Chin people are going through severe repression under the military
regime.  The Chin State remains neglected by successive military regimes
with no effective development programs implemented in the region.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in part says, "Whereas it is
essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last
resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights
should be protected by the rule of law". Without the rule of law there is
nothing to protect the rights of the Chin people.  Hence, in accordance
with the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 
Chin people have taken the recourse of resisting the tyrannical military
regime in order to restore the rule of law that will guarantee their rights.

The Chin people had been the mainstay of defending the Panglong Agreement 
and the 1947 Union Constitution when Burma was on the brink of falling to
communism.  Today, they are also one of the main forces in the western part 
of the Union struggling to restore democracy and the rule of law in the
country.

The political crisis in the Union begins with the abolishment of the
Union Constitution and the overthrow of a legally elected government 
by successive military regimes.  The goal to amend the Union 
Constitution to reflect federalism has also not yet been achieved today.  
The political crisis in Burma today therefore is not only an ideological 
crisis between democracy and dictatorship but also a constitutional crisis.  

UN General Assemblies for the past six years have unanimously passed
resolutions urging the ruling generals to implement the result of 1990
general elections, which is to take a step towards democracy, and to have
a tripartite dialogue with the democracy movement led by Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and the representatives of the ethnic national groups, which 
in essence is a call to resolve this constitutional crisis.

Whenever there are problems between members of a family, it is common practice
to get friends and well wishers to help the conflicting relatives negotiate 
and reconcile. Therefore, it is certainly most appropriate and proper for 
the international community to provide assistance in helping the warring 
parties of the Union to come together for negotiation and reconciliation. 
Only through reconciliation can the Union develop and prosper and only 
then will the people in the country live harmoniously in peaceful existence
and contribute to peace in general.

As a people who are committed to restore democracy and the rule of law in
the Union, we should from now on vow to increase our commitment to the
struggle and pray that the intervention by the international community
would lead to a serious and constructive dialogue for a peaceful solution
to the crisis.

>From here, we call for an end to the violation of human rights, including
the suppression of  political freedoms, arbitrary detention, torture,
rape, extrajudiciary killings, racial and religious  oppression, and the
use of forced labor, all of which are taking place in the Chin State and
the other parts of the Union today.  

We further demand:
- that the SPDC implement the result of general election freely expressed 
in the  democratic elections of 1990;
- that it releases all political prisoners  immediately and unconditionally;
and,
- that it opens a genuine  political dialogue with the representatives of
NLD and ethnic national groups.

[The author is Pu Lian Uk , MP-Elect of Union of Burma (1990), 
now living in exile in the USA.]

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INSIDE NEWS: STUDENT SPORTS FESTIVAL IN CHIN STATE
6 February, 1998

Student's Sport Festival will start on March 28 in Hakha Golf club. 
Each household from Hakha, Matupi, Tunzan, Falam, Mindut and Thantlang 
are ordered to donate 500 kyats and one viss of chicken. If they failed 
to provide they are told that they would be punished by order of higher 
authorities.

Recently, all buses and trucks (12 in number) are checked at Hymwal
village, near India-Burma border. They are instructed to drive to Reh
police station. Particularly all warm clothe and Chinese blankets are
seized. It is learnt that these are for the guests, (Lu-gyis) who are
expected to come to the sport festival.

All the people around Hakha are restricted to travel to other villages
till the end of festival. Since the late evening no one is allowed to go
out of the villages.

The villagers are not allowed to blaze their field for next the hillside
cultivation. They are told they would be permitted only after students'
festival in April. Every year, March 1 to 15 is due to put on fire the
fields. After April it is impossible to do so because monsoon is coming
in.

All primary, middle and high school children in Chin State are ordered 
To take dance training for the opening ceremony. They are told that if 
they do not dance they would be refused to sit the examination.

The current prices in Kalaymyo
Rice: 120 Kyat/unit (pyi)
Salt: 40-50 Kyat/viss
Pock: 300-350 Kyat/viss
Cooking oil: 600 Kyat/viss

NCGUB Communication Center, Western Burma

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MORE INSIDE & BORDER NEWS: CHIN STATE
4 February, 1998 

All Universities and colleges, except tightly guarded "Ywathikyi"
institution are being closed for more than an academic year. The students
are calling for to open the Universities and colleges. 14 months ago, the
student demonstrators demanded to organize student unions. But they were
water-cannoned and detained. 

Meanwhile the student's sport festival was delayed from February to March
24. The organizing committee meeting was held neither at the ministry of
education nor at the ministry of sport. But it was held at the defense
ministry last week. The venue is in Hakha. Accordingly nine battalions
have been deployed in Chin State. SPDC has a contingency plan to hold it
in Kalaymyo. Chin State is so cold, but not calm. Recently fighting broke
out between SPDC army and resistant group in the state. The border trading
between Burma and Mizoram is being closed. 

The salaries of all government employees are cut every month for that
sport festival. All private businesses are forced to donate. The local
people are forced to contribute labor and money from time to time. 

The students from all states and divisions have to travel along the
accident-prone Pale-Gangaw road. For those who do not have experience
of the 4-mile up and 4-mile down road to cross over Pon-taung-pon-nya range, 
it is so risky. 

February 20 marks the 50th anniversary of Chin National Day. But Chin
people are outraged because military rulers changed the National Day as
Chin State Day. The exile Chins have privileges to celebrate their golden
jubilee of Chin National Day. So it is hard to say Chin people are proud
of sport festival held in the Capital of the Chin State.

NCGUB Communication Center, Western Burma

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NLM - PERSPECTIVES: STUDENT SPORTS FESTIVAL
6 February, 1998

The Government is implementing plans for physical, intellectual, moral,
aesthetic, vocational and all-round development of youths who will lead 
the nation in the future and the Student Sports Festival is one among these.

Student Sports Festivals are being held in turn in major towns of all
States and Divisions to raise the standard of Myanmar sports to world
level, to uplift health and fitness of students, to bring out more students
with firm sporting spirit, to help promote the national sports movement, to
turn out selected, outstanding athletes and to keep the Union Spirit alive
and dynamic.

The festivals can also be regarded as get-togethers of the education
family.  The new generation student athletes, who are children of various
nationalities of the entire country, get the opportunity to gather and meet
at the festivals, enabling them to know and understand each other's
traditions and culture.

This has led to further consolidation of national unity and promotion of
firmer and deeper mutual respect and love among national brethren.

The Eighth Student Sports Festival will be held in Haka, Chin State, during
the summer holidays.  The main events including opening and closing
ceremonies will be held in Vumthumong Sports Grounds.

Efforts to hold the festival on a grand-scale are in progress at present.

Committee for the Organizing the 1998 Eighth Student Sports Festival met
recently here, looking into the requirements for ensuring safe, smooth and
speedy transport for students, for holding the festival magnificently and
successfully and for making proper reception and accommodation arrangements
for athletes and students of States and Divisions, judges, coaches and
cultural 
troupe members.

The contestants who will come from all States and Divisions with firm
determination to win laurels at the festival have been outstanding in
State/Division level.

The valuable outcome of the Student Sports Festivals is for the students of
various places to win medals and to acquire extensive experience and lofty
outlook.

The festivals also help ensure harmony, peaceful pursuit of education and
uplift of national education standard.

The medal winners who continue to try hard may become national selections 
bringing honour to the country.

We, together with the parents and teachers, urge the students athletes to
do their best for them to become good and able persons imbued with high
morale, discipline and education to be able to discharge the duties of the
nation well.

In our bid to produce intellectuals and intelligentsia by nurturing the
students of today to be able to contribute to national well-being in the
21st century, these festivals are the spring-board for the talented to show
their paces through high standards of competition.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: CONCERNED SPECIFICALLY ABOUT AIDS 
IN BURMA?
19 February, 1998

Everyone is welcome to join an ongoing email discussion/planning 
group regarding the problem of AIDS in Burma.

aids@xxxxxxxxx
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Burma.net also hosts a dozen other dedicated groups discussing 
everything from refugees to women's issues.  For more information send 
an email to info@xxxxxxxxx or visit http://burma.net.

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