Saw Hsar Gay Talks about Karen History & KNU Revolution /BURMA

** KNU’s ALL Brigades & ALL District Administrations support the current leadership, the Executive Committee and Central Committee.The document has been published, signed by 19 important officers, including Saw Mutu, General Officer Commanding , Vice Chief of Staff Major General Saw Oliver of G Branch, Major General Saw Pila Sein of A Branch， Major General Saw Isaac of Q Branch, Brigade General Saw Hsar Gay of Special Warfare Section, Brigade General Saw Kyaw Lin of 1st Brigade，, Brigade General Saw Maei Sein of 2nd Brigade, Brigade General Saw Sharmin of 3rd Brigade, Brigade General Saw Dar Gyaw Lu of 4th Brigade, Brigade General Saw Baw Kyaw Hai of 5th Brigade, Brigade General Saw Sami of 6th Brigade and all 5 battalion commanders from the 7th Brigade.

About Karen National Union(KNU), Kawthoolei

The Karens, A Nation, Their Nature and History

Pre World War II Eras: Burman Feudalism, British Imperialism and Japanese Fascism

--1941 the Japanese army gave a military training to a group of Burmese, 1942 the Japanese army sent this Burmese group to Thailand to organise oversea-Burmese and build BIA. Then BIA brought the Japanese army and helped them to invade Burma. The Maha Burmese Chauvinists of BIA accused Karen people of being English puppet and agents and therefore being enemy. These Maha –Burmese Chauvinists attacked our Karen villages, using a scheme to wipe out the entire Karen populace which closely resembled the genocidal scheme Hitler was enacting against the Jews in Germany. The Karens in many parts of the country were arrested, tortured and killed. Our properties were looted, our womenfolk raped and killed, and our hearths and homes burned. Conditions were so unbearable that in some areas the Karens retaliated fiercely enough to attract the attention of the Japanese Government, which mediated and somewhat controlled the situation.

At that time Japanese amry’s aims actually are:

1. Block out the Yunnan-Burma High Way,cut out the aids of USA and western countries to China and strangle China to death.

2. Attack Englsih army in India and expanse the Japanese occupation.

Post-World War II Eras: Demand for the Karen State, Tensions and Armed Conflicts

-- February 11, 1948, in which over 400,000 Karen took part. The banners carried in the procession contained four slogans, namely: 1.Give the Karen State at once 2. Show Burman one Kyat and Karen one Kyat 3. Wedo not want communal strife. 4. We do not want civil war.

-- we continue to maintain our own state, Kawthoolei, administered by our won Kawthoolei Government since 1950, under the banner of the Karen National Union(KNU), and the well trained and disciplined Karen National Liberation Army, which were formed in the same year. We desire Kawthoolei to be a Karen State with the right to self-determination. We are therefore endeavouring to form a genuine Federal Union comprised of all the states of the nationalities in Burma, including a Burman state, on the basis of Liberty, Equality, Self-Determination and Social Progress.

Present Day Situation: The Karens Under Successive Burmese Regimes, The Revolutionary Areas, and the Present Situation

--4 Cuts of the Junta: 1.cutting our lines for supplying provisions, 2.cutting the line of contact between the masses and the revolutionaries, 3.cutting all revolutionary financial income and resources, 4. cutting off the heads of all revolutionaries.

--National Democratic Front(NDF): 9 Non-Burman Ethnic Armed Groups

1.Arakan Liberation Party(ALP) 2.Chin National Front(CNF) 3.Kachin Independence Organization 4.Karen National Union(KNU) 4. Karennie National Progressive Party(KNPP) 6. Kayan New Land Party(KNLP) 7. Lahu National Organization(LNO) 8. New Mon State Party(NMSP) 9. Wa National Organization(WNO).

--Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB): NDF＋All Burma Students’ Front (ABSDF)＋All Burma Young Monks’ union(ABYMU) = Burmans + Non-Burmans = ALL races oppose Burma’s junta.

--DAB’s 4 principles: 1. The removal of the military dictators. 2. The establishment of democratic government. 3. The cessation of civil war and the establishment of internal peace. 4. The establishment of National Unity and a genuine federal union.

KNU’s political aims:

1. The establishment of a Karen State with the right to self-determination.

2. The establishment of National States for all the nationalities, with the right to self-determination.

3. The establishment of a genuine Federal Union with all the states having equal rights and the right to self-determination.

4. The Karen National Union will pursue the policy of National Democracy.