31.12.2006
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An Obituary
SAW BO MYA
A Powerful Unifying Force
_ By Feraya
Early Sunday morning at 2am on 24th December, 2006 General Bo Mya, vice-president of the Karen National Union (KNU), the largest ethnic rebel group fighting Burma’s military government passed away in Mae Sot Pawo private hospital, in the northwest border town of Mae Sot, Thailand.
Gen. Bo Mya died after a long illness; he was 79. His body was buried on Tuesday the 26th at his last Thai-Burmese border-based stronghold, Pu Bo Mya Plaw (also known as Mu Aye Pu).
About 10,000 people—both friend and foe—among them being KNU leaders, civilians, Thai officials and Burmese army representatives attended the funeral.
"This is the big loss for the Karen and all Burma’s ethnic fighters," said Padoh Mahn Sha, the KNU’s General Secretary. "Gen. Bo Mya has led the fight of the Karen for more than five decades."
Bo Mya had adamantly and consistently refused over the years to compromise over his dreams of greater rights for the Karen in Burma.
His last words were that the Karen people must understand that they must have their own country and that they must try to achieve it.
An esteemed and very highly respected leader of the Karen, he earned their love and admiration as well as being highly regarded by all the other ethnic groups, freedom fighters, leaders, the Burmese citizens and even the Burmese Army. Many people of Burma took his words to their hearts and regarded him as an inspirational and commanding influence for the betterment and wellbeing of Burma.
Gen. Bo Mya was born on Jan. 20, 1927, in Htee Mu Khee village, and he was the 10th of 12 children. He grew up in Papun, Karen State and completed his primary schooling. Then he worked together with the Japanese Army for a while when Japan first entered Burma. However he joined Force 136, the British behind-the-lines armed force, to fight against the Japanese in Burma. Bo Mya joined the police force after the war and then joined the Karen cause in 1947 when it began the fight for autonomy. He kept fighting and served the Karen people when civil war broke out among the ethnic people after Burma gained independence from British colonial rule.
An excellent field commander, Bo Mya rose through the ranks during the 1950s and 60s, while the cause was going through various ideological wrangles that divided the Karen, in much the same way as it did other ethnic armies. During the 1960s, Bo Mya rose to leadership and steered the KNU on a staunchly anti-communist nationalist agenda. His strong-willed style of leadership has helped keep the KNU true to the guiding principles laid down in the 1950s, regarding the establishment of National States for Karen and all the nationalities, with the right to self-determination in a truly federal constitution.
For forty years Bo Mya was one of the most significant figures in Burma’s ethnic politics. Since the National Democratic Front was formed in 1976, he was one of the most influential figures who dominated the struggle for a federal union. Many of the NDF members made ceasefires with the Military Regime but Bo Mya continued with the fight against the regime.The Karen National Union has fought for autonomy since Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948. The KNU has seen their territory shrink to virtually nothing following the capture of their stronghold of Manerplaw in 1995 — a fortified jungle camp that was a hub of the Karen empire in the jungle at the Thai-Burma border.
Bo Mya survived numerous assassination attempts and defections from the group. With the organization splintering badly in the 1990s, he stepped down as military commander after the loss of Manerplaw.
He was the president of KNU from 1976 to 2000 a period of 24 years. After the election results in 2000, he became the sub-chairman and took responsibility of the Infantry Department. Having stepped down from his leadership post with the ethnic insurgent group in 2000, Bo Mya had remained as an important and influential adviser with the Karen National Union until his death.
Bo Mya championed the KNU’s cause for half a century, steadfastly and boldly leading them and he was a powerful unifying force that kept the Karen community strong in their resolute determination to continue the fight.
"I understand that a revolution means opposing the wrong and constructing the right thing," he said in an interview with The Irrawaddy. "Our revolution is one that must fight against evil and all wrongs. We must never go against the masses of the country."
The National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) said in a statement honouring the memory of Gen. Bo Mya that, with his death, “the revolution is losing a great leader.”
A social worker involved with the Committee for Karen People claimed that the death of Bo Mya will likely not impact the Karen National Union's future.
"I don't think so, because the Karen, they have the organization. They are going according to their policy and according to the decision from the congress," Saw Steve told Voice of America.
Numerous tributes and condolences from other ethic groups and leaders in Burma
as well as exiles around the world have been sent following Gen.Bo Mya’s death.
General
Bo Mya is survived by his wife Naw Lah Po, chairman of the Karen Women’s
Organization, seven children and more than 20 grandchildren.
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