The Karen National League, as a non-armed Karen organization, seeks to uplift the lot of the Karen people and bring about the rule of law and true democracy to Burma. It engages in any and all lawful activities incidental to the foregoing purposes.

Response from the Karen National League (KNL) to the Editorial titled "Reflections at New Year 1999", The View from the Embassy of Myanmar, Ottawa, 14 Feb 1999.
February 16, 1999

There is little question that the above is nothing but a very misleading "View". For a change it is nice to see that the "View" acknowledges General Aung San, whose name has been seldom, if at all, mentioned by the military regime in these last few years, as a leader (actually ?the? leader) for the struggle of Burma?s independence from Britain. On the abridgment of a long story about Aung San accepting the colonial name of Burma, before reviving the ancient nation as "Myanmar", we can doubt that he had ever harbored the idea of reverting to this historical name. There are many ways to justify the renaming of the country, the least relevant of which is the reasoning that implies linking the name of Burma to the colonial ?divide and rule? strategy, and invoking the word "Myanmar" to signify unity or reunification. We are not saying that Myanmar is a bad name. But renaming country at this point is just like whitewashing the sepulcher. It will not materially change or improve anything in Burma. Even the two great countries in Asia, China and Japan, are not known by their own vernacular names to the outside world, and yet they do not seem to care at all.

We should also be cautioned about the "View's statement of a group, officially classified as top secret by the British, called "Friends of the Hill Peoples of Burma" with affiliation to some elements of the war-time conservative government not only stage-managed the assassination of Aung San and his colleagues but also for the Karen National Union to rise up in arms immediately after independence for the creation of "Karenistan" as conceived by these so-called friends with ambition to retain their hold on the resource-rich areas of the country." That the FHPB or FBHP (Friends of the Burma Hill People) existed at one time has been known for many decades. One source that is to remain anonymous for the moment discloses that the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) producers of the latest Aung San assassination anniversary program maintained that the FBHP was formed in Feb 1947. To directly link the FBHP to the Aung San assassination, however, proved to be extremely difficult.

One has to be misguided to label Campbell, Tullock, Bingley and Vivian as military luminaries since none of them was particularly notable in what he did nor was he a source of intellectual or spiritual light. Bingley was not even in the military at the time he was involved in the investigation of the assassination, and the nexus of he and Vivian could never have been established conclusively.

About Tullock and others, Martin Smith (BURMA, Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity, 1991, 1st Edn.) wrote "Back in London Tullock actively supported the Karen cause, writing articles and organizing meetings for the short-lived Friends of the Hills Peoples of Burma, which were attended by a number of prominent veterans, including post-war governor, Dorman-Smith, and ex-FAA director. H.N.C. Stevenson. But most drew the line at his more ambitious plans. In mid-1948 he travelled to Calcutta with the apparent intention of sailing on to Moulmein with a boatload of arms and ammunition. Another Force 136 confederate, Alexander Campbell of the Daily Mail, made it to Rangoon, but the plot was uncovered and he was arrested and deported, leaving Tullock stranded in Calcutta unconvincingly protesting his innocence."

"Tullock was later arrested and imprisoned in Britain on unrelated charges; At his trial, the judge described him as "a champion of lost causes". (Pp.113-114). Captain Vivian was freed from the Insein Jail by the KNU troops in Feb 1949. He was presumed to have been killed along with Saw Ba U Gyi, the KNU President, in August 1950. It turned out that he went back to Britain in the mid-1950s via Thailand, and died in Wales in the late 1980s ("Who Killed Aung San" by U Kin Oung, 1996, 2nd Edn. p. 6).

It is undeniable that the FBHP group existed and apparently did try to help the KNU, without the latter obtaining any substantial assistance, if at all any. The same thing may apply to any linkage of the FBHP to the Aung San assassination, that is, this fly-by-night organization might have had very little or no connection to the July 1947 atrocity. For the time being, until proven otherwise, with a few exceptions, the British personnel involved in this "plot" were better regarded as adventurers who, perhaps with tacit understanding of higher official authorities, were simply the avaricious type rather than being truly sympathetic and concerned colonials.

For a change of "View" on the assassination of Bogyoke Aung San and his Cabinet members, we may refer to a passage in U (ex-Brig.) Maung Maung?s book, ?Burmese Nationalist Movements 1940-1948?, (1989): "At the time the information received by the Governor from official police sources was that the assassins were said to be members of 4 BURIF [4th Battalion the Burma Rifles, infantry battalion] organized with entire personnel of the original BIA or BDA or the PBF, where Major (then) Ne Win was the Second in Command and CO [Commanding Officer] designate with an Englishman as the CO." (p. 317)

The "View" tells us that there has been progress in the "Union", and that sounds good enough, except for the fact that people who visited Myanmar lately came back with great concerns which they dared not express while there; concern about the very bad economy which seems to have not even a prayer of hope for improvement at the moment, concern about the "police state" atmosphere where no one could say anything adverse to the SPDC, concern about a government bent on annihilating any opposition, including incessant uncouth propaganda against one lone opposition lady who undoubtedly rises far above most anyone in that country in terms of intellect, and finally, concern about the perpetuation of the military, which is not a healthy prospect to look forward to.

We can always entertain a wish and work toward convincing the military to relax its grip and think about welcoming multiple opinion in the governing system of that country.

Released by: Communication and Information Division P.O Box 320 518 San Francisco, CA 94132 U.S.A. Email: KNLcomm@aol.com

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