Day Four. Saturday, 4 October 2014

Ask me who’s the Shan misunderstood most by other Shans and I’ll lose no time in pointing out at Harn Yawnghwe, born Sao Hso Harn Fa, the youngest son of Sao Shwe Thaike and Sao Hearn Hkam of the princely house of Yawnghwe. (Interestingly, his namesake, King Hso Harn Fa, pronounced Tho Han Bwa by the Burmese, who ruled Ava, 1527-1542, is also the most hated Shan sovereign for reputedly killing 300 Burmese monks. Burmese history in the meanwhile has only praise for the Burmese king Alaungpaya who was said to have put to death 3,000 Mon monks in 1757.)

I was surprised to find people who have never met him but hate him nevertheless with so much fervor, until I remembered what Joseph Goebbels, the minister for propaganda for Nazi Germany:

If you tell a lie big enough

and keep repeating it,

people will eventually come to believe it

This morning he has the opportunity to change (or at least make them rethink) their minds about him.

The topic he speaks is about the current peace process. The following are excerpts:

“I’m not speaking for anyone and I’m not criticizing anyone either. What I have been doing is in the interests of both Shans and other nationalities in the union.

In politics, we cannot afford to place complete reliance on anyone. In 1947 we had made a grave mistake by relying upon some Burmese leaders.

Today, as yesterday, there are a lot of good Burmese leaders, but still we have to depend on ourselves.

We have always called for equality. At the same time, we are waiting for the Burmese leaders to begin first. That is not equality but elevating them to the status of our superiors. If we want to be equal we need to show the way and ask them to walk with us. We have to do it ourselves.

Some of us think the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) process was initiated by the Burmese government in order to buy time. That is not true. It came into being because we demanded it, and because we do not want the Burmese Army to attack those that have yet to sign the state/union level ceasefire agreements.

Some of us are also saying we need to wait for the 2015 elections and that we will have a better deal under the new president. But we have to remember that if U Thein Sein, a former general, is having trouble handling the military, what can we expect from a purely civilian president? We may choose to sign the NCA now or then. But the military now will still be the military then.

The Open Book plan is okay in principle. But in practice, any big armed organization that hesitates to sign will become the military’s target.

As for the DDR, putting it before political settlement is like putting the cart before the horse. Even foreign governments know it is unreasonable.

What the present government is doing, the next government must continue. But if the present government is unable to accomplish anything, the next must begin anew and time invested since 2011 will be wasted. What we need is a guarantee that whoever becomes government will go through with the peace process to its fruition.

We later have a coffee break followed by a meeting with the Karen and UPWC delegations, where we have the opportunity to thank the government for the successful transaction and conclusion of the three-day meeting.

“Well, it appears peace is harder to win than war,” remarks the RCSS boss at the end of the day.

You’re telling me, General?