KAREN NATIONAL LEADER SAW BA OO

7/6/2018 Saw Ba U Gyi - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saw_Ba_U_Gyi 1/3
Saw Ba U Gyi
စီၤဘၣ် အူကၠံ
1st President of the Karen
National Union
In office
1945–1950
Premier Ba Maw
Minister for Transport and
Communications of Burma
In office
February 1947 – April 1947
Minister of Revenue of
British Burma
In office
1937–1939
Personal details
Born 1905
Bassein, British
Burma
Saw Ba U Gyi
Saw Ba U Gyi (S'gaw Karen: စီၤဘၣ်အကၠံ, Burmese: စောဘဦးကြီး [sɔ́ ba̰ ʔú dʑí];
1905 – 12 August 1950) was the first President of the Karen National Union.[1]
Ba U Gyi graduated with a bachelor's degree from Rangoon University in 1925
and studied law in England, passing the English bar in 1927.[2] From 1937 to
1939, he served as the Minister of Revenue of British Burma, and from
February to April 1947, as the Minister for Transport and Communications of
Burma.[2] He was killed in an ambush by the Burmese Army on 12 August
1950.[2]
Ba U Gyi's four principles are still held as the guiding Principles of the
Revolution of the Karen National Union:[3]
1. Surrender is out of the question
2. The recognition of the Karen State must be completed.
3. We shall retain our arms.
4. We shall decide our own political destiny.
Early life
Adulthood
Independence
Death
Martyr Day
References
Saw Ba U Gyi was born in 1905 to a wealthy land-owning Karen family in
Burma. After he completed his degree at Rangoon University in 1925, he went
to London and became a lawyer. He passed the English bar in 1927. In 1937 he
returned to Burma and joined the government of Ba Maw as Minister of
Revenue.[4]
Contents
Early life
Adulthood

Died 12 August 1950
(aged 45)
near Kawkareik,
Burma
Alma
mater
Rangoon
University
Occupation Politician,
lawyer
Later, he joined the pre-independence cabinet and became Information
Minister of Burma. During this time, he began to work to gain independence
for the Karen people. In September 1945, he was one of the leaders of the
Karen Central Organization. He and the KCO asked the British that they be
granted their own homeland. On 25 August 1946, he and other Karen leaders
arrived in London to get Karen their homeland. At this time, the British
controlled Karen land and he went to Great Britain in an effort to regain
control of the land for his people, but the British refused and did not give it
back to them. Instead the British gave it to Burma. On 27 January 1947, the
British agreed with Aung San-Attlee, the Burmese president, and gave him
and the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) rule over Burma. Saw
Ba U Gyi had joined the AFPFL in 1944 which was struggling for Burmese independence. He disagreed with the AFPFL
political line and resigned to lead the Karen National Union.[4]
According to Paul Keenan of the Karen History and Culture Preservation Society, "The Aung San-Attlee agreement gave no
provisions for Karen aspirations for their own land." To form their case, between 5 and 7 February 1947, 700 members of
the Karen Norberg Associates( KNA), Baptist KNA, Buddhist Karen National Association (BKNA), Karen Central
Organization (KCO) and its youth branch the Karen Youth Organization (KYO) which had been formed in October 1945,
met at Vinton Memorial Hall in Rangoon and formed the Karen National Union. That union asked for representation in
government. They also asked for a seaboard on their own land. Not only that, they asked for all Karen units in the armed
forces. The British ignored the KNU.[4]
After the negotiations with the AFPFL government for the benefit of the Karen nation were not successful, Saw Ba U Gyi
led an armed rebellion as commander of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNDO) in 1949. He was killed on 12 August
1950 at a small village near Moulmein, 170 miles from Rangoon, with other Karen leaders and an English major who were
imprisoned for supplying arms.[5] His corpse was apparently transported four miles out to sea where it was thrown
overboard, thus ensuring there would be no martyr's grave for him.[4]
After Saw Ba U Gyi died, the Karen people started celebrating Karen Martyr Day which is on 12 August, the day Saw Ba U
Gyi was gunned down by the Burmese government forces, becoming a martyr to his people who are Karen.[6] State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) allows Karen Peace Council (KPC) to celebrate Martyr Day.[7] Martyr Day pays tribute
to all of Karen fallen soldiers.[6]
1. "Our Fallen Heroes" (http://karennationalunion.net/index.php/burma/freedom/our-fallen-heroes). Karen National
Union. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
2. Keenan, Paul (March 2008). "Saw Ba U Gyi - Voice of the Revolution" (http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docskaren/Karen%
20Heritage%20Web/pdf/Voice%20of%20the%20Revolution_1_Saw%20Ba%20U%20Gyi.pdf) (PDF). Karen History
and Culture Preservation Society. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
Independence
Death
Martyr Day
References

3. "Objectives" (http://karennationalunion.net/index.php/burma/about-the-knu/objectives). Karen National Union. 23
November 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
4. Keenan, Paul. "Saw Ba U Gyi." Voices of the Revolution. The Karen History and Culture Preservation Society (2008).
5. South, Ashley. Ethnic Politics in Burma: States of Conflict. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.
6. Rand, Nelson. "Martyr’s Day in Myanmar: Karen rebellion." Asia Times. Asia Times Online, 14 Aug. 2003. Web. 28
Apr. 2016.
7. Core, Paul. "Burma/Myanmar: Challenges of a ceasefire accord in Karen state." Journal of Current Southeast Asian
Affairs 28.3 (2009): 95-105.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saw_Ba_U_Gyi&oldid=831651470"
This page was last edited on 21 March 2018, at 16:20 (UTC).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

7/6/2018 Karen hero Saw Ba U Gyi | MY HERO
https://myhero.com/B_Gyi_madison_hs_2009_ul 1/2
(/) (/)
STORIES
(/Stories/Directory) (/freedom)
Saw Ba U Gyi
Karen hero Saw Ba U Gyi
by Nana from Portland
Karen people live in Burma and Thailand because they don't have a country. We have
an important leader, Saw Ba U Gyi, and we never forget him. He helped the Karen
people to get freedom. He was a good person.
Saw Ba U Gyi WAS born in Bassein in 1905 to a wealthy landowning family. In 1925 he
went to London and became a lawyer where, two years later, he was called to the
English bar. He returned to Burma where, 1937, he joined the government of Ba Maw
SA, minister of revenue. He is the one who loved his people and he cared. He wanted
his people to have freedom and a separate Karen country. He didn’t want to ght
with the country.
He asked another country to help the Karen people to get freedom. K.N.U is Karen National Union. The
K.N.U asked to give the Karen state, they said "from Karen one Key and the Burmese one Key." But the
Burmese people didn’t want the Karen state and they took all two countries. Saw Ba U Gyi also outlined
what were to be the main principles and cornerstone of the Karen revolution: “1. For us surrender is out
of the question, 2. The recognition of Karen state must be complete, 3. We shall retain our arms, 4. We
shall decide our own political destiny.” Saw Ba U Gyi knew the Burmese took the Karen country and he
asked the Burmese soldiers to give back the Karen state but the Burmese soldiers said "No" and
Burmese soldiers say, "This is my country" and they killed the Karen people. Saw Ba U Gyi saw that the
Karen people didn't live together. Some Karen lived in forest. Burmese took the Karen girls and married
them and the boys had to work, but they didn't get the food or drink.
Saw Ba U Gyi and Karen soldiers worked together to get back the Karen country and they fought the
Burmese soldiers. Saw Ba U Gyi saw a lot of Burmese living in the state. The Karen didn’t have food or
money so they have to work and they got money. The Burmese soldiers took their money.
In order to avoid making a shrine to the fallen Karen heroes saw Ba u Gyi's body was thrown into the
sea. To this day the 12th of August is respected as Martyr’s Day and ceremonies marking saw Ba u Gyi’s
death are conducted by Karen throughout the world.
Share
Freedom

7/6/2018 BIOGRAPHIES | THE MUSEUM OF KAREN LIVES
https://robbintalkingpoint.wordpress.com/music/ 1/7
THE MUSEUM OF KAREN LIVES
Welcome to my karen talking point site.
BIOGRAPHIES
Ba Thein Sein, Saw
Born in 1927 in Henzada where he studied at the American Baptist Mission High School worked as a
clerk at the war office in Rangoon until 1946. Became involved in the Insein uprising and shortly after
joined 2nd Division commander Thackerbaw in the Taungoo-Kawkereik-Hlaingbwe area. 1n 1963
became a member of the KNU central commi ee and was appointed as education minister during the
seventies and eighties, became a KNU General Secretary and Prime minister of Kawthoolei in 1984 and
his now President of the KNU.
Ba U Gyi, Saw
Born in Bassin in 1905 to a wealthy landlord, after completing University in Rangoon, in 1925, he became
a lawyer and was called to the English Bar two years later. Joined the Burmese Government in 1937 as
Minster of revenue. After the war he formed the Karen Nation Union, in 1946, to represent Karen
interests in post independence Burma and to call on the British to allow the Karens their own state. He
accepted the post of Minister of Information from 1946 to February 1947 and then Minister of Transport
before resigning in April 1947. In January 1949 led the Karen uprising in Insein. Was killed in an ambush
on the 12th August 1950, near a small village 170 miles away from Moulmein.
The journalist U Thaung, who wasone of the reporters called to the scene recounts the following in his
book ‘A journalist, A General and an Army in Burma.’
‘The military officers continued the press conference on the plane. Saw Ba U Gyi was captured dead,
along with a high ranking Karen rebel leader (Saw Sankey
(h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-01/personalities.htm#Sankey,%20Saw)) and an English
Major who had been imprisoned for supplying arms (believed to be Captain Vivien who provided the
arms in the Aung san assassination) they claimed. The journalist succeeded in ge ing the true story after
cross examining them.
The rebel chieftain were captured alive and killed even though they had surrendered. ‘They tried to run
away when we arranged to take them to our nearest military camp. We couldn’t help it. There was no way we could
save them in such a situation. They said we could not print the truth so we used the official version ‘Captured
dead‘.’

In order to avoid making a shrine to the fallen Karen hero Saw Ba U Gyi’s body was thrown into the sea.
To this day the 12th August is respected as Martyr’s Day and ceremonies marking Saw Ba U Gyi’s death
are conducted by Karens throughout the world.
Ba Zan, Mahn (speeches) (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-
01/speeches_of_mahn_ba_zan.htm)
Born in 1916 in Maubin where he later became a school teacher . Mahn Ba Zan joined the KNU in early
1947 and became the first commander of its military wing, the Karen Nation Defence Organisation
(KNDO), on the 16th July that year.
A strong socialist and political ideologue, he negotiated an alliance with the Communist Party of Burma,
in 1952, which then led to the formation of an umbrella organisation; the National Democratic United
Front (NDUF).
As Vice chairman of the KNU, and steering force behind it’s vanguard party – the Karen National
United Party (KNUP) he was responsible for unifying the delta and the eastern Karens, led by Bo Mya
(h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-01/personalities.htm#Bo%20Mya,%20Saw), together in
1968. He was KNU Chairman from 1969 until 10th August 1976 when he became Chairman of the newly
formed National Democratic Front. He died at Manerplaw in May 1982.
Benson, Naw Louisa
Born in Rangoon in 1941 the daughter of a Portuguese Jew and his Karen wife. Naw Louisa became Miss
Burma in both 1956 and 1958 and acted in number of a films. After studying in Boston she returned to
Burma and, in 1964, married ex-5th Brigade Commander Lin Tin
(h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-01/personalities.htm#Lin%20Tin)who had surrendered
with Saw Hunter Tha Mwe. After LIn Tin’s death a year later near Thaton, she led his 5th Brigade back
into the revolution. In 1967 she married an American, Glen Craing, and now lives in California where
she is active in a number of overseas Karen organisations and pro-democracy groups.
Hla Pe, U
Born in 1909 in Thanpayapinseik village, Thaton. U Hla Pe, an ethnic Pa-O, was minister of forestry in Dr
Ba Maw’s government during the Japanese occupation and worked closely with Saw Ba U gyi after the
war as vice-chairman of the Karen National Union was responsible for organising the Pa-O rebellion
before succumbing to asthma on the 25th September 1975.
Hunter Thamwe, Saw
Born in 1905 in Bassein. Saw Hunter Thamwe studied at Judson College in Rangoon before becoming
District educational inspector in Henzada. He joined the KNU in 1947 and was closely involved in the
uprising in 1949. Leader of Karen forces in the delta and a strong rightwinger, Hunter Thamwe became
chairman of the KNU from 1956 until 1963. Musso Kawkasa (emperor) as he became know surrendered
to the Burmese in 1963. he died in Rangoon on the 2nd January 1980.
Kya Doe, Saw Henson
Born in 1907 in Myaungmya to a secondary school heamaster, entered Sandhurst military acadamy in
1930. Stayed behind during the second world war and joined the Burma Defence Army. A member of
the anti-Japanese resistance in 1945 he became vice chief of staff after the war before leaving the army in

the early fifties joined U Nu in the sixties and surrendered during the 1980 amnesty when he returned to
Rangoon. He was appointed to the election commision in 1988.
Lin Tin
Born in 1925 in Thamaing near Rangoon. Lin Tin served with the Japanese forces as an interpreter for the
Kempentei. In 1948 he joined the KNDO and participated in the rebellion one year later. He became
commander, in 1956, of 5th Brigade in Thaton, and in 1961 was responsible for sending his troops to
a ack Mae Sot in what was believed to be retaliation after a dispute with Thai traders. In 1963 he
surrendered with Saw Hunter Thamwe and married film actress and former Miss Burma Naw Louisa
Benson (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-
01/personalities.htm#Benson,%20Naw%20Louisa). He was killed by Burmese agents in September 1965.
Saw Sydey Loo Nee
Saw Sydney Loo Nee was born in Rangoon, Arlone Karen section, on the third of November 1882 by the
mother of Naw Kalaya Loo Nee and the father of Oo Loo Nee. He was the oldest son amount the three.
All Sydney Loo Nee decedent were educated, popular and famous in national and political affair
amount the Karen.
Dr T Than Bya, Oo Loo Nee (Sydney Loo Nee’s father), and his uncle, formed the Daw K’lu K’run, Karen
National Association (KNA). Sydney Loo Nee’s father was a pastor and he acted as a General Secretary
in the Karen National Association. After his father and uncle passed away, he and his relatives took
responsibility for the Karen National Association. When the Karen National Association was first
formed, Loo Nee’s relatives took positions as General Secretary, Chairman, and Vice Chairman.
After he finished high school, he went to India to continue his education. Then he went to England to get
his honor degree of Bar at Law. After he got a degree he came back to Burma.
When he came back to Burma, he continued to service in the Karen National Association, he did work
for any other services. He devoted his full time to national affairs including political affairs till he was 40
years old and on April 27, 1922 he got married with Naw Andis Loo Nee and had one son and one
daughter.
His duties were external and internal affairs of KNA. In addition, he also served as a member of the
House of Representative, Chairman of Parliament, School Principal, a member of the Taungoo
Development Agency, Director of the Union Bank Board, and chairman of the YMCA.
To reform the diarchy in Burma, so that the Karens would get a opportunity in the administration,
Sydney Loo Nee and his representatives were sent to India on the twentieth of August 1917. There were
one hundred and three members of parliament in the Diarchy administration. In 1923, there were five
Karen representatives in the Burma Legislative council.
Sydney Loo Nee took a job as a member of representatives in the northern part of Bassein, from 1938
until 1941. During that administration, there were thirty-six members in the House of Commons and
House of Representatives, eighteen people in each. Among these members, eighteen people were
selected by the governor and the others were elected by the people. Three Karens took positions in
parliament. Saw Sydney Loo Nee, took the position of chairperson in the house of representative within
a month.

In 1946, he headed the Karen delegation to go to England representing the Daw K’lu Association. In
1939, the first Karen New Year was celebrated and five Karen leaders, including Sydney Loo Nee, signed
a New Year facilitation to the Karen people. When he became a municipal councilor he named roads in
the Karen quarter after his uncle and his father.
He died on the sixteenth of June 1965.
Maw Reh, Saw
A native Karenni born in in 1920 in In-Gyaw Village, Taungoo District. Saw Meh Raw was actively
involved in the anti-Japanese movement during World War II and later joined the Karen Rifles. Unhappy
with the Government, he formed the Karenni National Organisation in 1947 and one year later the
United Karenni States’ Independence Army which allied itself with the KNDO. He was captured and
imprisoned by the Burmese Army in 1949. After his release in 1953, he rejoined the Karenni struggle and
became Chairman of the KNPP from 1960 1977. Two years later he became chairman of the NDF and
stayed in that position until 1991.
Padoh Mahn Sha Laphan (video (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-
01/video/mahnsha.rm))
When he died, he was 64 and 2 daughters and 2 Sons were left.
He was born in Pantanaw township, Irrawaddy Division(Delta Region) on July 5th, 1944.
The origin is Poe Karen, Buddhism.
In 1961, while he was a ending in Rangoon University participated the 7th July Affairs of Students
uprising.
In 1966, he finished the University with B.A ( History). He was as an Underground members of KNU
since he was University Student. After finished the graduation, he joined directly to the No. 3 Brigade of
KNU,
Taungoo District.
In 1968, he marched through the Karen State to border of Shan and Karen stated to stay for a year with
the
All Nationalities of Shan State Liberration . And he continued to Burmese Communist Party(BC) at
China border.
He participated in the political trainings and seminars of BCP. He did not stay there for long because of
disagreed the policies with BCP. He returned to Head Quarters of KNU, Pegu Hill Region at 1974.
In 1975, he was in Naung Lay Pin District of KNU when the gained of KNU reunification. From 1975 to
1984, he was a joint secretary of that district.
In 1984, he moved to the Head Quarters of KNU, Marnel Plaw, Thai-Burma border and he was elected as
a central commi ee of KNU.
Since 1988, he was selected as a person secretary officer of Gneral Saw Bo Mya(passed away) also.
In Year 2000, he was elected as General Secretary of KNU at 12th Congress and 13th Congress, 2004,
until he was assassinated.

Pado Mahn Sha La Phan can organize and compromise between Karen and Burmese. Most of the
nationalities of Burma respect and love him. He also writes some novels. His writer name is Ye San
(Against to Flow).
Pado Man Sha La Phan is a representative of KNU to Democratic Aliens of Burma(DAB), and National
Council of Union of Burma(NCUB), and he is a members of secretaries of NCUB until died.
At the 59th Anniversary of The Karen Revolutionary Day on 31st January, 2008. Pado Man Sha La Phan
speeched to the Karen People,
That revolution started from the forced to be slavery to Karen, to liberate of the Karen People. So on, all
Karen need to involve. We need to follow by The 4 principles of Saw Ba U Gyi. We need to continue to
do by the leading of KNU. KNU also will stand for the Karen People to and end strongly.
On February 14th 2008, about 4:30 PM – while Man Sha was si ing up-stair, a black pick-up No.425 and
2 unknown men reached before Pado Man Sha La Phan’s house suddenly, and they went up-stair to get
Man Sha and shoot his nest. Pado Man Sha La Phan was wounded twice again on his nest, and he died
on the spot at verandah of his house. The unknown 2 gun men ﬂed with their pick-up, eyewitness said.
General Secreatary, Karen National Union.
Bo Mya, Saw (video (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-01/video/bomya.rm))
Born on the 20th January 1927, in Htee Moo Kee village, Papun District. He started school at the age of
10 in Papun district before having to abandon his studies due the outbreak in Asia of the second world
war. He became a policeman and served under the Japanese regime before abandoning the position and
joining Force 136. After the war he joined the AFPFL government’s Uniion Military Police (UMP).
At the beginning of the Revolution he joined with the rank of corporal before being promoted Sergeant
in 1949. By 1956 he had become company commander. By 1963 a rift had occurred between two separate
factions of the Karen resistance movement led by Saw Hunter Thamwe
(h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-01/personalities.htm#Hunter%20Thamwe,%20Saw)
and Mahn Ba Zan (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-
01/personalities.htm#Ba%20Zan,%20Mahn). He decided to support Mahn Ba Zan and was elected as a
KNUP Central Commi ee member, however unhappy with the political stance the KNUP was taking, he
split in 1965 to form the KNLC.
With the need for a united Karen front in 1968 both he and Mahn Ba Zan formed the Karen National
United Front (KNUF) with Mahn Ba Zan as Chairman and Saw Bo Mya as Vice-Chairman, this
organisation later changed, in 1969, into the Karen National Union.
In 1976, at an emergency meeting in Manerplaw, he was appointed President of the KNU and remained
in that position until 2000. He is now vice-president and Supreme Commander of the Karen armed
forces.
Sankey, Saw
Saw Sankey

Born in 1914 in Armherst, Moulmein Saw was a captain with Force 136 and later became a member of
the Frontier Areas Commi ee of Enquiry (FACE) which had been set up to try se le the ethnic disputes
before independence. He became a commander in the KNDO in 1947 and joined Saw Ba U Gyi
(h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-01/personalities.htm#Ba%20U%20Gyi,%20Saw) and
died with him during a Burmese ambush on 12th August 1950.
Sgaw Ler Taw
Born in 1914 in Kyaunkpya, Taungoo he completed his studies at Judson College and became a
headmaster in Tharrawaddy. He Force 136 during the war after which he returned to be an Headmaster.
With the outbreak of the revolution he joined the KNU and became the acting chairman between 1953
and 1956. A leader of the KNUP in the Pego Yomas he led a delegation to meet the communst Party of
Burma (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-01/History/east_and_the_delta.htm). He
returned to Manerplaw where he was responsible for editing the English Language KNU Bulletin.
He died in Manerplaw on the 7th March 1989.
Tamla Baw, Saw
Born in 1920 in Moulmein, Saw Tamla Baw was a Lance corporal in the 2nd Burma rifles until the
Japanese during which he joined Major Seagrim. He was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned but
was able to escape four months later and join Force 136. He became an office in the First Karen Rifles
after the war, he joined the Karen uprising in 1949 and participated in a number of conflict in Taungoo.
He joined the KNLA in 1969 and is presently Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.
Than Aung, Saw
Born in in 1928 in Insein Township, Rangoon he completed his education at an Indian School in the
Burmese capital where later he ran a transport company. After joining the Karen Revolution in January
1949 he joined Saw Hunter Thamwe (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-
01/personalities.htm#Hunter%20Thamwe,%20Saw) worked both in the Taungoo-Papun areas and the
Pegu Yomas. An official in the KNUP he became General Secretary of the KNU from 1975-1984 and Vice-
president from 1984 until his death in Chiang Mai on the 2nd April 1992.
U Thuzana (video) (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-01/video/Uthuzana.avi)
Born Maung Than Sein in Noh Hta Village, 45 miles north of Pa-an, 1310 ME, the 8th of 12 Children.
Entered Kaw Karet Monastery at 8 years old until fourth standard when he moved to May Dar We
Sarthintike (Monastery), Moulmein, Mon State. After three years he moved to Gardayon Sarthintike,
Thaton. Became a member of people’s militia after which, at the age of 20, he was ordained as a monk.
Promulgated Buddhist teachings in KNU controlled areas around Mudon and Myaing Gyi Ngu. Was
heavily involved in the incident at Thu Mwe Hta (h p://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/karenmuseum-
01/History/politics_of_pressure.htm) where his Buddhist followers amongst the Karen National
Liberation Army revolted against the leadership leading to U Thuzana forming the Democatic Karen
Buddhist Association (Organisation) on December 21st 1994 and some days later the armed wing of the
faction – the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.

7/6/2018 KNU History - About the KNU - Karen National Union
http://karennationalunion.net/index.php/burma/about-the-knu/knu-history 1/1
Our Leaders
KNU leaders are
democratically elected. Find
out more here.
More...
KNU History
The Karen National Union (KNU) is a democratic organisation
supporting peace, democracy, and human rights in a federal
Burma. It is estimated that there are approximately 7 million
Karen people in Burma. The Karen National Union is the
leading political organisation representing the aspirations of the
Karen people. The KNU was founded in 1947, its predecessor
organisations date back to 1881.
The Karen people of Burma had suffered centuries of
oppression under Burmese kings. Karen people could be
executed simply for being able to read. The situation of the
Karen improved during British colonial rule. During World War II
the Karen sided with the British and American forces against
the Japanese. The Burmese Independence Army sided with the
Japanese invaders, though later they switched sides. This only
increased the hostility of many Burmans against the Karen
people.
Karen people feared that if they were left in Burma once the
country was granted independence they would face severe
repression, and so asked for their own independent state (The
KNU dropped its demand for an independent state in 1976)
where they could be safe. Unforntunately the British did not
keep their word, and left the Karen in Burma. The new Burmese
government also refused to accept Karen demands for an
independent state.
In January 1949 attacks against Karen escalated, including
mortar bombing of Karen townships and increasing communal
violence. Karen political leaders were arrested and their offices
raided, The Karen were forced to take up arms to defend
themselves. Since 1947 the Karen National Union has led the
Karen people in their struggle for freedom and human rights.
We follow the four principles of Saw Ba U Gyi, founder and
President of the Karen Nation Union, who was killed by the
Burmese Army in 1950.
1. For us, Surrender is out of the question;
2. We shall retain our arms;
3. The recognition of the Karen State must be complete;
4. We shall decide our own destiny.
A more detailed history of the Karen National Union will follow
soon.
Our Fallen Heroes
Many brave Karen have
given their lives in our
struggle for freeedom. Find
out more about them here.
More...
Karen National Union
HOME ABOUT THE KNU DEPARTMENTS HUMAN RIGHTS ABOUT THE KAREN NEWS PUBLICATIONS
Custom Search Search

7/6/2018 Remembering a Karen Leader
http://www2.irrawaddy.com/article.php?art_id=21882&page=2 1/4
COVERING BURMA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA FRIDAY, JULY 06, 2018 BURMESE VERSION | VIDEO
Sign up
Custom Search Search
HOME BURMA ASIA BUSINESS OPINION FEATURE INTERVIEW MAGAZINE ARCHIVES SPORTS BLOG
By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, August 11, 2011
COMMENTS (8)
RECOMMEND (408)
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
PLUSONE
MORE
E-MAIL
PRINT
TEXT SIZE
Burma
Remembering a Karen Leader
A portrait of Saw Ba U Gyi.
(Page 2 of 2)
“We will uphold the four principles of our Karen resistance leader Saw Ba U
Gyi until we win,” said Saw Lah Pwe, whose troops will also celebrate Karen
Martyrs’ Day in their bases in the countryside.
The KNU chairman said that as the new government elected in the 2010
election governs according to the Constitution written under the direction of
the military dictatorship, there is not a single benefit for the ethnic
nationalities.
Even after more than 60 years without reaching its stated goals, the KNU
remains convinced that it will eventually achieve victory.
Brig-Gen Saw Johnny, the commander of the KNLA Brigade 7, said the KNU
armed resistance will never collapse if it doesn’t give up.
Quoting the words of Saw Ba U Gyi, he said: “If we don’t go to Rangoon and let our heads get chopped off by
the Burmese army, we will never lose.”
“Due to [Saw Ba U Gyi’s] great sacrifices, we have to commemorate him and all Karen revolutionaries who
have died during the past 61 years of the Karen resistance,” said Johnny.
Although Saw Ba U Gyi enjoys a larger than life stature among Karen today, in his lifetime he was known as
a humble man dedicated to advancing the interests of his people.
“Even when he was a lawyer in England and a cabinet minister in the Burmese government, he was not
proud of his position and wealth. He sacrificed all of it and fought for his people until he died,” said Johnny.
MORE ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION
'My Wife Died From Police Abuse,' Says
Husband
US Says Observer Conditions Don't Meet
Int'l Standards
159 Observers to Monitor Burma Election
Govt to Address Breaches of SSA-South
Ceasefire: Aung Min
Burma Investors Pin Hopes on Seminal
Sunday
Malaysia PM Leads 50-Strong Delegation
to Burma
US Congress to Assess Burma's Political
Prisoner Issue
Rangoon Woman in Police Station Death
Plunge
Burmese Legal System Remains Tool of
Govt: AHRC
Burmese Army Chief Defends Political Role

“He didn’t think of his own interest, but only about the interests of his Karen people. He died for our Karen
people to liberate them from slavery,” added Johnny.
Although it has taken part in peace talks with the Burmese junta on several occasions, the KNU has never
signed a ceasefire agreement.
“We want equality, peace and freedom. We don’t want hostilities and racist riots. We don’t go to Burma
cities and kill Burmans. Our armed struggle is a right one. We will win one day,” said Johnny.
If the government keeps its troops in Karen State in eastern Burma and conducts armed attacks against the
Karen people, the KNLA will keep practicing its guerrilla warfare against the government troops, said Mutu
Say Poe.
“If the oppression continues, our armed resistance will not end. If there is no oppression, there is no need
for armed resistance. Our aim is to get our own independent state and equality,” said Mutu Say Poe.
« PREVIOUS 1 | 2 |
COMMENTS (8)
Please read our policy before you post comments. Click here
Name:
E-mail:
(Your e-mail will not
be published.)
Comment:
You have 1000 characters left.
Word
Verification:
captcha Type the characters you see in the picture.
Send Comment
Free Man Wrote: 18/08/2011
This war will never end as long as Burma is devoid of equality,
freedom and justice for all. Why?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Ec71-
jnD0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=t52mWs50RCk&feature=related
v=FkeMg5SzysM&feature=related
v=Iv5e4vgfOJo&feature=related
v=ORU3QbFRNNE&feature=related
v=qyPf3Cs2pzU&feature=related
Part 2 of http://www.youtube.com/watch?
NR=1&v=A_6xiSdFz7o
And new blood keeps flowing into their movement,which
surprises those have been resettled to the West and educated
there. And that in turns strengthen their movement in various
ways.
May there be peace, harmony and prosperity in Burma!
Oo Maung Gyi Wrote: 14/08/2011
Equality, justice, freedom is universal. All ethnic groups of
Burma united and fight for freedom to exist within Burma is
fundermentle rights of humanbeing. One race domination is

robber. One race make slave to another is unjust.
Internationalism is to lead and avoid slavery andcreate
freedom within society is essential. So on this great occasion,
we the peoples of Burma should have feeling and sympathy for
the peoples of Karan and joint to gether hand in hand for their
struggle and will win and achief their goal one day.
Than Lwin Wrote: 13/08/2011
This army had caused so many irreconcilable hatreds among
our ethnic nationalities that live together for centuries in a land
called Burma. To my Karen friends, please remember that
these atrocities to you are not committed by us, your dear
brother ordinary Burmans but by this very army originally
conceived in fascism and led by a group of blind, cruel and
stupid outcasts. They committed these atrocities not only to
you, Karen people but to us also, as you have seen in 1973 U
Thank’s Affair, 8888 & Saffron Revolution on the streets of
Rangoon & Mandalay, though our suffering is still not
comparable to yours. Let us look forward to a day when we can
together sit down, put every problems and issues on the table,
discuss and find solution while our new generations attend
schools together and play together. That day will come only
when this fascist army is disbanded and eliminated from
existence with everyone’s effort. Then we will commemorate
this day together as a day when one of greatest sons of Burma
Land was lost.
allinone Wrote: 12/08/2011
GREAT STORY FOR ME,,THIS STORY MAKE ME STRONG
poehtoo Wrote: 12/08/2011
go ahead and fight until we die
bwanyunt Wrote: 12/08/2011
Even I'm a Karen, I would not support this KNU and its ways of
armed resistance. They created many problems to own people
as well as for the development of Nation. KNU likes to worship
British and Thai as their gods to against the innocent people
and own country. They are pleasing Thai by fighitng Burmese
on their behalf. KNU must be wiped out once for all by Army's
direct co-ordination with Thailand.
Zaw Min Wrote: 12/08/2011
Everyone in this land of our should be independent and equal
in the face of a just law agreed upon by all. There should be no
greater Bama or in that sense a separate Rakhine, Shan,
Kachin, Karen entity but more of united states of Bama,
Rakhine, Shan, Kachin, Karen, Chin etc. with equal rights and
opportunities to any race or religion living in it. It should be
equal in such a way that there is no restriction for a capable
Rakhine, Shan, Karen etc. leader to lead a Bama state or the
country as a whole and for an equally capable Bama leader to
lead an eqaul right granted Rakhine, Shan, Kachin, Karen state.
I think we can do it. Especially so because that was what the
ethnic leaders agreed to work toward when they signed the first
Pinlon agreement. But we need to overcome a lot of prejudices
against race and religion like all states and countries around
the world.
Maung Maung Wrote: 12/08/2011
It's sad to know Saw ba Oo Gyi and his lieutenants died on 12th
August 1950 while fighting with the Burma Army. Lieutenant

Code of Ethic Privacy Copyright RSS Facebook Twitter Contact Us About Us Work for Us Irrawaddy Store Photo Store Donation
Sein Lwin, later Brigadier, was the Burmese hero then.They
would not de if they had remain above ground negotiating with
U Nu's Government. General Ne Win did not want them alive
once their insurrection had begun. All armed conflicts inside
Burma should end and negotiations not armed rebellion should
be the method of choice for solving problems among the
various ethnic groups who should understand Burma is
indivisible.
Copyright (c) 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.

Karen History and Culture Preservation Society

Saw Ba U Gyi
Voicesofthe
Revolution
Paul Keenan

Saw Ba U Gyi - Voice of the Revolution

Publishing Information
Title: Saw Ba U Gyi
Series: Voices of the Revolution
Author: Paul Keenan
Format: Electronic PDF
Publication date: March 2008
©2006-2008 Paul Keenan

Correspondence should be directed to the Karen History and Culture
Preservation Society (KHCPS): webmaster@karenheritage.uk.tt
Disclaimer
The Karen History and Culture Preservation Society (KHCPS) is a non-profit,
non-political organisation that seeks to research, preserve and promote materials
for a better understanding of the ethnic Karens of Burma. Publications are made
available for historical and cultural purposes and do not necessarily represent the
views of the society.
Please support us in our work by making a donation - for further information
please visit the society’s website at http://karenheritage.uk.tt
Images: KHCPS Archive, BBC, KNU, Benedict Roger’s ‘Land without Evil’, IKHRA , Tha Noo Htoo


Saw Ba U Gyi’s Four Principles
1. For us surrender is out of the question
2. The recognition of Karen State must be complete
3. We shall retain our arms
4. We shall decide our own political destiny.’
Saw B U Gyi remains paramount in signifying
in most Karen people’s minds the struggle
for a Karen homeland. Turning his back on
wealth and career in an attempt to free his
people from the injustice of a prejudiced and
repressive society, Saw B U Gyi was one of
the first architects to envision Kawthoolei* – a
Karen homeland where Karens would be able
to shape there own future.
With the support of likeminded people
including Mahn Ba Zan, Saw Sankey and
Saw Hunter Tha Mwe, Saw B U Gyi built the
foundation on which the Karen struggle would
rest. While his martyrdom would strike a
major blow to the Karen revolution his legacy
continues to live on in the hearts of those who
share his vision:
Introduction
* The term Kawthoolei first saw widespread use after the June 1949 radio broadcast in which Saw B U Gyi announced the
establishment of a free country of Kawthoolei. Prior to this calls had been made for recognition of a ‘Kaw Lah’ and ‘Kanyaw
Kaw’ meaning Green Country and Karen Country respectively.


Saw Ba U Gyi, the guiding light
of the post-independence Karen
leadership, was a charismatic
figure born in Bassein in 1905 to
a wealthy land owning family.
After completing his degree at
Rangoon University in 1925 he
went to London and became a
lawyer where, two years later,
he was called to the English Bar.
After that he returned to Burma
where, in 1937, he joined the
Government of Ba Maw as Minister
of Revenue. After the Japanese
occupation and subsequent defeat
he joined the pre-independence
cabinet and became Information
Minister and later Transport
and Communciations Minister
from February to April 1947.
Prior to his appointment on to the
Burmese cabinet, Saw Ba U Gyi
had already begun to petition for
Karen independence. In September
1945 he had been one of the main
signatories, along with Saw Tha
Din and other leaders of the Karen
Central Organisation (KCO),
behind the first memorial to the
British Government. The KCO
asked that, believing they would
eventually be granted their own
homeland, the British recognise
what they termed their own United
Frontier Karen States - which
they stated should include all of
Tenesserim, Nyaunglebin, a sub-
division of Pegu, and parts of
Thailand as far as Chiang Mai.
The British however were too
eager to get rid of Burma at as
early an opportunity as possible;
for London, Karen interests were
already protected by representation
on the Governor’s executive
council, and it was more than happy
to ignore reports that the Karens
were often out voiced at such
meetings, even though at least one
British Government representative
commentedthattheKarenmembers
who had attended the GEC, Saw
Ba U Gyi and Mahn Ba Khaing,
had said ‘not a single word’ while
the other three members present


- Aung San, Thakin Mya, and Tin
Tut were the only ones who spoke.
Undaunted by the lack of British
support, Saw Tha Din, Saw Ba
U Gyi, Sidney Loo Nee and Saw
Po Chit, all bar at law, formed a
goodwill delegation and arrived in
London on the 25th August 1946
to put forward their representations
- the British refused to consider
the Karens demands. Saw Tha Din
interviewed by Martin Smith in
1995 recollected that it was made
absolutely clear by the under-
secretary of state for India and
Burma that there ‘would not and
could not’ be any British support
for an independent Karen State.
On the 27th January 1947 the
Aung San-Attlee agreement was
finally inked giving Aung San
and the AFPFL rule over Burma.
The Karens were shocked, not
only had there been no Karen
U Ba Pe, ClementAttlee, General Aung San and U Tin Htut
in London January 1947


representation at the meeting
despite there being two Karen EC
members in the AFPFL, to which
the Karen Central Organisation was
a constituent member, but also, the
Aung San-Attlee agreement gave
no provisions for Karen aspirations
for their own land. To present
their case between the 5th and 7th
of February 1947, 700 hundred
members of the KNA, Baptist
KNA, BKNA, KCO and it’s youth
branch the KYO, which had been
formed in October 1945, met at
the Vinton Memorial Hall for an
all Karen congress where they
formed the Karen National Union.
Resolutions were passed that there
must be a recognised Karen State,
and part of that state must have a
seaboard, in addition they called
for exclusive Karen units in the
armed forces and an increase to
25% of seats in the forthcoming
constituent assembly, a deadline
wasgiventotheBritishGovernment
to act on their grievances, but
once again they were ignored.
On the advice of KYO leader
San Po Thin, Saw Ba U Gyi was
advised to show his dissatisfaction
with the AFPFL by resigning his
position in the AFPFL cabinet
– a move in which he complied on
4th March, only to be replaced by
Saw Ba U Gyi, Saw Po Chit and Sydney Loo Nee


San Po Thin himself thus splitting
the KNU into two factions – with
the Karen Youth Organisation
(KYO), led by San Po Thin and
Mahn Ba Khaing allying itself
to the AFPFL on the 10th March.
On July 19th Both Aung San and
Mahn Ba Khaing were assassinated
alongwithseveralothermembersof
the post-independence cabinet. The
new Prime Minister U Nu, (below)
supported by San Po Thin, realised
that he had inherited a country
on the verge of rebellion and was
prepared to meet the Karens half-
way in offering limited autonomy
to a Karen State that included
Karenni, Mong Pai sub-state,
Salween district, Thaton, Taungoo
and the Pyinmma hills tracts
Howwever Saw Ba U Gyi and the
KNU were insistent on securing
those areas they believed they
had traditionally occupied, and
were only too aware that should
they accept U Nu’s proposals it
was most likely that any future
representation for the Karen people
would be that provided by San Po
Thin and the KYO, who, Saw Ba
U Gyi believed, perhaps correctly
so, did not have the Karens best
interests at heart. To counter the
KYO’s influence the KNU held
a further conference, the second
KNU Congress, in Moulmein on
the 3rd and 4th of October 1947,
attended by 600, delegates that
passed two further resolutions;
1. That this Karen conference
does not accept the constitution of
the Union of Burma Government
hitherto made because the
constitution does not include
the granting of a state to the
Karens to satisfy their aspirations.
2. To request an independent
sovereign Karen State of the
following areas:


a) Tenesserim Division
including Taungoo District
b) Irrawaddy Division
c) Insein District
d) Hanthawaddy District
e) Nyaunglebin sub-district
The request was sent to U Nu
(pictured above) on the 3rd
February 1948 with a response
requested within one month, the
KYO for the main part agreed with
the AFPFL saying that the areas
proposed by the U Nu government
were sufficient and that KNU
demands were unfair. San Po Thin
immediately began to rally Karens
to denounce the KNU’s territorial
claimsandsupportthoseoftheKYO.
The KNU on the 11th February
mobilized hundreds of thousands
of Karen protesters to demonstrate
against the government’s failure
to accept Karen claims and
also repeating earlier KNU
requests demanding that:
‘Give the Karen State at once.
For the Burmese one kyat
and the Karens one kyat
We do not want communal strife
We do not want civil war’
Onthe4thMarchtheKYOmetwith
U Nu and asked for recognition of
‘Kawthulay’ and the setting up
of a committee comprising of 4
Burmese and 4 Karens from the
AFPFL Karen Affairs Committee
to delineate borders. The secretary,
it was proposed, was to be an ethnic
Burman from the home ministry.
Adding to the confusion
newspapers began to contrast
the requests of the KYO and the
U Nu government to those of
the KNU and there were soon
rumours spread that there would
be communal clashes between the
Burmans and the Karens as the
latter struggled towards securing
their own homeland based on
KNU demands. Further tensions
were raised and rumours fuelled,
by the newspapers carrying
conflicting Karen views, often
confirming an anti-government
(i.e. Burman) bias on the part of
the KNU, including one story
that the Karen M.P. for Amherst,
Saw Ba Zan had said that the;
KNU’sdemandswereunreasonable
and that those Karens who had
attendedthe2ndCongresshadcome
backfullofhatredandwiththedesire
to have vengeance on the Burmese.
In response Saw Ba U Gyi clearly
reaffirmed the Karens desire not
to split Burma and also stated


the problems caused by San
Po Thin and the contradictory
stand taken by the KYO:
‘It is not our intention to
disintegrate Burma as some people
have reason to fear because we
quite realise that anything which
is detrimental to the Burmese will
have the same effect on the Karens.
In fact, it is our intention to
strengthen both the Karens and the
Burmese by asking for a State. We
asked for it once from the British,
and once when Bogyoke Aung San
was still alive, and once more now.
This time the areas asked for are
more than before. We consider that
the areas now asked for are a fair
request, because historically they
belong to us, whoever may say
otherwise; it is our conviction that
they belong to the Karens, hence
our claim. What the KNU asked
for the KYO do not agree and they
say that they are quite contented
with Salween district or Papun
area. They claim to be the Karen
representatives but what Karens are
they, if they do not try to meet the
desire of the majority of Karens? It
is now up to you all to find out what
is the aspiration of the majority
of the Karens and give your
support to which you think best.
Regarding the Karen State, I, as
the President of the K.N.U., had
been asked by the Government of
the Union of Burma to meet and
discuss with Saw San Po Thin who
is now the Karen Affairs Minister.
He is all by himself and has no
followers. I do not even want to
see his face, for the single reason
that after advocating boycott of
the constitution of the Union of
Burma, which he said was unfair
for the Karens, and for which
reason I resigned from the Cabinet,
and after acting as President in
that very meeting convened for
this purpose he went and accepted
the office which I vacated.
The Government erred in that, and
instead of negotiating with the K
.N .U. on this matter, they invited
various people from the districts
and dealt with them. Are these
people Karen representatives?
Not by any means. They have
no followers whatsoever. It is
now already one month and we
received no reply. That means
the Burmese Government is
not going to give us a State.‘
U Nu made several overtures to
arrange a meeting with Saw Ba U
Gyi with the hopes of getting the
Karen leader to finally agree to
the government ‘s proposal for a
Karen state defined by those areas

10
included in the constitution. Aware
of the great stakes involved Saw Ba
U Gyi postponed his answer until
after a third KNU Congress had
been held in Rangoon on the 3rd
March 1948 which was attended
by over 500 delegates many of
whom were in disagreement
with U Nu’s plan for Kawthulay.
Despite the negative feelings
expressed by the delegates Saw Ba
U Gyi responded positively, while
also ensuring the Karens position
was made clear when he stated
that ‘If they use diplomacy, we
must use diplomacy,’ however, he
continued, in a more emphatic tone,
‘but this time we won’t talk about
requesting our state, but having it.’
The KNU had already declared
what it considered its obligation
to the people when it stated after
a conference in Bassein that ‘[the
Karen leaders] are resolved that the
KNU shall accept responsibility
for safeguarding lives and
property…in Karens areas.’ To
fulfil this responsibility the KNDO
headquarters immediately began
secretly supplying arms, supplied
by sympathisers in the Karen
rifles, to local KNDO units and
organising them into guarding
villages in Karen areas, with further
additional KDNO units being
drafted into those areas where
there were insufficient forces.
At this juncture the situation was
to be further manipulated by San
Po Thin and the KYO who still
continued to support U Nu and
the AFPFL line. San Po Thin and
Mahn Win Maung arranged a
further meeting with the prime
minister where they presented him
with information that the KNU
had been attempting to purchase
arms with a desire to use force to
settle the Karen question and that
it was the intention of the KNU
to run a parallel Government.
Such identification with western
inspired plots was hardly to help
the Karen cause with many of
the Burmese painting the Karen
nationalist movement as an
imperialist plot to begin with.
Saw Ba U Gyi quickly moved
to reiterate the KNU’s position
regarding foreign assistance at
a dinner on October 9th at the
Karen National Club, Alhone-
Mission Road, Rangoon,
attended by U Nu and a number
of Burmese and ethnic leaders:
‘A foreigner once told me that
their desire was not to govern
the country, but to trade. These

11

12
foreigners without exception are
traders and more. All of them come
and take away all. And so they
should better be called exploiters
than traders. If these people come
again we will be left bare. We have
been much misunderstood by our
demand for a separate Karen State.
Some people misunderstand it as a
manifestation of our desire to return
to servitude under the British...
Wearenotsofoolish.Weknowthem
better than others and that is the
reason why we steer clear of them.
We further assure you that in our
aspirations for a separate State, we
will never adopt any unfair means.
We will use only what is legal.’
Healsoreaffirmedthatitwasnotthe
KNU’s intention to split the country
and that it was committed to solving
the ongoing communal tension:
‘What we have to handle urgently
is the matter of the people fleeing
from one village to another
because they have been alarmed
by some rumours. There are
those who flee because they fear
the communists, there are some
Karens who flee, because they fear
the Burmese, and some Burmese
flee, because they fear the Karens.
The truth is, the alarm has been
caused by some wicked elements.
Good people should join forces and
work together to prevent this. We,
theKNU,willtaketheresponsibility
to solve the problems within our
reach. If there are Burmese who
have fled from our areas, we the
Karens together with the Burmese
will jointly go and call them to
come back with complete trust.
In like manner, when the Karens
are urged to return, Karens and
Burmese should go together. We
must give protection and make
arrangement so that all will be
able to live in trust and harmony.
Words are not enough. This
is a matter we must deal with
immediately. At our congress held
recently in Bassein, we adopted
the resolution that the Karen,
were to give help, if the Burmese
people requested, for peace in the
country. We are ready to give help
if it is asked for. We are also laying
down the guide-lines for this.’
Despite such assurances, the
increasing strength and ability of
the KNU and KNDO was of great
concern to the U Nu government.
The promised Regional Autonomy
Enquiry was pushed ahead
to October 1948 among the
committee members included were
Saw Ba U Gyi, Mahn James Tun
Aung and Saw Tha Din all from

13
the KNU which still demanded an
independent state where the Karens
could ‘develop socially, politically,
educationally and economically on
theirownlinesandclaimtherightof
self determination.’ Though it was
also stated that ‘Attainment of this
objective,willnot,ofcourseshutout
the possibility of what will always
be regarded as the ultimate goal,
namely the Common Federation
of all the peoples of Burma.’
DespiteSawBaUGyi’sassurances,
on Christmas Eve, 1948, in Palaw,
a small village between Mergui
and Tavoy, Burmese police, with
the unwitting help of a Karen
elder, disarmed the villagers before
leaving them to prepare for the
night’s mass. The carol parties
that had met in the church that
night to begin worship suddenly
found themselves victims of
grenades thrown into the church
by the Burmese police who had
surrounded it – those who were not
instantly killed were mown down
by machine gun fire as they fled.
The rest of the village - houses and
schools, was razed by the police in
an action that eventually cost the
lives of over three hundred Karens.
UNuimmediatelyflewdowntothe
scene and on his return declared the
whole incident to be a mistake on
the part of the police while Saw Ba
U Gyi in an effort to calm the Karen
community called for restraint and
patience. It was to be too late.
A number of inflammatory
disturbances soon occurred
between local KNDO units and
Sitwundun forces stationed in the
main Karen area of Insein, north of
Rangoon, where large numbers of
KNDO troops had been relocated
to avoid further conflict with the
governmentandwiththepossibility
of disbanding them and returning
them to their villages. At that time
in August 1948 it appeared that
Insein, 9 miles north of Rangoon,
was about to be captured by the
communists and the Burmese
government was more than happy
to have the KNDO garrisoned in
the area to release the pressure on
Government forces. However by
the end of the year reports began to
be filed with the Insein police that
the KNDO units were responsible
for ‘High-handedness against the

14
Burmese community, and a few
cases of dacoity and robbery.’ In
additiontheSitwundunsthemselves
werealsoallegedtohaveabusedthe
local Karens including at one point
threatening to exterminate them.
Even prior to the Christmas
massacre the severity of the ethnic
tensions was becoming apparent
with shots and mortar shells being
fired into the Karen quarters in
Insein on the 29th December, the
then Eve of Karen New Year, while
less than three weeks later on both
the 22nd January and the morning
after an armoured car had driven
through Thamaing Karen quarters
strafingtheareawithindiscriminate
gunfire as mortar shells were also
reported as randomly being fired
into the area in one such incident
seriously injuring a woman. Such
episodes were not only confined to
Insein but were widespread. One
such incident was reported by ‘The
Nation’ on the 16th January and
described how 150 Karens had
lost there lives when a UMP unit,
commanded by Bo Sein Hman,
the former Cabinet minister and
second in command of the PVO,
attacked a village in Taikkyi
township. The KNDO retaliated
by raiding the treasury in Maubin
only to then see the 4th Burma
rifles raze an American Missionary
School in a tit-for-tat action .
No longer able to tolerate such
flagrent abuses against Karen
communities Lt Colonel Min
Maung the Taungoo born
commander of the first Karen rifles
and holder of the British Military
Cross, purportedly at the behest of
Saw Ba U Gyi, seized control of
Taungoo and Tantabin on the 27th
January 1949, the next day, the
historically claimed city of the Pa-
Oh, Pyu, was also taken. Bassein,
200 miles away was unsuccessfully
attacked by another KNDO
unit commanded by Saw Jack.
The attack on Thamaing was
repelled by a number of KNDO
support units who had been
mobilized throughout Insein
and surrounding areas including
Taungthugon Karen quarters,
where Mahn Ba Zan had his
house which at the time was most
probably serving as the KNU/

15
KNDOheadquarters.Thebattlehad
begun and it was not long, the 1st
February 1949, before the Burmese
Government declared the KNDO
illegal. The Sitwunduns reacted
immediately – torching Karen areas
including, once again, Alhone.
Saw Ba U Gyi, Mahn Ba Zan,
Hunter Tham Hwe and Saw Sankey
all in Insein at the time had very
little option but to declare a full
scale revolt. The Karen rifles and
KNDO immediately started taking
cities throughout the country, while
in Insein itself a 112 day stand-
off was to take place between the
Karens and the BurmaArmy, under
the command of Ne Win. The
incident was to be known as the
Battle of Insein and would last until
the night of 20th May 1949 when
large numbers of Karen troops and
civilians were able to slip across
the swollen Hlaing River to safety.
The siege had lasted three months
and 21 days with the possibility of,
according to one source, a thousand
Karen casualties with fatalities
amounting up to as much as 350-
400, half of which were most likely
civilianskilledintheshellingalone.
Although Insein had been lost
the Karens were still able to hold
on to other areas of the country.
After abandoning Insein the Karen
regrouped and Saw Ba U Gyi
decided to hold a new congress, to
be attended by everyone including
thoseKarenswhohadremainedback
in the delta, on the 19th July 1950.
Saw Ba U Gyi stated in his
address that the Karen revolution
would be the first as well as the
last in the history of the Karen
people and that there would be no
defeat for the revolution ‘…unless
all the Karen revolutionaries
went down to Rangoon and put
their necks on the chopping
block in front of the enemy.’

16
In outlining the way forward
and warning of future
hazards he stressed that:
A national state for the Karens can
be gained in three different ways: -
‘1. As a voluntary gift given,
in good will, by the enemy.
We can always be sure that
the enemy will never give
us a country, a state, so this
possibility must be ruled out.
2. By right of military conquest.
The Karen revolution, being a
just revolution, shall eventually
be victorious. However, the
struggle will be long, difficult,
arduous painful and distressing.
Many lives will be lost.
3. By force of circumstances.
After a long war, the enemy could
get into a quagmire of unending
crisis. However hard the enemy
tried he would get deeper into
the quagmire. That is the time
when the force of circumstances
will be most favourable for
us. At that time, we must not
fail to grasp the opportunities
presented themselves and, by
military and political means,
force our will upon the enemy.
The strength of the revolution
comesfromthepeople.Therefore,
to get the people’s support,
we must win the people’s love,
confidence and respect. In order
to win the people’s love, we must
first give our love, show our love,
to them. In order to win the
confidence of the people, we must
buildupandconsolidateourforce.
In order to win the respect of
the people, we must be well
disciplined and organised. We
are bound to make mistakes in
the performance of [our] work,
in review of our revolution
which is more than a year old
now, I find that there have been
the weaknesses and mistakes
of self-conceitedness, putting
self-interest in the forefront,
indiscipline, anti-mass attitude,
loose unity. We always need to
review our past work and correct
ourweaknessesanderrorsboldly.
In history, we find that in
spite of various difficulties and
hardship, all the just revolutions
when led with perseverance and
courage eventually triumph
without exception. I firmly
believe that the just revolution
of the Karen people shall be
victorious, eventually, in spite of
all the hardships and difficulties.

17
Saw Ba U Gyi also outlined
what were to be the main
principles and cornerstone
of the Karen revolution:
1. For us surrender is out of the
question
2. The recognition of Karen
State must be complete
3. We shall retain our arms
4. We shall decide our own
political destiny.’
The results of the congress were
broadcastonFreeKarenRadiofrom
the 31st July to the 2nd August.
It still remains unclear what
Saw Ba U Gyi had a mind to do
after the congress. After what are
reported as being his last words
in which he had said that ‘He was
now about to pull a political stunt.’
he, Saw Sankey and a small party
of followers set off to what was
believed to be a meeting. They
headed towards the Thai-Burma
border, the destination is still not
known, what is known however
is that they were not to reach it.
‘It was a rainy day even at noon
it was already dark. I specifically
rememberthedate,14August1950.
I will never forget that experience.
At that time I was only a young
reporter, aged 24, covering the
early part of Burma’s civil war
which had started two years earlier.
On that morning, the director of
Information invited us to a press
conference at which he announced
important news about a remarkable
victory by the government forces.
Saw Ba U Gyi, leader of the Karen
National Union and commander
of the Karen National Defence
Organisation, was killed in a
battle two days ago’ he said.
Saw Ba U Gyi was a prominent
leader in the Burmese political
field. In a political career started
in 1944 when he joined the Anti-
Fascist People’s Freedom League
(AFPFL) which was struggling for
Burma’s independence. He became
a minister of the government
Council during British rule. While
undertaking the groundwork of
building a new nation, free-born
Burma, Saw Ba U Gyi disagreed
with the AFPFL political line and
resigned to lead the Karen National
Union.NegotiationwiththeAFPFL
government for the benefit of the
Karen nationals was not successful
and eventually he led an armed
rebellionascommanderoftheKaren
National Defence Organisation
(KNDO). He was captured, dead,
at a small village near Moulmein,
170 miles from Rangoon.
A press pool was organized to go

18

19
and see the dead rebel leader.
I was chosen to take pictures
of the fallen renegade. We, ten
journalists, four information
officials and military officers, flew
to Moulmein in a small plane.
The military officers continued the
press conference on the plane. Saw
Ba U Gyi had been captured, dead,
along with a high-ranking Karen
rebel leader and an English major
who was imprisoned for supplying
arms, they claimed. The journalists
succeeded in getting the true story
after cross-examining them. The
rebel chieftains were captured
alive and killed even though they
had surrendered. “They tried to run
away when we arranged to take
them to our nearest military camp.
We couldn’t help it. There was no
way we could save them in such
a situation,” they said. We could
not print the truth, but used the
official version, “captured dead.”’*
There is no concrete evidence to
suggest that there was an informer
in or around the area where Saw Ba
U Gyi, Saw Sankey, a Caucasian
– tentatively known as ‘Mr Baker’,
and the small party of Karens
found themselves staying that rainy
night. Despite warnings from a
village headman at Tahkreh village
that they should remain with him
until the rains stopped, they had
pushed on and arrived near To
Kaw Koe Village, Kawkareik,
not far from Myawaddy and the
Thai border town of Mae Sot.
On their arrival at the small village
theyweregivenasmallBamboohut
to stay in until the rain slackened
thus allowing them to more easily
cross a nearby river which at that
time was swollen and almost
bursting its banks. While the party
were staying there that night it is
believed a villager on recognizing
the Karen leader was able to
slip away at inform the nearby
army battalion at Nabusakan.
Early the next morning, August
12th 1950, Burmese army units
commanded by a young lieutenant,
Sein Lwin, surrounded the
village and demanded the group
surrender, although there is some
disagreement as to what happened
next it is believe that the group
refused and as such were killed
in the fire fight. According to U
Thaung, a young journalist at the
time, the request for surrender they
did capitulate to, but, as the Karens
tried to escape they were shot in
the act, what is known however
is that the party was killed and
their bodies transported by cart to
Moulmein. After a brief display of
the body, Saw Ba U Gyi’s corpse
*U Thaung, ‘A Journalist, a General and an Army in Burma.’

20
was apparently transported four
miles out to sea where the body was
thrown overboard thus ensuring
there would be no martyr’s grave
for the Karen revolutionary leader.
Dorman-Smith the ex-British
Governor of Burma and one of the
supporters of the Karen uprising
remembered the ex-lawyer fondly,
when writing in ‘The Times’
on the 23rd August that year:
Saw Ba U Gyi was no terrorist…
I, for one, cannot picture him
enjoying the miseries and
hardships of rebellion. There must
have been some deep impelling
reason for his continued resistance.
However there were others who
disagreed Lord Listowell, a Labour
minister, writing in the same
newspaper two days later accused
the late Karen leader of ‘obstinacy’
and gambling on the fighting
qualities of the Karens’and accused
himofbeingunabletocompromise;
a point of view that was quickly
criticised by the prominent
Lawyer and second Secretary at
the Burmese Embassy in London,
Maung Maung Ji, who in reply,
on the 28th, in ‘The Times’ wrote;
‘Sir, Lord Listowel’s letter to ‘The
Times’ of 25th August represents
the late Karen Leader, Saw Ba U
Gyi, as a stupid man “Who could
not see the other fellow’s point of
view”. I am sure this statement
is unwarranted. Lord Listowel’s
main argument is based on the
fact he was personally present at
the negotiation. Unfortunately his
presence, the method adopted in
tackling the problem, and the very
fact that he went out to execute
an Anglo-Burmese agreement to
which the Karens then strongly
objected were principally
responsible for the failure in the
Burmese-Karen negotiation. That
is how Saw Ba U Gyi described the
situation in a letter to me at the time.
The trouble began from the Aung
San/Attlee Agreement between
the British and the Burmese,
whereby the former handed over
the entire administration of the
country to the latter, while the
Karens were excluded even from
the negotiation conference. The
Karens felt they had been betrayed
by the British Government. Many
of us Burmese, too, felt that the
Karens, who had valiantly fought
against the Japanese during the
war, had been badly let down. I
acted as a counsel to two delegates,
the former Prime Minister U Saw
and Thakin Ba Sein, then minister
of transport and Communications,

21

22
at the Anglo-Burmese conference
which culminated in the Aung
San-Attlee Agreement. Because
it was so unfair to the Karens
that they were excluded from
the conference, in spite of their
repeated requests to participate in
it,amemorandumwasforwardedto
the Prime Minister Mr. Attlee with
the request that he should publish
it. To our great surprise, this and
other dissident memoranda were
suppressed when the Aung San-
Attlee Agreement was published.
The Karens felt frustrated and
are still bitter over the episode.
To aggravate the situation, Lord
Listowel, the Secretary of State
for Burma, was sent to Rangoon in
his own phrase “to induce them”
to accept certain arrangements.
Ostensibly it was a negotiation for
agreement between the Karens and
the Burmese, but final approval
rested with the Burmese Govt. The
Karens could not refer to outside
authoritiesinacaseofdisagreement.
Saw Ba U Gyi and his people,
already suspicious of the British
Govt’s intentions, hesitated to
enter into any agreement. Even
so, if a statesman with a practical
knowledge of Burmese politics
had been sent out at that time, I’m
sure agreement would have been
possible, and a lot of the troubles
which my country is suffering,
would have been avoided. The
secretary of State for Burma
admittedly had no previous
experience of Burmese politics
and its ramifications; naturally he
was unaware of the complicated
and special problems that lay
beneath the surface. A complete
breakdown of the negotiations
was the result. This seems to me
no reason for branding the late
Karen leader and his friends as
‘Stupid People’, ‘intellectually
extremely limited’ and ‘incapable
of reaching an agreement’
The deaths
of Saw Ba
U Gyi and
Saw Sankey
were a serious
blow to the
revolution;
with two of
their main
leaders gone
it was left to those remaining
in the Karen Governing Body
to reorganize and to plan a new
strategy for the Karen resistance to
see them through the coming years.
For those leaders the four principles
that Saw Ba U Gyi laid out at the
start of the struggle still remain
the foundation of the revolution.

23
Study Questions
1. Where was Saw Ba U Gyi born?
2. When did he complete his degree at Rangoon University?
3. What position did he originally fill in the Ba Maw Government?
4. When was he Transport and Communications Minister?
5. What should the United Frontier Karen States include?
6. When did Saw Tha Din, Saw Ba U Gyi, Sidney Loo Nee and Saw Po Chit
arrive in London?
7. When did Aung San and Clement Attlee sign the ‘Aung San – Attlee
agreement’?
8. When was the KYO formed?
9. Who advised Saw Ba U Gyi to leave the AFPFL government?
10. Which Karen organization ‘allied’ itself with the AFPFL?
11. What areas did U Nu offer as a Karen State?
12. Which areas did the KNU request after the Second KNU congress?
13. What happened on Christmas Eve 1948
14. Where was Lt. Col. Min Maung Born?
15. When was the KNDO declared illegal?
16. How long was the siege of Insein?
17. When was Saw Ba U Gyi killed?
18. Who said Saw Ba U Gyi was’...no terrorist...’?
Answers
1. Bassein.
2. 1925.
3. MinisterofRevenue.
4. FromFebruarytoApril1947.
5. Tenesserim,Nyaunglebin,asub-divisionofPegu,andpartsofThailandasfarasChiangMai.
6. 25thAugust1946.
7. 27thJanuary1947.
8. October1945.
9. SanPoThin.
10. TheKYO.
11. Karenni,MongPaisub-state,Salweendistrict,Thaton,TaungooandthePyinmmahillstracts.
12. TenesserimDivisionincludingTaungooDistrict,IIrrawaddyDivision,InseinDistrict,HanthawaddyDistrict,and
Nyaunglebinsub-district.
13. KarenVillagersinPalawwereattackedbyBurmesePolice.
14. Taungoo
15. 1stFebruary1949.
16. Threemonthsand21Days
17. 12thAugust1950.
18. Dorman-Smiththeex-GovernorofBurma.

24

7/6/2018 The death of Saw Ba U Gyi | Mizzima
http://www.mizzima.com/news-features/death-saw-ba-u-gyi 1/8
Search form
Search
MYANMAR | TV
1. Home
2. » News
3. » Features
4. » The death of Saw Ba U Gyi
The death of Saw Ba U Gyi
By
Paul Keenan
On Wednesday, 12 August 2015
(L-R) Saw Ba U Gyi, Saw Po Chit and Sydney Loo Nee in London 1946 ( Photo: Tha Noo Htoo/KHCPS)
The 12 August has a particular place in the hearts of many Karen as events are held all around the world to remember
the sacrifices made by the Karen nationalist leader Saw Ba U Gyi, who was executed on this date in 1950, and all those
Facebook Tweet 3Google + 3 1
News Business Lifestyle Development Election 2015

Saw Ba U Gyi (Photo:
KHCPS)
who have laid down their lives for the Karen cause.
Saw Ba U Gyi was born in Bassein in 1905 to a wealthy land owning family.
After completing his degree at Rangoon University in 1925, he went to London
and became a lawyer where, two years later, he was called to the English Bar.
After that, he returned to Burma where, in 1937, he joined the government of
Ba Maw as Minister of Revenue. After the Japanese occupation and subsequent
defeat, he joined the pre-independence cabinet and became Information
Minister and later Transport and Communications Minister from February to
April 1947.
Prior to his appointment on to the Burmese cabinet, Saw Ba U Gyi had begun to petition for Karen independence. In
September 1945, he had been one of the main signatories, along with other leaders of the Karen Central Organisation
(KCO), behind the first memorial to the British Government for a Karen land.
The KCO, formed a goodwill delegation and Saw Ba U Gyi and other members, arrived in London on 25 August 1946 to
put forward their representations. However, their entreaties were ignored as the British Government of Clement Atlee
decided, against the advice of Dorman-Smith, the British Governor of Burma, to deal directly with Aung San’s Anti-
Fascist People’s Independence League (AFPIL), later the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL).
On 27 January 1947, the Aung San-Attlee agreement was finally inked giving Aung San and the AFPFL rule over Burma.
After the assassination of Aung San, the country deteriorated into numerous armed insurrections and the Karen
National Defence Organisation (KNDO) the armed wing of the Karen National Union was formed. It was used against
communist insurgents and to protect the lives of Karen citizens. However, the political situation continued to worsen
and government led militias attacked Karen neighbourhoods resulting in little option but for the KNDO to openly rebel
and take the Karen area of Insein among others around the country. The siege of Insein, by forces loyal to the
government, led to a 112-day standoff before KNDO forces retreated and regrouped.
Saw Ba U Gyi decided to hold a new congress, to be attended by everyone including those Karen who had remained
back in the delta, on the 19 July 1950. The results of the congress were broadcast on Free Karen Radio from 31 July to
2 August and the free Karen State of Kawthoolei was officially announced.
It remains unclear what Saw Ba U Gyi had a mind to do after the congress. After what are
reported as being his last words in which he had said that ‘He was now about to pull a
political stunt.’ he, KNDO commander Saw Sankey and a small party of followers set off to
what was believed to be a meeting. They headed towards the Thai-Burma border, the
destination is still not known, what is known however is that they were not to reach it.
Veteran journalist U Thaung, in his book ‘’A Journalist, A General and an Army in Burma,’’
covered the discovery of the Karen group.
‘It was a rainy day even at noon it was already dark. I specifically remember the date,
14August 1950. I will never forget that experience. At that time, I was only a young
reporter, aged 24, covering the early part of Burma’s civil war which had started two years
earlier. On that morning, the director of Information invited us to a press conference at
which he announced important news about a remarkable victory by the government forces.
Saw Ba U Gyi, leader of the Karen National Union and commander of the Karen National
Ship What You Love
from the US - Shop With
Your MyUS Address
Sign Up Today for a MyUS
Address. Fast Reliable
Shipping to Thailand!
myus.com

Defence Organisation, was killed in a battle two days ago’ he said. . . A press pool was organized to go and see the
dead rebel leader. I was chosen to take pictures of the fallen renegade. We, ten journalists, four information officials
and military officers, flew to Moulmein in a small plane. The military officers continued the press conference on the
plane. Saw Ba U Gyi had been captured, dead, along with a high-ranking Karen rebel leader and an English major who
was imprisoned for supplying arms, they claimed. The journalists succeeded in getting the true story after cross-
examining them. The rebel chieftains were captured alive and killed even though they had surrendered. “They tried to
run away when we arranged to take them to our nearest military camp. We couldn’t help it. There was no way we
could save them in such a situation,” they said. We could not print the truth, but used the official version, “captured
dead.”’
There is no concrete evidence to suggest that there was an informer in or around the area where Saw Ba U Gyi, Saw
Sankey, a Caucasian– tentatively known as ‘Mr Baker’, and the small party of Karens found themselves staying that
rainy night. Despite warnings from a village headman at Tahkreh village that they should remain with himuntil the rains
stopped, they had pushed on and arrived near To KawKoe Village, Kawkareik, not far from Myawaddy and the Thai
border town of Mae Sot.
On their arrival at the small village, they were given a small Bamboo hut to stay in until the rain slackened thus allowing
them to more easily cross a nearby river which at that time was swollen andalmost bursting its banks. While the party
were staying there that night it is believed a villager, on recognizing the Karen leader, was able to slip away and inform
the nearby army battalion at Nabusakan. Early the next morning, 12 August 1950, Burmese army units commanded
by a young lieutenant, Sein Lwin (later to be known as ‘the Butcher of Rangoon’), surrounded the village and
demanded the group surrender, although there is some disagreement as to what happened next it is believed that the
group refused and as such were killed in the fire fight. After the party was killed,their bodies were transported by cart
to Moulmein. After a brief display of the body, Saw Ba U Gyi’s corpse was apparently transported four miles out to sea
and thrown overboard thus ensuring there would be no martyr’s grave.
Dorman-Smith the ex-British Governor of Burma and one of the supporters of the Karen uprising remembered the ex-
lawyer fondly, He wrote in ‘The Times’ on 23 August that year:
‘’Saw Ba U Gyi was no terrorist…I, for one, cannot picture him enjoying the miseries and hardships of rebellion. There
must have been some deep impelling reason for his continued resistance.’’
However there were others who disagreed. Lord Listowel. a Labour minister, writing in the same newspaper two days
later accused the late Karen leader of ‘obstinacy’ and gambling on the fighting qualities of the Karens’ and accused him
of being unable to compromise. This point of view was quickly criticised by the prominent Lawyer and second
Secretary at the Burmese Embassy in London, Maung Maung Ji, who in reply, on the 28th, in ‘The Times’ wrote;
‘Sir, Lord Listowel’s letter to ‘TheTimes’ of 25th August representsthe late Karen Leader, Saw Ba U Gyi, as a stupid man
“Who could not see the other fellow’s point of view”. I am sure this statement is unwarranted. Lord Listowel’s main
argument is based on the fact he was personally present at the negotiation. Unfortunately, his presence, the method
adopted in tackling the problem, and the very fact that he went out to execute an Anglo-Burmese agreement to which
the Karens then strongly objected were principally responsible for the failure in the Burmese-Karen negotiation. That is
how Saw Ba U Gyi described the situation in a letter to me at the time.
The trouble began from the Aung San/Attlee Agreement between the British and the Burmese, whereby the former
handed over the entire administration of the country to the latter, while the Karens were excluded even from the
negotiation conference. The Karens felt they had been betrayed by the British Government. Many of us Burmese, too,

felt that the Karens, who had valiantly fought against the Japanese during the war, had been badly let down. I acted as
a counsel to two delegates, the former Prime Minister U Saw and Thakin Ba Sein, then minister of transport and
Communications,at the Anglo-Burmese conference which culminated in the Aung San-Attlee Agreement. Because it was
so unfair to the Karens that they were excluded from the conference, in spite of their repeated requests to participate
in it, a memorandum was forwarded to the Prime Minister Mr. Attlee with the request that he should publish it. To our
great surprise, this and other dissident memoranda were suppressed when the Aung San- Attlee Agreement was
published.
The Karens felt frustrated and are still bitter over the episode. To aggravate the situation, Lord Listowel, the Secretary
of State for Burma, was sent to Rangoon in his own phrase “to induce them” to accept certain arrangements.
Ostensibly, it was a negotiation for agreement between the Karens and the Burmese, but final approval rested with the
Burmese Govt. The Karens could not refer to outside authorities in a case of disagreement. Saw Ba U Gyi and his
people, already suspicious of the British Govt’s intentions, hesitated to enter into any agreement. Even so, if a
statesman with a practical knowledge of Burmese politics had been sent out at that time, I’m sure agreement would
have been possible, and a lot of the troubles which my country is suffering, would have been avoided.
The secretary of State for Burma admittedly had no previous experience of Burmese politics and its ramifications;
naturally, he was unaware of the complicated and special problems that lay beneath the surface. A complete
breakdown of the negotiations was the result. This seems to me no reason for branding the late Karen leader and his
friends as ‘Stupid People’, ‘intellectually extremely limited’ and ‘incapable of reaching an agreement’
The deaths of Saw Ba U Gyi and Saw Sankey were a serious blow to the revolution. With two of their main leaders
goneit has been left to those remaining in the Karen National Union to reorganize and to plan a new strategy to ensure
peace and equality for the Karen people. It is hoped, as ceasefire talks continue, the many sacrifices the Karen have
made, over sixty years of conflict, will finally see peace come.
Paul Keenan is author of ‘By Force of Arms – Armed Ethnic Groups in Burma’ and co-founder of the Karen History
and Culture Preservation Society (KHCPS).
From The Web
New Vision Discovery is Leaving
Optometrists Baffled (Watch Now)
New Vision Discovery That is Leaving
Optometrists Speechless (Do This Tonight)
Surprising New Method Restores Vision
Naturally (Try It Tonight)
Facebook Tweet 3Google + 3 1
Sponsored by Revcontent

7/6/2018 Burma Army bans statues of Karen Hero, Saw Ba U Gyi, from Karen New year celebrations | Burma News International
https://www.bnionline.net/en/news/burma-army-bans-statues-karen-hero-saw-ba-u-gyi-karen-new-year-celebrations 2/7
2015 Election
Arakan State
Chin State
Kachin State
Karen State
Karenni State
Mon State
Shan State
Other region
Breaking news
Responsive Menu
News
Feature
Opinion
Burma Army bans statues of Karen Hero, Saw Ba U Gyi, from Karen
New year celebrations
Burma Army bans statues of Karen Hero, Saw Ba U Gyi, from Karen New year celebrations
Friday, November 24, 2017

Karen Information Center
Local Karen communities’ plans to raise a statue of their hero and martyr, Saw Ba U Gyi, was objected to by
Burma Army commanders in the Three Pagoda Pass town of Kyainnseikkyi Township.
Committee members in charge of the Karen New Year celebration in Kyainnseikkyi Township said that the
army commanders in the area objected to plans to erect the statue of Saw Ba U Gyi that was going to be set
up for the Karen New Year celebrations in Three Pagoda Pass town. The committee members said that this
year event is special, as they will hold an event for the whole Kyainnseikkyi Township.
Sources from the New Year Organizing Committee told Karen News that General Tun Tun San, the tactical
commander based in ANan Kwin and Lieutenant Colonel Aung San Win, from Light Infantry Battalion #97
based at Three Pagoda Pass Town met at the KNU’s Liaison Office on November 14 to discuss with New Year
Organizing Committee and KNU Win Yay Township [Kyain Seikkyi Township] officials. At the meeting, the
Burma army officials said that the plan to erect the statue of the Karen leader was blocked by their superiors.
A member of Karen New Year Organizing Committee told Karen News what they were told by the Burma
Army commanders.
“They told us Saw Ba U Gyi is a national leader as well as revolutionary leader. This will cause [revolutionary]
motivation to the youths. So, they said that their superiors won’t give permission. They also don’t like the
terms we use, such as “organizing committee” and “Win Yay Township” [as it’s KNU administration
boundary]. They said it should be “Kyain Seikkyi Township” [as set by the Burmese government’s
administration boundary].”

The statue of Saw Ba U Gyi that was going to be set up on New Year day is nine feet tall. The New Year
organizing committee said that it was planned to be erected on December 19 – the statue is now 70 percent
completed.
When contacted by Karen News in regard to the Burma Army objection, Lieutenant Colonel Aung San Win of
LIB #97 said, “We don’t know each other… I cannot give you an answer. If we knew each other personally, I
would answered. Please understand us.”
Padoh Saw Maung Shwe, head of the New Year Organizing Committee told Karen News that the idea to erect
the statue was to let young people know that Saw Ba Gyi wanted a self-determination for the Karen people
and to use peaceful ways to get it – the same path as that of current KNU leaders.
Padoh Saw Maung Shwe said this will be a major setback for trust building during the peace process.
“We, Karen people are building trust. Karen people will not put trust on us if this is not permitted. If we can’t
do it, we will let it be, but it will remain in our heart.”
During the peace process between the KNU and the government, locals setup the statue of former KNU
general secretary Padoh Mha Shar Lar Phan at his birthplace in Taw Kyaung village, Pantanaw Township on
February 4 and a memorial statue was also setup in Saw Ba U Gyi’s birthplace at Bae Ga Yaek village, Kan
Taung Gyi Township on August 12 in the Ayeyawaddy Region.
** This article was first published on Karen News website.
Publication

David Smile
June 17 at 10:11 AM ·
ေခါင္းေ ါငေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းးျကီးါင္း းုး္း( ၁ )
*****************************
ခ်းစေ ဂ ္းား ္းးဂီးိုငခ်ခးကငေျ ါင ငင္းးေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းီးျီးကီးင ီးီးျညး ုတ ငငင
ုတ ငငငဘ စ္း ိုေကပၚငင္းခူကေီ ီာားူေ ါင္းု် ္းဘ ငငဘ ီးင္ဂီးိုငခ်ခးကငေျ ါင
ကငေျ ါင ငင္းီးငီးျီးါင္းားါင္းီ ္းးစးီးျငေား္း ီးားညာို် ငးဘုငငု
ဘုငငု ဘကးငိုီးျငိုကငေား္းားားငငဘ ီး္းကုင္းီ ူကီီးကးေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းီးငးဂီးိုငခ်ခး
ဂီးိုငခ်ခးကင
ကငေျ ါင ငင္းငါငငို ငီးျူခူကီးင္ဂု ငီးျကငုေီးျ င ူကငးင္းား ီးျါငျ ူကဖါငီးျငငေစ္းျေငဘ
ျေငဘ ါငငကခူကဘခါင္းးိုီးျငိုကငေား္းျဘ ီးျဘ ငငး ားါငငစ
ားါငငစေခါင္းေ ါငု် ္းငါငငေီးျက ီးား ီးျါငေခါင္းေ ါငီးျငငေစ္းျဘ ငငကဖါငခူကဘခါင္းငါငင
ါင္းငါငင ကိုးဂ ီး
ဂ ီးေစ္းငစ္းျ ူကီးျါငကဖါငခူကီးင္ီာီးင ားါငိုာု်ခး္းေခါင္းေ ါငီးျငငေစ္းျေငဘ ါငငးျ
ါငငးျင ီးျင ားါငိုာု်ခးာီးျီးက႕္ဖိုီးဘခီးုီးာကငါငငျဘ ီး္းငစ္းက ္းျီးျ ငးုုင
ုုငီးျင ာ္း ီးျေ ါငျၚးငေ ငားငငဘ ီး္းကုင္းျ ္းၚီးီးျငခူကီာဘ ငငီးင
ေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္း ီး ား ဖီးျစီးျီးါင္းးကီးီုငျေားကဘုီးကငညင းညခီးျခး ငငဘ စ္း
ငငဘ စ္းေၚ ါငငဘုီးကငညင္း( ၁ )း္ူ ား ငား ီးျါငးုင္ းခီးင
ခီးငငငေျ ငီးျီး္ ိုီးျါင္ား ငေငကီးျါငေု္း ္းီးင္ီာ႕ေု္းီ ြား ကၠငု ျု်ခး္းု်ခ
း္းု်ခး္း ူိုူေ ငဘကေငေီ ေဘ ါငငးျေုား ားီာ
ျေုား ားီာ႕ီုစ္းေင ငီူု ဘ စ္း ျီးျးငဘကီးေက္းခူကကီးင္ေု္းခ်ါင္းေို္းေည ငား
္းေည ငားီးငငျင ငေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းီးငး ီးီးျညီ ္းဘ ငငီးင္ ု္း( ၁ )းေင ငားစင
ေင ငားစင း း္း( ၁ )ေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းး း္း( ၁ )ေင င္စ ီး္းငါ ငငးး္း( ၁ )းေင င ူ ီး္း
ေင င ူ ီး္းီးျီးကဘ ငငဘ ီးင္ု္ု် ္းု ေင ီ ဘုီးျငဘ စ္းငါငငေင ငေျငီးးီးျီးကဘ ငငဘ ီ

ီးျီးကဘ ငငဘ ီးင္ေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္း ခါငငါငငးဖငငဘ စ္းေင ေကီ ီးျီးက႕ ခါငီးငးးစျငင ီး
းစျငင ီးေီးျ ငငကငီာု် ္းဘ ငငီးင္ၚီးကေဘ ါငငေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းးျ ျိုငငီီး
ျ ျိုငငီီးကေ ် ါင္းီ ္းီးျ ငား ီးျါငးီာ
ီာ႕ ခါငေင ီ ဘုီးျငဘ စ္း ီးျာဘ ငငီားေင ေကီ ီးကီးျ ငေငခူကီးင္
ေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းီးငးါညငငေင းကီးီုငဘုီးကား ီးီ ဘ ာ႕းီးျီးါငီးျငငား ေ ် ါင္း းညခီးးၚးယး္း( ၁ )ီးျ
ၚးယး
္း( ၁ )ီးျါငေ ် ါင္းေငခူကီးင္ ီးီ ဘ ာေ ် ါင္းီးျါင ညငီးျငင္းေျ ါငဘကစ္းေင ငးီာ႕ ခ
င ငးီာ႕ ခါင ျ ျိုကငင ီးေ ါင္းုငငင ီးျီးျငေဘု ငေငားငငးေု ငိုဘုီး
ေု ငိုဘုီးါငဘုီးကားးုငီးျ းဖ င္င ငငုငင႕းျၚာ္း
ျၚာ္းျ ျိုကငေ ် ါင္းီးျါင ငို ငးီါငညာေငီးင္ၚီးေ ် ါင္းု းငငငဘခ
ငငငဘခါင္းခားငငည ငငျီါင္းီးျးငေၚ ါငေီ းျၚ ငီးျ
ျၚ ငီးျငင္းေ ် ါင္းဘ ငငီးင္ကၚု ုတ ငငငီးျါငေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းျီ ငုယငငငဘ ငငေငေ
ငဘ ငငေငေကဘကစ္ေု ငိုဘုီးါငီီးကေား ငားခ်ငငီးျါငုာီာကျီ ငု္ငငငဘ ငငီးင္ုင ုခီးငငငီးျ
ီးငငငီးျါငးျ ျိုငငီီးကငီးျါငၚ ငခ ီးင္
ဘုငငု ငီးငငါငါုးိုငင ငငီီးကေားေဘ ါင္းခားစ္းဘ ါငငၚ ငို ား းငီးငီးေကါင္းးီးျငငိုဘ ီးင
ီးျငငိုဘ ီးင္ေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းီးငးကၚုငငငျီးျ ငးီးျ ြ
ီးျ ြီီးိုငဖါငေား ငခါငငားငီးါငားငငးိုငင ငငေငျုငီးျါငး ်ခးားါင
ားါင ား ါ ္းားီးင္ျ ျိုကငင ီးျ ငခ်ေင္းု ီးီးျငကူးေ
ေကေ ီါငီးျငင္းျီးျ ငို ငီးျါငင ီးကီါငညာားေိုီးင္ုင ခီးငငငေျ ငီးျီး္
္ ိုီးျါငး ါင္း္ားငင Cambridge Univercity) ငါငငေျ ငင ီးက ငီးျ ြီီးိုငး း
OXFORD) ႕းု ိုါင္းေ ိုကင Magdalene Collage
)ီးျါငေ ် ါင္းဖါငခါငငားေိုီးင္းးငငငဘ ခူငီးင္ဘဂီးျီ်းျါငက
ျါငကည ီးျငငခီးိုီး္းု ေားကေငိုီး ငငီးါင ီးကငူကးဂ ီးီးျား ္းားီး္းု ေားကေငိုီး ငငီးါင ီးကးိုငင
ိုငင ငငဘုီးကားးုငင ညငီးျါငကညငး းMiddle Temple

)ု ေကေ ၚကငီါငားကီးျညင္ုင ငခီးငငငီးျါငးျ ျိုငငားူကျဘုါငင ီး္းးေ
ေကေ ကး ားါင Barrister At Law )းဘ ငငို ခူကီးျညင္
ငို ငေ ငဘကကုးင္
David Smile
David Smile is with Sa Ai Suee Sarr and 2 others.
June 18 at 3:27 PM ·
ေခါင္းေ ါငးေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းျကီးါင္း း း္း( ၁ )
*****************************
ီးိုငီးငစေခီးျင ိုီးျါငးဘုငငု ငီးငါငါီ ္းု် ္းျေငဘ ါငငေေား ကီ ္းု် ္းငါငငးို ငၚကငား
ို ငၚကငားငငိုညင ာီးင႔း ငေီးျ ငု ီးီးျငက္း
ုိုညင ီးာီးငငဘ ္း ကါငားုင္းေင င္ ္းု် ္းဘ ငငဘ ေီ းငကငခငငခ်ခ
ငကငခငငခ်ခးငါငငိုငကငဘ ီးါငီးျီးကီးငးေေား
ေေား ကီာု် ္းငါငငို ငၚကငဘ ီ ူကီီးကးေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းငါငငေင ေကီ းးစျငင ီး
းစျငင ီးညငငငငေစ္းီးငိုးင္းးေေား ကီာု် ္းငါငငို ငၚကငဘကစ္းးဘုငငု
ဘုငငု ဘကးငီီးကဘကငငိုးငေခပေ ါငို ခူကဘ ီးင္းေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းကၠငစ္းု းိုငင ငငီာ
ိုငင ငငီာဘ ငင္းေင ေကီ ႕ကၠငစ္းု းငေ ငီးျိုငငီာဘ ငငီးင္
Renee Rose Kempငါငငေင ္ေစ္းဘ ျစ္းီးျီးကငီးျါငးီ ်ုင္းခ်ငငု းေင ္ေစ္း
ေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းေကေ း္ ီ ီးျ ငေား ငခ်ငငဘ ငငီးင္Kempု းိုငင ငငားး
ငားါငျဖီးျငျင ္းု် ္းေား ါင္းခ်ေငေီ းားစ ်ါငင းRegents Street ) ိုုင္းားး
ငကင ီးါငီးျါငျိုီးကငိုီးကငေငီးင္ေင ္ေစ္းဘ စ္းငါငငး
Kempီးျီးကခါငုါငားါင္းငစ္းီ ္းဘ ီးငုးေုီးျ
ေုီးျ ု်ခူကဘ ီးငျၚဘ ငငေိုေီးျ ငီးင္ီာီးျီးကငငငေစ္းီးငးားီးကငား

KAREN NATIONAL LEADER SAW BA OO

KAREN NATIONAL LEADER SAW BA OO

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to KAREN NATIONAL LEADER SAW BA OO

Similar to KAREN NATIONAL LEADER SAW BA OO (20)

More from MYO AUNG Myanmar

More from MYO AUNG Myanmar (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

KAREN NATIONAL LEADER SAW BA OO