Ne Win

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Bo Ne Win (Burmese: Image:Bscript neiwin.png; May 24 or May 14, 1911 or July 10, 1910 – December 5, 2002), born Shu Maung) was a Burmese military commander and 'strong man' of Burma from 1962 until 1988. Ne Win's exact date of birth is not known with certainty. The (English language publication) Who's Who in Burma (People's Literature House, Rangoon, 1961) stated that Ne Win was born on 24 May 1911. The late Dr. Maung Maung (31 January 1925-2 July 1994) stated in the Burmese version of his book Burma and General Ne Win (the book has versions both in English and Burmese languages) that Ne Win or Shu Maung (his original name) was born on 14 May 1911. However, in a book written in Burmese entitled (in translation) The Thirty Comrades, the author Kyaw Nyein gave Ne Win's date of birth as '10 July 1910'. This is perhaps a more plausible date because (1) Kyaw Nyein had access to historical records and he interviewed many surviving members of the 'Thirty Comrades' when he wrote the book in the mid-to late 1990s. (Ne Win was one of the 'Thirty Comrades' which secretly went to take military training in Japanese occupied Hainan island in the early 1940s for the purpose of fighting the British who then ruled Burma. In his book published around 1998 Kyaw Nyein lists the names of the surviving members of the Thirty Comrades whom he had interviewed but Ne Win was not one of them.) (2) when Ne Win died on 5 December 2002, the Burmese language newspapers which were allowed to carry a paid obituary of Ne Win's death stated the age of 'U Ne Win' to be '93 years'. In Burmese custom or practice a person who actually has turned 92 (ie if a person reaches the age of 92) he or she is formally considered 93 years old. Since Ne Win turned 92 in July 2002 when he died in December 2002 he was considered to be '93 years old'. Most western newsagencies, based on the (ostensible) May 1911 birthdate of Ne Win, reported that Ne Win was '91 years old' when he died but it is of note that the actual obituary put up by his surviving relatives (most probably his children) stated that he was '93 years old' (ninety-two according to the general or Western way of calculating age).

Early years

U Ne Win, whose name was originally Shu Maung, was born into an educated middle class family in Paungdale, which was about 200 miles north of Rangoon. He spent two years at Rangoon University beginning in 1929, and took biology as his main subject with hopes of becoming a doctor. However, he left university and left Rangoon in 1931 to become a member of the anti-British nationalist group Dobama Asiayone (meaning 'We Burmans Association'). Other members of the group included Aung San (father of Aung San Suu Kyi) and U Nu. In 1941 he was one of the so-called 'Thirty Comrades' who were chosen for military training by the Japanese forces. He was a member of the Burmese Independence Army (BIA). During military training at the then Japanese-occupied Hainan Island Shu Maung chose a new name, or nom de guerre, Bo ('Commander') Ne Win ('Radiant Sun'). In early 1942 the Japanese and the BIA entered Burma in the wake of the retreating British forces. Ne Win's role in the campaign was to organize resistance forces behind the British lines.

The Japanese actions in Burma worked to alienate the nationalists as well as many Burmese. Towards the end of the Second World War, on 27 March 1945 the Burma National Army (successor to the BIA) turned against the Japanese following the British re-invasion of Burma. Ne Win, as one of the BNA Commanders, was quick to establish links with the British - attending the Kandy meeting and heading the anti-Communist operations the Pyinmana area as commander of the 4th Burma Rifles after two Communist separate parites went undergound to fight against the government in October 1946 and 28 March 1948 respectively. Burma obtained independence on 4 January 1948 and for the first 14 years of independence it had a parliamentary and democratic government mainly under the then prime minister, U Nu, but the country was riven with political division. Even before independence, Aung San was assassinated on 19 July 1947; U Saw, a former prime minister and political rival of Aung San, was found guilty of the crime and executed.

Following independence there were uprisings in the army and amongst minority ethnic groups. In late 1948, after a confrontation between army rivals, Ne Win was appointed second in command of the army and his rival took a portion of the army into rebellion. He immediately adopted a policy of creating socialist militia battalions called Sitwundan under his personal command. In early 1949, Ne Win was given total control of the army. He rebuilt and restructured the armed forces along socialist political lines, but the country was still split and the government was ineffective.

Ne Win was asked to serve as interim prime minister from 27 October 1958 to 4 April 1960 by U Nu, when the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) led by then prime minister U Nu split into two and U Nu barely survived a motion of no-confidence against his government in parliament. Ne Win restored order during the period known as the 'Ne Win care-taker government'.

Elections were held in February 1960 and Ne Win handed back power to U Nu on 4 April 1960.

Some of Ne Win's Actions as Leader

However, less than two years later on 2 March 1962 Ne Win seized power this time through a military coup d'etat. He instituted a system involving elements of extreme nationalism, Marxism, and Buddhism. Part of his plan was to almost completely isolate the country from the rest of the world. For about ten years from 1962 foreigners could visit the country only for 24 hours to three days and in the early 1970s visas for foreigners were extended to one week. Fear of the West was high. The drastic political and economic measures taken by Ne Win and the Revolutionary Council that he headed were called the 'Burmese Way to Socialism' - the economy was nationalized, foreigners were expelled, political activists were imprisoned and ethnic and communist insurgencies were fought with massive military force. Since independence, the main ethnic problems arose in the south-eastern part of the country, where the British had made pre-independence promises of a separate Karen state or considerable autonomy for the ethnic Karens.

Protests against his government were dealt with effectively and ruthlessly; for example, students' protests in Rangoon on 7 July 1962 led to dozens of students being shot dead and the historic Rangoon University Student Union (RUSU) building being dynamited on 8 July 1962. The RUSU was a center of anti-colonial struggles during the colonial days and many student leaders including Aung San and U Nu in the 1930s used the RUSU as a forum for discussions, protests and political activities against the British colonial government. After troops shot and killed up to about 100 students and after the historic RUSU building was dynamited around 5 am (local time, Burma Standard Time, BST) on 8 July 1962 Ne Win addressed the nation on radio around 8 pm (20:00 hours) BST. Ne Win's speech to the country lasted only about five minutes or less. The last phrase of his speech (in translation) was 'if these disturbances were made to challenge us, I have to declare that we will fight sword (in Burmese 'dah') with sword and spear (in Burmese 'hlan') with spear'. (Two different English translations of Ne Win's speech can be read in the front page of The [Rangoon] Nation and The [Rangoon] Guardian of 9 July 1962. Part of the title of The Nation's headline of 9 July 1962 reads ' General Ne Win States Give Us Time to work: Obstructionists are warned: Will Fight 'dah' with 'dah')'. This most infamous speech of his political career came to be known informally among the Burmese as 'sword with sword, spear with spear speech'. Ne Win spoke these insolent words about 30 hours after his troops shot and killed about 100 unarmed students and about 12 to 13 hours after the RUSU building was dynamited. Within less than a week after the shootings at Rangoon University and the destruction of the RUSU buidling Ne Win left for Austria, Switzerland and the United Kingdomn 'for a medical check up' on 13 July 1962. (News items of Ne Win's trip to these countries for 'medical check up' can be found in The Guardian and The Nation of 14 July 1962). Universities were closed for more than two years and were reopened only in September 1964.

Sporadic student-led demonstrations against Ne Win's rule continued with demonstrations - at times followed by closure of Universities and Colleges after the demonstrations- in 1965, December 1969, December 1970, December 1974, June 1975 and September 1987. These demonstrations took place mainly in Universities and Colleges located in the cities of Rangoon, Mandalay and Moulmein. The student led demonstrations also occurred in March 1988 and June 1988 and in August to September 1988 it became a nation-wide uprsing against Ne Win's and BSPP rule in what is now known as the 'Four Eights Uprising'.

Ne Win was married on five official occasions and had at least five children from these different marriages. The 1972 death of his 'favorite' wife, Khin May Than (alias) Kitty Ba Than, was a heavy blow to him. He was also noted for his interest in numerology. In September 1987 he ordered the Burmese currency the kyat to be issued in denominations of 15, 35, 45, 75 and 90 kyats, besides the existing 5 and 10 kyat notes.

The efforts of Ne Win were, to put it mildly, not well-received in much of the country. His actions caused many in the educated work-force to migrate, and Myanmar is still feeling its effects today. During the period of 1962 to 1988 when Ne Win formally ruled the country the policy of isolation was particularly damaging to the economy. The black market and rampant smuggling supplied the needs of the people, while the central government slid slowly into bankruptcy.

On 23 July 1988, with Burma one of the poorest countries in the world, having being formally assigned by the United Nations (UN) as a 'Least Developed Country' (LDC) in 1987, Ne Win resigned as chairman of the then sole and ruling Burma Socialist Programme Party. By 1988 he had been in a number of official positions. He was Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 2 March 1962 to 2 March 1974, Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government from 2 March 1962 to 2 March 1974 and President of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma from 5 March 1974 to 9 November 1981. Most importantly, he established the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) and was its chairman for 26 years from 4 July 1962 until his nominal resignation on 23 July 1988 at the height of the uprising against one-Party rule. (From 23 March 1964 when all political parties were abolished by military decree of the Revolutionary Council, the BSPP was the sole political party in Burma.) In what he prophetically called what might be his 'last speech before a public gathering' on 23 July 1988 at the BSPP Party Congress Ne Win stated -more than 26 years after the tragic events of 7 and 8 July 1962- that he was not involved in 8 July 1962 dynamiting of the Rangoon University Student Union building and that it was his former deputy Brigadier Aung Gyi who was responsible. Ne Win also stated that after he learnt of the destruction of the RUSU as a 'revolutionary leader' he had to take 'responsibility' and gave the 'sword with sword and spear with spear' speech. In the same speech of 23 July 1988 - and using the same threatening words and tone- Ne Win also warned the potential demonstrators that if the protests and 'disturbances' continued the 'Army would have to be called and I would like to declare from here that if the Army shoots it has no tradition of shooting into the air. It would shoot straight to hit'. And he added that (when the Army shoots to hit) 'it won't be easy' (alternatively it could be translated as 'you won't be spared'). (The English translation of Ne Win's speech could be found in 24 July 1988 issues of The [Rangoon] Guardian and The Working People's Daily). The Burmese troops which shot, killed and maimed hundreds if not up to 3000 or more demonstators in various places throughout Burma from the period of 8 August 1988 to 12 August 1988 and again on 18 September 1988 (a period known as the '8888' or 'Four Eights' Uprising) proved that Ne Win's 'promise' in his 'farewell' speech to the nation of 'shooting straight to hit' was kept with a vengeance.

During the various protests and uprisings against one-party rule starting from March 1988 there were brief hopes for democracy before a military group, then under the virtual tutelage of Ne Win, seized power on 18 September 1988 and brutally crushed the people's uprising. It is widely believed that Ne Win, though in apparent 'retirement', organized from behind the scenes, the military take-over which crushed the uprising. For about ten years after the 18 September 1988 military coup Ne Win remained out of government but he was a shadowy figure exercising at least some influence on the military junta State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) whose name was later changed into State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on 15 November 1997. However from about 1998 his influence on the junta began to wane. In late September 2002 one of his sons-in-law (husband of his favorite daughter Sandar Win born to his third wife Kitty Ba Than) and three of his grandsons (born to Sandar Win) were sentenced to death by a tribunal for treason in that they were alleged to have planned to overthrow the SPDC. Earlier, when the alleged plot was uncovered Ne Win as well as Sandar Win were put under house arrest on 5 March 2002.

Death

After being put under house arrest, the 92-year-old Ne Win died at 7:30 am (Burma Standard Time) on December 5, 2002 at his lakeside house in Yangon. His death was not a noted event world-wide and no state funeral was held nor any of the SPDC members attended the funeral. Only about twenty-five to thirty persons were said to have attended his hastily-held funeral. His daughter Sandar Win was temporarily released from house-arrest to attend the funeral and cremation. His ashes were later dispersed into the Hlaing River by Sandar Win, who as of time of writing, is still under house arrest. Her husband and Ne Win's three grand-children who were earlier sentenced to death also continued to remain in a Burmese jail.de:Ne Win fr:Ne Win nn:Ne Win ru:Не Вин