Evening star., 1942-01-20
Member of the Associated Press.
Burmese Disuffection

DuI IISSS IISUI IG((lOU
British detention" of u Saw,
Premier of Burma, on a charge Of
conSpiring with Japan, emphasizes
a serious domestic situation in that
strategic country at the very mo-
ment when japanese forces based
upon Thailand are attacking its
frontiers Burma's Importance to
the Allied cause, both as the gateway
to China's life line with the outer
world and as the eastern bulWark of
British India, is Self-evident. What
Is not so we'll known is the chronic
unrest among the Burmese people
which of late years has evolved into
a self-assertive nationalistic move
ment frankly hostile to British rule.
The Burmese are the most agrees
sive and coherent among the peoples
inhabiting the great southwark pro-
lection of Asia which lies between
China and India. Of mixed Mon
goloid and Malay blood, they have
SOillpooltC dCllNCd Ill val
ing degrees from Indian and Chinese
sources, though they have common
bond in the Buddhist religion, which
they all profess Several times in
their long history, the Burmese have
had periods of expansion under
strong dynasties. One of these oc-
Cured during the eighteenth CEN
tury, when they conquered their less
warlike SiameSe neighbors on the
east and also encroached upon India
to the westward This brought them
in conflict with the British East
India Company After some pre-
liminary chickering's, a large-scale
war took place in which the British
were victorious after hard fighting
and annexed the long tip of terri
tory reaching halfway down the
Malay Peninsula, which was thence
forth known as British Tennasserim.
It is this strategic outpost which the
Japanese are now attacking in force.
About the middle of the last CEN
tury, second war resulted in Brit
aims annexing the southern part of
Burma proper, including the mouths
of its two chief rivers and the port
OF RangoOn. The Burmese monarchS
remained sullenly hostile, and in
1885 the third Burmese War extin-
guished the country'S independence
in campaign immOrtalized by Kip
ling's prose and his famous poem,
''On the Road to Mandalay," that
being the Burmese capital: Thence
forth, until five years ago, Burma was
a province of the Indian Empire.
Although at first 4here seems to
have been little popular opposition
to British rule, the Burmese never
liked the arrangement. Burma had
never had a political connection with
India, and the Burmese objected
strongly to the influx of Hindu labor
ers, shopkeepers and moneylenders
who came in the wake of the British
conquest. DiSsa tiSfaction increased
further with the rise of a national
istic movement in India and British
concessions toward self-government.
The Burmese were determined not
to be subjected to the rule of Indian
officials who were just as alien as
their British masters. Furthermore.
the spectacle of neighboring Siam. or
Thailand, creating a nation on mod
ern lines, made the Burmese resolve
not only to free themselves from the
Indian connection but also to gain a
large measure Of self-government
within the British Empire with in
dependence as the ultimate goal. In
1880, political agitation eliminated
in a widespread rebellion, suppressed
only after severe fighting by large
British forces.
Britain attempted to calm Burmese
unrest by separating the country
from India in 1897 and by granting a
measure of local self government.
That, however, did not satisfy. the
HdllOlldllSIS, dHlOllS WHOl1 y saw mas
long been prominent. Burma has
been troubled by sporadic disorders
and political demonstrations. The
numerous and highly influential
Buddhist monks are notoriously anti
British, and japanese agents have
been busy for years fomenting un-
rest. Last November, Saw went to
London with a demand for dominion
status, and when he was refused he
left in a disgruntled mood. His
alleged plotting with the japanese
indicates the gravity of the situation
inside Burma today.