THE whole of Myanmar was annexed by the British in 1885 following the Third Anglo-Burmese war in the reign of King Thibaw . The dispute with the East India Company over Teak logs extracted by the Company was probably the immediate cause of the Third Anglo Burmese War.
After the total annexation of Myanmar by the British, many British Companies came in to exploit the other natural resources of Myanmar including Petroleum, Silver and Gold, Tin and Tungsten, Precious Stones and so on.
The big trading companies like Steel Brothers, saw the opportunities of exporting Agricultural products, particularly Rice from Burma. It thus brought in cheap labour from Myanmar’s neighbour on the west, to plant rice extensively. It proved to be a lucrative undertaking.
The local Myanmar farmers were hard put to deal with the competition. They took loans from the money lenders to keep afloat by offering their land as security. Eventually they lost their land because they couldn’t repay the debts and the heavy interests accrued. The situation was ripe for a “revolution” by the Myanmar peasants and farmers.
It emerged in the form of an “uprising” led by a Burmese “Medicine Man cum Alchemist” called Saya San (Saya is also the honorific title for an indigenous medical practitioner). He had a following of the Peasants and Farmers due to his skills.
Saya San resorted to his reputation as a “Medicine Man” promising the peasants and farmers immortality if they joined in the uprising against the British. He had the men tattooed with the mythical Galon (Garuda) bird so that they would conquer the enemy who was depicted to be the Naga (Serpent) in the mythical combat of the two where the Galon emerges as the victor. Hence the followers of Saya San came to be known as the “Galon Tat” (The Galon Army).
The movement was branded an “uprising” by the Colonial Government and law enforcement measures to put it down were taken. However the so called “uprising” gained further momentum even in the face of more severe action by the Police. So the Government called in the armed regiments of the British army and the “uprising” was quelled with Saya San and many of his followers being apprehended and ultimately hanged. Such was the sacrifices made by the Myanmar Peasants and Farmers to defend their lives and rights.
In 1962, the Powers of the State was taken over by the Armed Forces in a Coup. A Revolutionary Council was formed. It chose the Burmese Way to Socialism as the policy doctrine to set up a socialist type state based on the strength of the people including the Farmers and Workers. Thus they decided to mark a day each in honour of the peasants and farmers as well as the workers. May 1st was the internationally observed day of Workers hence that was left as it is. January 1st was observed as Peasants Day in Myanmar, but it was not an international practice. Hence to make Peasants Day a more significant day in Myanmar, the 2nd of March, the day the State power was taken over by the Armed Forces, was instead made the Peasants Day in honour of the Peasants, whose ancestors dared the British Raj. And that’s how 2nd of March came to be the “Peasants Day” in Myanmar.
By Lokethar
