Ethnic Alliance Calls for Unity on Union Day

Chiangmai, Thailand: The Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), the largest ethnic opposition alliance today calls for unity among the ethnic groups in the fight for democracy and federalism in Burma.

In a statement commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the signing of Panglong Agreement and the birth of the Union of Burma, the ENC says that unity among the people and all the ethnic groups is essential if Burma is to realize the promises of a genuine federal democracy and full internal autonomy.

After more than 60 years since the founding of the Union of Burma, the true spirit of the Union was never realized because chauvinistic agendas espoused by some Burman politicians failed to honor the very essence and principles of Panglong Agreement, the ENC says.

The Panglong Agreement, signed on 12 February 1947 between representatives of the ethnic nationalities and the interim Burmese government led by General Aung San, provided a contractual basis for Burma’s independence from Britain and the birth of the Union of Burma.

The ENC says that 60 years of civil war and economic crisis experienced by the people of Burma are the direct results of chauvinistic and authoritarian ideologies of successive Burmese rulers.

‘All the ethnic races and the people must join hands in unity if we want to see the military dictatorship removed from power and equal rights, self-determination and federal democratic system instituted in Burma according to the spirits of Panglong,’ says the statement.

12 February 2009