The youth of today to realize the value of independence

“The young generation born as independent citizens who are well convinced of the value of and taste of independence, are duty-bound to safeguard the independence and sovereignty of the motherland through the might of unity and armony.”
Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services
(From message sent on the occasion of the 59th Anniversary Independence Day)
The guidance to the youth, who will shoulder State’s duties as the saying, “The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow”, stated in the message of the Head of State inspired me to clarify what the value and taste of independence is for the youth of the nation. First and foremost, I would like to explain some points about the value of independence. Now, the world has seen 192 independent and sovereign countries. However, about 100 years ago, two-thirds of those countries were under the rule of one colonial empire or another.The majority of the countries that had stood with own monarchs and sovereign for thousands of years were trampled underfoot by colonialists who had
transformed themselves from pirates with the opinion that those who conquered the sea could conquer the world.One of the victimized countries was Myanmar that had stood tall continuously with own monarchs since the time of King Abhiraja of Tagaung Period. Myanmar people smouldered for many years with the incident in which King Thibaw was taken away abroad in 1247 Myanmar Era (AD 1885). As the saying that goes,“Great events are relayed from one generation to the next”, senior citizens shared painful experiences with young ones at green tea parties in villages at moonlit nights that the Myanmar king had to yield to the oppressions of alien invaders due to the great arm superiority; that he was conveyed to Gawwein port only by bullock cart instead of being sent on an elephant, on a horseback, or by coach flanked by troops; and that the Myanmar monarch had to get onboard the ship through a small gangplank. On contrast, today it is not much possible for younger generations to learn such events from their forefathers due to the fact that parents do not have much time to have a long conversation with their children in consequence of pressure on them to catch up with rapid technological advancements and hustle and bustle social life along with a variety of entertainment equipment such as TV, video, Internet games, Internet chatting,and karaoke. To make things worse, books are completely under the domination of the media that produce pictures and sound simultaneously. Decreasing popularity of reading among the youth may be described that they are following the trends of modern times.However, it is feared that due to decreasing popularity of reading, later the people may not be equipped themselves as much as they should with nationalistic spirit and fervour based on fine traditions of their ancestors and historic events, and the youth of Myanmar do not know well about their motherland.Accordingly, I feel obliged to write this article in order that those without knowledge of independence struggles would come to realize the value of independence, and those with knowledge recall them in the run-up to Independence Day.Myanmar’s sacrifices for independence were very costly if compared with that of other colonies. Many countries fell victim to colonialism. Some of them yielded to the attacks of the colonialists, concealing their loss without showing much tenacity. In some regions, natives were uprooted by huge floods of aliens, and later they became the minority under a variety of oppression in the new country established by the foreign immigrants. Some countries are too large to be colonized by a colonial country alone. So, each of their commercial port cities and islets at the mouth of the sea was manipulated by a first-comer colonial country under the agreement of many colonial countries that none of them would have to manipulate the whole colony.Eventually, such a country became a common colony.A certain country was colonized by two colonial owers at the same time but it did not lose its ruler and sovereignty. However, the country was reduced to a land in a way that a woman who got married to two men at the same time.Myanmar stood as a country that its citizens showed unwavering spirit in the fights to repulse the attacks of the colonialists. Only after the three wars that took place in 1824, 1852 and 1885, for about 60 years, could the colonialists occupy the whole country.Even though the entire country had fallen under alien subjugation, the people did not take things lying down. They rose against the colonialist government for many decades through guerilla warfare, arming themselves with whatever arms they got. Their independence struggles came to a halt due to a great gap of arm power, and so they started to exert independence struggles based on mental prowess.Only few of the colonies under the British Empire,which was said to be the one where the Sun never set,persisted in opposing the colonial governments.Myanmar became a battlefield two times in the World War II, and its people went through the hell of the war. Nevertheless, Myanmar patriots launched
anti-colonialist battles and Anti-Fascist Resistance to regain independence, sacrificing many of their lives.From the First Anglo-Myanmar War that occurred in 1824 to the pre-independence time in 1948, Myanmar saw sacrificing a lot of lives, limbs, blood and sweat, and tears of Myanmar revolutionaries and people. So, the drive to regain independence was very costly for Myanmar.In some way, it was worth it because Myanmar is a gifted country. It is blessed with impressive geographical features, natural resources in abundance,and rivers with fertile deltas, that ensure security of the basic needs of the people, mountain ranges that serve as natural walls in protecting it against alien intrusion, favourable climate pattern, gems such as ruby, jade and pearl, oil, teak, crops, and marine resources. So, unlike some other countries, Myanmar has never suffered chronic consequences of any crises up to now.Moreover, it was also very costly to maintain independence. In the post-independence period, the nation saw disintegration of national unity and sectarian and racial instigations, so it was said that the nation was newly-independent but political conflicts were violent. And many revolutionaries of independence struggles turned their backs on their comrades, followed by a struggle for power within political elite. Therefore, the people did not get any opportunities to test the taste of independence. To make matters worse, the nation faced an alien intrusion of its border areas. The nation thus had to sacrifice a large number of lives to restore the costly independence.It would be impossible for the youth of today to realize how hard it is to restore independence if they do not have knowledge of historic battles and military operations such as Insein battle in which bullets of small arms and shells of heavy weapons were like drops of rainfall in the time when Myanmar was ironically branded Yangon government as its administrative machinery stretched just to Thamaing Junction; the Operations “Yanggyi Aung” and “Mekong” in which servicemen, risking their lives at a high degree, had to occupy strong fortresses built of huge teak logs to drive out alien intruders; and antiinsurgent battles launched with tenacity such as the 40-day Kunlon battle, Chushwepankok, Ciciwan Tarpan, Mongyang and Methawaw.Making a study of the conditions of the global community, it can be noted that some developed countries were split into many pieces, resulting in armed conflicts between same nationals; some
countries were invaded by other countries, following disunity of the people and they have not been able to put out the blazing infernos of armed revolts that caused casualties of many innocent people every day and hundreds of thousands of people had to flee their homes. Moreover, famine and hunger stemming from climate changes in some countries and crises due to sky-high prices of food in some countries receive coverage of international media daily.Comparing prevailing conditions of Myanmar with that of such countries, a citizen can know well the taste of independence and peace, and the value of sovereignty and independence. While internal armed insurgency was raging in the nation, local people of many regions had to stay hiding just it got dark, local people had to sleep hidden under their houses or in paddy barns in fear of attacks of insurgents. The youth of today are very fortunate because the nation no longer sees such hard times. Now, even border areas that used to be reverberated often with fires of arms and weapons in the past have got schools. Battlefields and minefields have been changed into paddy fields. The whole nation including rural areas has seen dam clusters, river water pumping stations, underground water tapping stations,agricultural farms. Sufficient irrigation supply has led to boosting production of crops. And State-owned and private-owned factories can boost production of goods several times.Many new railroads, roads and bridges, each of which is more than 1000 feet long, throughout the nation and remarkable development in the trade,communication and transport sectors are, indeed,fruitful results of independence and peace.In the colonial days, the colonialists were very active in doing things from which they could gain maximum benefits and make profits, but they did not spend even a penny on any matters that were not beneficial to them, culminating in a great development gap between hilly regions and plains and between rural and urban areas. Theirs was a political scheme cleverly designed to drive a wedge among national
races. As a result, the nation lacked peace and stability owing to internal armed strife following disintegration of unity among national races and people in the postindependence period.So, it can be deduced from the above-mentioned
points that the nation cannot develop without independence and peace. And without development,independence and peace cannot be maintained in the long-run. It is because independence and peace are interrelated with development. Unity is essential for independence and peace and development.The youth of today are mainly responsible for safeguarding of independence for which many of their forefathers had to sacrifice their lives, and generating freedom, peace and development of their motherland.In that case, I would like them to study the nation’s history, broaden their horizons, and continue to work hard with nationalistic fervour to be able to realize the duties. Instead if they do not take anything serious, put ostentation to the fore, and indulging themselves in festivities, the people are likely to become again slaves who have to rely a lot on aliens for their living because today every sector is very challenging. And without patriotic spirit and national cohesion, the nation-building tasks will not work. In conclusion, I would, therefore,like to exhort the youth of today who will have to shoulder State’s duties to work hard with a sense of national unity for ensuring perpetual existence of very costly independence and the mother country.