Bridging the Generation Gap

By WAI MOE

Some 5,000 Karens and guests celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Karen National Union (KNU) on Saturday at its stronghold in Karen State.

Officials said the event served to celebrate Karen culture, to honor the Karen revolution and to act as a bridge between the rebel movement’s old guard and the new generation.

The highlight of the festival was the presentation of awards to 16 elderly soldiers to commemorate their 60-year commitment to the Karen revolutionary movement. Among them were KNU Chairman Gen Tamalabaw and Chief of Staff Mu Tu. However, Gen Tamalabaw was unable to attend the ceremony.

"The Karens’ struggle for freedom will continue until we accomplish our goal," Commander Mu Tu told the crowd. “We Karen condemn the chauvinist Burman ideology of the military junta and the militarization of Burma."

The KNU was founded to fight for autonomy for the Karen in 1949, a year after Burma had declared independence from Great Britain. The Karen rebels and its military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), were once one of most powerful insurgent groups in the region. However, the rebels were pushed back to the Thai-Burmese border in the 1960s where they set up a headquarters at Manerplaw on the Moei River across from the Thai border.

In 1995, members of the KNU broke away from the group to form the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military government. Manerplaw fell to a combined force of DKBA and Burmese army troops soon after.

Since then, the KNLA has been limited to guerilla warfare—mainly hit and run attacks on its enemies from scattered jungle bases. The KNU has lost strategic territory and with it, trade routes to and from Burma and Thailand.

The deputy chairman of the KNU, David Takapaw, told reporters at the ceremony that the Karen rebels will maintain their lines of defense against the Burmese junta and the DKBA.

“In warfare, sometime troops have to retreat. Sometimes they move forward.
Therefore, we have to retreat before we take a step forward," he said.

Organizers stressed that the festival was more than just a political ceremony, and was a significant step in unifying Karen in insurgent areas and abroad.

Under a UN resettlement program, thousands of Karen refugees have resettled in Western countries in recent years. Several flew in for the 60th anniversary party.

Saw Eh Htee Kaw, a Karen refugee who was resettled in the UK several years ago, said he had come to the Revolution Day to see relatives, friends and former colleagues.

“I am very happy to be at the ceremony,” he said. “I did not expect thousands of people to be here.”

Zoya Phan, a daughter of the assassinated KNU leader, Mahn Sha, also traveled from London to attend the celebration.

Mahn Sha, the former Karen general secretary, was assassinated by unknown gunmen at his residence in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border on February 14, 2008.

“The military junta has been trying to destroy the Karen and its leaders,” said activist Zoya Phan. “But can they destroy us?”

Mahn Sha's family has formed the Phan Foundation to encourage and support a new generation of Karen community activists who will work to help their people.

The foundation has created the Padoh Mahn Sha Young Leader Award, which on Saturday was presented to a Karen woman activist, Naw Paw K' Bla Htoo, for her outstanding contribution to people in the border areas. She also received a US $2,000 prize with the award.

"I am very happy to receive this award,” Naw Paw K' Bla Htoo said. “I will keep up my solid commitment to contribute to the Karen people who definitely need encouragement.”

Saw Eh Htee Kaw shared her sentiments. “Although there have been many dilemmas and many disappointments along the 60 years of struggle, I hope to see a new dawn for the Karens in the near future,” he said.