BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

MYANMAR’S PEACE PROCESS UNDER SUU KYI: UNDERSTANDING THE FAULT LINES

Author: Abu Salah Md. Yousuf, Gausul Azam

DOI Link: https:/www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2018v39n4a3

ABSTRACT

Before British occupation in Myanmar, the then Burma, the frontier areas of the country enjoyed autonomy under the dynastic rulers. The British colonials consolidated the country under a central rule. When anti-British movement started in Myanmar, the ethnic groups of frontier areas reclaimed their autonomy. The unanimous leader of Myanmar’s independence movement General Aung San desired an integrated Myanmar and reached in an agreement naming Panglong Agreement 1947, where all the stakeholders agreed to secure the identity and status of all ethnic communities and to develop a federal system where every community can get equal status. The assassination of General Aung San and subsequent military takeover of 1962 pushed the country towards a long-term ethnic conflict. The military rulers failed to accommodate demands of the ethnic communities and a policy of segregation undermined the nationality of ethnic groups. After seven decades, Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrival to power in 2015 raised new hope for reconciliation and the elected government of Myanmar started new peace process. But, the longstanding mistrust and conflict between the military and the ethnic groups are making the process difficult. Present study identifies the fault lines of new peace process and finds that the deficit of trust, the point of non-secession principle, disagreements on the incorporation of ethnic soldiers in the national military and debates on constitutional amendments are the main challenges towards a peace agreement between the government and ethnic communities of Myanmar.