Abstract
Myanmar has been experiencing the ethnic conflicts for 70 years since after its independence in 1948. Based on the lack of trust and mutual understanding among the government, majority ethnic Burmese group and other minority ethnic groups, the term “Burmanization” becomes popular due to the discriminations and suppressions on the ethnic people in many sectors. This article analyzes the nature of ethnic conflicts in Myanmar and the consequences and situations from the independence time to the current time under democratic government. The author presents this article as a type of analysis paper which points out some reasons why Myanmar’s peace process is never ending throughout the history. The study attempts to show detailed information about how Myanmar governments tried to shape conflict resolution and peace building in the country and why it is still traumatic in the country. Moreover, this study also speaks more about some solutions for peacebuilding process from different dimensions and communication.
Highlights
The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi praised cultural diversity as follows: “It is precisely because of the cultural diversity of the world that it is necessary for different nations and people to agree on those basic human values which will act as a unifying factor.” It can be assumed that cultural diversity is a kind of blessing for its people in the country
One year before the independence, in 1947, General Aung San who was the leader of Myanmar Independence Army and national hero, completed negotiation a good plan for independence at its time with the British colonial government and tried to persuade ethnic minority groups to enter into the umbrella of Union of Myanmar
It can be seen that conflicts are a much more regular feature of pluralistic democracies for struggling their rights and freedom such as: which language should be used in schools and employment, whether migrant ethnic groups should be allowed entry into the country and/or given restricted rights, whether different groups should be under one civil law for marriages, divorce, and property inheritance, or multiple family laws should be derived from the diverse religious or customary codes, whether religious dress can be allowed in public spaces, whether some groups should be given the benefits of affirmative action, how and to what extent, whether the allocation of public resources favors some ethnic groups more than others
Summary
The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi praised cultural diversity as follows: “It is precisely because of the cultural diversity of the world that it is necessary for different nations and people to agree on those basic human values which will act as a unifying factor.” It can be assumed that cultural diversity is a kind of blessing for its people in the country. One year before the independence, in 1947, General Aung San who was the leader of Myanmar Independence Army and national hero, completed negotiation a good plan for independence at its time with the British colonial government and tried to persuade ethnic minority groups to enter into the umbrella of Union of Myanmar. He established the Panglong Agreement in February, 1947 that included his government promises to ethnic people for their rights (Smith & Ekeh, 2007, Minorities in Burma). Civil war broke out since after independence in 1948 and those ethnic conflicts are still going on for 70 years in the country (Smith, 2015)
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