Original scientific paper
Ethnic Groups and Problems of National Integration of Burma
Ružica Čičak
; Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
At the beginning of the last century Burma came into conflict with the British. The British undertook the annexation of Burma from India in stages up to 1836, when it became a province of British India. A serious rural rebellion broke out in 1931, and in 1937 Burma was formally separated from India and won internal self-government. The Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945 helped Burma to build up its first national army. The Union of Burma won independence in January 1948, but immediately faced rebellions by various non-Burmese ethnic groups, including Karens, Shans and Kachins. Namely, the proclamation of independence revealed how factional and contradictory were Burmese political interests. Some of the factional divisions depended on ideo¬logical loyalties, while other and more dangerous divisions resulted from the continual rivalries between the Burmese and the other autochthonous communities in Burma. In March 1962 the army, fearing the national disintegration of the country, overthrew the parliamentary government of U Nu and installed a military government of General Ne Win, whose ideology is the Burmese road to socialism. Though for many centuries the history of Burma was not spared of many rebellions and wars with ethnic back¬ground, its present problems of establishing national unity lie a great deal in the manner of British colonial rule in Burma; ethnic or communal politics therefore inject a very special element into the character of Burmese society. The new Burmese Constitution passed in 1974 offers more autonomy to its federal states but it still does not satisfy the national minorities of Burma, which make one third of the entire population.
The presence of ethnic minorities of foreign origin in Burma, lndians and Chinese, complicates further an already complex situation concerning national communities in the country, and is reflected in Burmese inter-state relations, especially with India.
Keywords
ethnic minority; national integration; Burma
Hrčak ID:
128941
URI
Publication date:
31.12.1985.
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