ON 4 January, 1948, the Union of Burma successfully freed itself from the clutches of colonialists and achieved sovereignty. However, the nation had almost been reduced to ashes after becoming a war zone during the Second World War.
The colonialists systematically destroyed all economic resources they had built when they withdrew from Myanmar, and on account of the bombings in WWII, freshly liberated Myanmar had almost nothing left.
Speaking of Myanmar’s rehabilitation after the war, our national leader Bogyoke Aung San had said the country needed leadership that could raise it from the ashes and help the people deal with the largescale destruction. Sadly, he never got to see Myanmar achieve complete independence.
While a free Myanmar was envisioning development within a few years, armed conflicts dragged us down into the bogs of war.
The parliamentary democracy was ruined and the fledgling capitalism crushed when private businesses and banks were nationalized. The implementation of socialist economic practices was misguided and derailed the national economy.
What followed was decades of deterioration of trust and cooperation between the government and the citizens, resulting in a complete halt to national development and a place for Myanmar on the list of the world’s least developed countries (LDC). Even then, Myanmar could not secure the same assistance and support other LDCs received.
We are now approaching the 70th anniversary of our independence and the older generation that achieved it is all but gone. The first generation that instigated the internal armed conflicts is also gone, but some of its successors have turned a deaf ear to the conflict-weary people and extended the flames of one of the world’s longest internal conflicts.
We are all presently working towards implementing a democratic system and establishing a democratic federal republic, but we need the full cooperation of both the government and the people to achieve genuine democracy.
Peace, stability, development, and democracy are all interconnected. They are essential requirements for our nation, and the common hopes of the people. Only genuine cooperation between the people and the State can resolve the delays we have faced for over 70 years in realizing these hopes._GNLM
