(Book Review) – Shwe Ohn is known in Burma as one of the last living Panlong Conference-generation Shan leaders. In his autobiography, ‘Union Traveler’, he recounts the highlights of his experiences, such as attending the National Convention (NC) organized by the then SLORC and SPDC regimes, his later boycotting of the NC and his organizing a ‘No’ vote during deliberations on the 2008 Constitutional referendum, his formation of a Shan political party and leadership during the 2010 general election, as well as many other key moments in his event-filled life.The younger generation of Burmese can benefit from the autobiographies of leaders who have played important roles in our history and politics. There are many such autobiographies and histories: Saturday’s Son by the late Prime Minister U Nu; Thakin Pe Htay by Thakin Pe Htay; My Real Activities and Past Experiences by the late KNU leader Bogyoke Mya; My life in a Commune by Thakin Tin Mya; the volumes of Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) history written and published by the military regime and many others.
We can learn from the past experiences and activities of the key players in history and in an autobiography, they can often write more freely about their life, the people they came into contact with and their own views. Shwe Ohn dictated his book on a tape recorder while he was suffering from liver cancer.
Shwe Ohn is a seasoned ethnic Shan politician in the largest state in Burma. He begins by retelling the story of the first and second Panlong conferences, the first held on March 26-27, 1946, and the second on February 12, 1947. The conferences were attended not only by ethnic leaders representing Shan, Chin, Kachin, and Karenni but also by U Saw and U Nu from Burma proper.
The independence struggle was being waged by various groups: the then governor of Burma, Aung San and his Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL); Shan chieftains (sawbwas and sawphya) and the Shan State Freedom League (SSFL) led by Tin Aye, plus assorted ethnic groups. The Shan feudal princes were ready to merge with the Chin, Kachin and Karen but they presented a cold shoulder to ethnic Burmese. At the time, various ethnic groups believed they could stand alone as separate independent sovereign states, and that they could co-exist with the Burmese state after regaining independence.
The political stand of the SSFL was to introduce a people’s political movement in Shan State which was dominated and ruled unilaterally by Shan princes. Much of the book is devoted to the movements and activities led by Tin Aye. At that time, the group specifically advocated and organized a movement to regain independence.
Shwe Ohn is also the author of various essays and papers on the Union Principle. He submitted a paper titled Why and How of this Union of Burma to the National Convention in 1994. He was also imprisoned for one year.
He served as a bureaucratic officer during the rule of the AFPFL government . He writes about the history of the Union Movement and the rule of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). When the convention was convened to begin drafting the constitution, he recalls how he proposed amending basic principles and objectives and how he worked to organize cease-fire groups during the convention. ‘Though the cease-fire groups could talk frankly among themselves, some of them acted like the mouse before the cat when they were in the convention’.
‘But we must give credit to some of them’, he writes. ‘The New Mon State Party (NMSP), United Wa State Party (UWSP), Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) or Mengla group and the Shan State Nationalities Liberation Army (SSNLA) defied the junta’s pressure to do disparaging things and conduct a smear campaign against Aung San Suu Kyi’.
He recounts how Khun Tun Oo and Sai Nyunt Lwin from the SNLD, Sao Hse Tin and other ethnic Shan leaders were given nearly 100-year prison terms after they formed the Shan State Consultative Council. According to Shwe Ohn, there was no provision in the regulations of this consultative council to include the SNLD, but the ethnic Shan leaders were given long prison terms. Among them, Myint Than was tortured and died in custody. He had played pivotal role in contacting cease-fire groups.
When we read the autobiographies written by veteran politicians, we can sometimes connect the lost links in history, but they are not yet complete. We need more autobiographies like Shwe Ohn has written.
In Burma, ethnic issues are difficult and hard to resolve. In studying ethnic political affairs, the Panlong Conference is essential and Shwe Ohn, who played a crucial role in our modern history, can help us to see our past more clearly. If other such leaders can leave us their autobiographies, perhaps future generations can make decisions and choices more wisely.
This autobiography was supported by the Thai-based Shan Herald News Agency. The editor in chief, Khun Sai, said: ‘An African proverb says the loss of an elder is like the loss of a reference book. So we asked Shwe Ohn to write his autobiography before he died for the untold and unpublished historical facts that could be revealed to new generations’.
Shwe Ohn’s autobiography fulfills that promise, and he has left a valuable record of his times and Burma’s struggle to find peace and democracy.