Burmese people may refer to:

• People from Burma, also known as Myanmar
• Bamar, or Burman ethnic group

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Karen
ကရင်လူမျိုး

Karen women at Kyaikkami Yele Pagoda
Total population
4,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Burma 3,500,000  Thailand 400,000[citation needed]
Languages
Karen languages, including S'gaw Karen, Pwo Karen, Karenni and Pa'O
Religion
Theravada Buddhism, Christianity, Animism

Kayin state in Burma.

The Karen or Kayin people (Karen: Pwa Ka Nyaw Poe or Kanyaw in Sgaw Karen and Ploan in Poe Karen; Burmese: ကရင်လူမျိုး; MLCTS: ka. rang lu myui:, pronounced: [kəjɪ̀ɴ lù mjó]; Thai: กะเหรี่ยง, Kariang or Yang), refer to a number of Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic groups which reside primarily in southern and southeastern Burma (Myanmar). The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people.^[1] A large number of Karen also reside in Thailand, mostly on the Thai–Burmese border.

The Karen are often confused with the Red Karen (or Karenni). The subgroup of the Karenni, the Padaung tribe from the border region of Burma and Thailand, are best known for the neck rings worn by the women of this group of people.

Some of the Karen, led primarily by the Karen National Union (KNU), have waged a war against the central government since early 1949. The aim of the KNU at first was independence. Since 1976 the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State.

Origins[link]

Karen legends refer to a 'river of running sand' which ancestors reputedly crossed. Many Karen think this refers to the Gobi Desert, although they have lived in Burma for centuries. The Karen constitute the third biggest ethnic population in Burma, after the Bamars and Shans.^[2]

The term "Karen" is an umbrella term that refers to a heterogeneous lot of ethnic groups that do not share a common language, culture, religion or material characteristics.^[3] A pan-Karen ethnic identity is a relatively modern creation, established in the 1800s with the conversion of some Karens to Christianity and shaped by various British colonial policies and practices and the introduction of Christianity.^[4][5] After Christianity was introduced by missionaries during this period, some Karen-speaking Christians began asserting a distinct identity from their non-Christian counterparts, and garnered special privileges from the British, including military recruitment.^[5] Many of these Christians became leaders of Karen ethnonationalist organizations, including the Karen National Union.^[5]

"Karen" is a Anglicisation of the Burmese word "Kayin" (ကရင်), whose etymology is unclear.^[3] The word, which was originally a derogatory term referring to non-Buddhist ethnic groups, may have come from the Mon language, or is a corruption of Kanyan, the name of a vanished civilization.^[3]

In pre-colonial times, the low-lying Burmese and Mon-speaking kingdoms recognized 2 general categories of Karen, the Talaing Kayin (တလိုင်းကရင်), generally lowlanders who were recognized as the "original settlers" and essential to Mon court life, and the Bama Kayin (ဗမာကရင်), highlanders who were subordinated or assimilated by the Bamar.^[6]

Distribution[link]

The Karen people live mostly in the hills bordering eastern region and Irrawaddy delta of Burma,^[7] primarily in Kayin State, with some in Kayah State, southern Shan State, Ayeyarwady Region, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Division and in western Thailand.

The total number of Karen is difficult to estimate. The last reliable census of Burma was conducted in 1931. A 2006 VOA article cites an estimate of seven million in Burma. There are another 400,000^[8] Karen in Thailand, where they are by far the largest of the hill tribes.

Divisions[link]

Zayein Karen women in the 1920s.

Loiling Karen women in the 1920s.

The Karens have been divided by ethnologists into Red Karen and White Karen.^[9]

Red Karen (Kayah)[link]

According to a 1983 census, the Red Karens (Karenni) consist of the following groups: Kayah, Geko (Kayan Ka Khaung, Gekho, Gaykho), Geba (Kayan Gebar, Gaybar), Padaung (Kayan Lahwi), Bres, Manu-Manaus (Manumanao), Yintale, Yinbaw, Bwé, Paku, Shan and Pao.^[10] Several of the groups (Geko, Gebar, Padaung) belong to Kayan, a subgroup of Red Karen.

S'gaw Karen[link]

The largest and most widely scattered Karen group. Many live in Yangon Division, Bago Division(Taungoo District, Bago District and Tharyarwaddy District), Mandalay Division(Pyin Oo Lwin and Kalaw), Tanintharyi Division(Myeik and Dawei), Ayeyarwaddy Division(Hintharda District), East Karen State (Thanton), Kayah State (Mawchi) and Thailand (Chiang Mai Province). S'gaw Karen language is a common language for most of the Karen People. In Karen, S'gaw Karen are called Bar Htee(Father Side).

Pwo Karen[link]

East Pwo Karen live in western Thailand and Kayin State, Burma; West Pwo Karen live in Irrawaddy Division, Burma. In Karen, Pwo Karen are called Mo Htee(Mother Side).

White Karen[link]

Most of the White Karen live near Pyinmana, Mandalay Division. S'gaw and Pwo Karen are not White Karen. In Karen, White Karen are called Ka Nyaw Wah.Anyway,it just means that they are another sibling in karen ancestry family.

Paku Karen[link]

Paku Karen live in Taungoo, Bago Division, Kayah State, Mawchi and east Kayin State, Thandong. Paku Karen Baptist Association is headquartered in Taungoo.The association operates Paku Divinity School. The Paku Karen speak S'gaw .

Political history[link]

A Karen village in Thailand.

British period[link]

In 1881 the Karen National Associations (KNA) was founded by western-educated Christian Karens to represent Karen interests to the British. They argued at the 1917 Montagu-Chelmsford hearings in India that Burma was not "yet in a fit state for self-government", but 3 years later, after submitting a criticism of the 1920 Craddock Reforms, won 5 (later 12) seats in the Legislative Council of 130 (later 132) members. The majority Buddhist Karens were not organised until 1939 with the formation of a Buddhist KNA.^[11]

In 1938 the British colonial administration recognised Karen New Year as a public holiday.^[11][12]

World War II[link]

During World War II, when the Japanese occupied the region, long-term tensions between the Karen and Burma turned into open fighting. As a consequence, many villages were destroyed and massacres committed by both the Japanese and the Burma Independence Army (BIA) troops who helped the Japanese invade the country. Among the victims were a pre-war Cabinet minister, Saw Pe Tha, and his family. A government report later claimed the 'excesses of the BIA' and 'the loyalty of the Karens towards the British' as the reasons for these attacks. The intervention by Colonel Suzuki Keiji, the Japanese commander of the BIA, after meeting a Karen delegation led by Saw Tha Din, appeared to have prevented further atrocities.^[11]

Post-war[link]

The Karen people aspired to have the areas where they were the majority formed into a subdivision or "state" within Burma similar to what the Shan, Kachin and Chin peoples had been given. A goodwill mission led by Saw Tha Din and Saw Ba U Gyi to London in August 1946 failed to receive any encouragement from the British government for any separatist demands. When a delegation of representatives of the Governor's Executive Council headed by Aung San was invited to London to negotiate for the Aung San-Attlee Treaty in January 1947, none of the ethnic minority members was included by the British government. The following month at the Panglong Conference, when an agreement was signed between Aung San as head of the interim Burmese government and the Shan, Kachin and Chin leaders, the Karen were present only as observers; the Mon and Arakanese were also absent.

British inattention[link]

The British promised to consider the case of the Karen after the war. While the situation of the Karen was discussed, nothing practical was done before the British left Burma. The 1947 Constitution, drawn without Karen participation due to their boycott of the elections to the Constituent Assembly, also failed to address the Karen question specifically and clearly, leaving it to be discussed only after independence. The Shan and Karenni states were given the right to secession after 10 years, the Kachin their own state, and the Chin a special division. The Mon and Arakanese of Ministerial Burma were not given any consideration.^[11]

Karen National Union[link]

In early February 1947, the Karen National Union (KNU) was formed at a Karen Congress attended by 700 delegates from the Karen National Associations, both Baptist and Buddhist (KNA - founded 1881), the Karen Central Organisation (KCO) and its youth wing, the Karen Youth Organisation (KYO), at Vinton Memorial Hall in Yangon. The meeting called for a Karen state with a seaboard, an increased number of seats (25%) in the Constituent Assembly, a new ethnic census, and a continuance of Karen units in the armed forces. The deadline of March 3 passed without a reply from the British government, and Saw Ba U Gyi, the president of the KNU, resigned from the Governor's Executive Council the next day.^[11]

After the war ended, Burma was granted independence in January 1948, and the Karen, led by the KNU, attempted to co-exist peacefully with the Burman ethnic majority. Karen people held leading positions in both the government and the army. In the fall of 1948, the Burmese government, led by U Nu, began raising and arming irregular political militias known as Sitwundan. These militias were under the command of Major Gen. Ne Win and outside the control of the regular army. In January 1949, some of these militias went on a rampage through Karen communities.

Insurgency[link]

In late January 1949, the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Smith Dun, a Karen, was removed from office and imprisoned. He was replaced by the Burmese nationalist Ne Win.^[11] These events happened at exactly the same time a commission looking into the Karen problem was due to make its report to the government. The events effectively killed the report. The Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), formed in July 1947, then rose up in an insurgency against the government.^[11] They were helped by the defections of the Karen Rifles and the Union Military Police (UMP) units which had been successfully deployed in suppressing the earlier Burmese Communist rebellions, and came close to capturing Yangon itself. The most notable was the Battle of Insein, nine miles from Yangon, where they held out in a 112-day siege till late May 1949.^[11]

Years later, the Karen had become the largest of 20 minority groups participating in an insurgency against the military dictatorship in Yangon. During the 1980s, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) fighting force numbered approximately 20,000. After an uprising of the people of Burma in 1988, known as the 8888 Uprising, the KNLA had accepted those demonstrators in their bases along the border. The dictatorship expanded the army and launched a series of major offensives against the KNLA. By 2006, the KNLA's strength had shrunk to less than 4,000, opposing what is now a 400,000-man Burmese army. However, the political arm of the KNLA - the KNU - continued efforts to resolve the conflict through political means.

Democratic Karen Buddhist Army[link]

During 1994 and 1995, dissenters from the Buddhist minority in the KNLA formed a splinter group called the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and went over to the side of the military junta.Note,DKBA split themselves due to the weak of central power and religions conflict,mainly between sabbathday advantist(SDA)and buddhist clashes and The split is believed to have led to the fall of the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw in January 1995.^[13]

The conflict continues as of 2006^[update], with a new KNU headquarters in Mu Aye Pu, on the Burmese–Thai border. In 2004, the BBC, citing aid agencies, estimates that up to 200,000 Karen have been driven from their homes during decades of war, with 160,000 more refugees from Burma, mostly Karen, living in refugee camps on the Thai side of the border. The largest camp is the one in Mae La, Tak province, Thailand, where about 50,000 Karen refugees are hosted.^[14]

Reports as recently as February, 2010, state that the Burmese army continues to burn Karen villages, displacing thousands of people.^[15] Many Karen, including people such as former KNU secretary Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan and his daughter, Zoya Phan, have accused the military government of Burma of ethnic cleansing.^{[16][17][18][19][20]} The U.S. State Department has also cited the Burmese government for suppression of religious freedom.^[21] This is a source of particular trouble to the Karen, as a estimated 15% of them are Christians.^[22][23]

Language[link]

The Karen languages, members of the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language family, consist of three mutually unintelligible branches: Sgaw, Pwo, and Pa'o.^[24][25] Karenni (Red Karen) and Kayan belong to the Sgaw branch. The Karen languages are almost unique among the Tibeto-Burman languages in having a subject–verb–object word order; other than Karen and Bai, Tibeto-Burman languages feature a subject–object–verb order. This anomaly is likely due to the influence of neighboring Mon and Tai languages.^[26]

Religion[link]

The majority of Karens are Theravada Buddhists who also praactice animism, while approximately 15% are Christian.^[27][28] Lowland Pwo-speaking Karens tend to be more orthodox Buddhists, whereas highland Sgaw-speaking Karens tend to be heterodox Buddhists who profess strong animist beliefs. A minority of Karens are Christian. However, the religious demographics of the Karen are typically misconstrued by news agencies and by Christian groups to present the Karen as a mainly Christian ethnic minority, mainly to appeal to Western and Evangelical audiences for political and economic support.

Animism[link]

Karen animism is defined by a belief in klar(soul), 37 spirits that embody every individual.^[27] Misfortune and sickness are believed to be caused by klar that wander away, and death occurs when all 37 klar leave the body.^[27]

Buddhism[link]

Karen Buddhists are the most numerous of the Karens and account for around 65-75% of the total Karen population.^[29] The Buddhist influence came from the Mon who were dominant in Lower Burma until the middle of the 18th century. Buddhist Karen are found mainly in Kayin and Mon States and in Yangon, Bago and Tannintharyi Regions. There are Buddhist monasteries in most Karen villages, and the monastery is the centre of community life. Merit-making activities, such as almsgiving, are most central to Karen Buddhist life.^[30]

Buddhism was brought to Pwo-speaking Karens in the late 1700s, and the Yedagon Monastery atop Mount Zwegabin became the foremost center of Karen language Buddhist literature.^[29] Many millennial sects were founded throughout the 1800s, led by Karen Buddhist minlaung rebels.^[31] Two sects, Telakhon (or Telaku) and Leke, were founded in the 1860s.^[29] The Tekalu sect, considered a Buddhist sect, is a mixture of spirit worship, Karen customs and worship of the future Buddha, Metteyya, was founded in Kyaing.^[29] The Leke sect was founded on the western banks of the Thanlwin River, and is no longer associated to Buddhism (as followers do not venerate Buddhist monks).^[29] Followers believe that the future Buddha will return to Earth if they maintain their moral practices (following the Dhamma and precepts), and they practice vegetarianism, hold Saturday services and construct distinct pagodas.^[29] Several Buddhist socioreligious movements, both orthodox and heterodox, have arisen in the past century.^[29] Duwae, a type of pagoda worship, with animistic origins, is also practiced.^[29]

There are several prominent Karen Buddhist monks, including Thuzana (S'gaw) and Zagara, who was conferred the "Agga Maha Saddammajotika" title by the Burmese government in 2004.^[29]

Christianity[link]

Tha Byu, the first convert to Christianity in 1828, was baptised by Rev George Boardman, an associate of Adoniram Judson, founder of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Today, the Christians belong to the Catholic Church or to the different Protestant denominations. Some of the largest Protestant denominations are Baptist and Seventh-day Adventists.^[32][33] Alongside 'orthodox' Christianity, some of those who identify themselves as Christian also have syncretised elements of animism with Christianity. It is more likely to find Karen Christians in the Irrawaddy delta than Buddhists, who tend to be found mainly in Kayin state and surrounding regions. 15 % of Karen identify themselves as Christian. ^[34]Persecution of Christians by the Burmese authorities has continued to this day, fueled by previous attempts by Western imperialists to divide the country not only on ethnic but on religious grounds.^[28]

The Karen Baptist Convention is established in 1913 and the HQ is located in Yangon with 20 member associations in Burma. The KBC operate K.B.C charity Clinic in Insein Yangon. The KBC also operates Karen Baptist Theological Seminary, [1] in Insein, Yangon. The seminary is not only run theology program but also run secular degree programs to fulfill young Karen intellectual and vocational needs. The Pwo Karen Baptist Convention located in Ahlone Township, Yangon and also operates Pwo Karen Theological Seminary [2]. There are other schools for Karen people in Myanmar, such as Paku Divinity School in Taungoo, Kothabyu Bible School in Pathein, Yangon Home Mission School. The Thailand Karen Baptist Convention is located in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The Seventh-day Adventists have built several schools in the Karen refugee camps in Thailand to Christianize the Karen people. Eden Valley Academy in Tak and Karen Adventist Academy in Mae Hong Son are the two largest Seventh-day Adventist Karen schools.

Kawthoolei[link]

Kawthoolei is the Karen name for the state that the Karen people of Burma have been trying to establish since the late 1940s. The precise meaning of the name is disputed even by the Karen themselves; possible interpretations include Flowerland and Land without evil, although, according to Martin Smith in Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity, it has a double meaning, and can also be rendered as the Land Burnt Black; hence the land that must be fought for. Kawthoolei roughly approximates to present-day Kayin State, some parts of Pegu and Tanintharyi Division, although parts of the Burmese Ayeyarwady River delta with Karen populations have sometimes also been claimed. Kawthoolei as a name is a relatively recent invention, penned during the time of former Karen leader Ba U Gyi, who was assassinated around the time of Burma's independence from Britain.

See also[link]

• Kayin State
• Karenni
• Karen Baptist Convention
• Karen Baptist Theological Seminary
• Paku Divinity School

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

Print[link]

• Anderson, Jon Lee (2004) [1992]. Guerrillas: Journies in the Insurgent World. Penguin Books. 
• Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. 
• Delang, Claudio O. (Ed.) (2003). Living at the Edge of Thai Society: The Karen in the Highlands of Northern Thailand. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-32331-4. 
• Lewis, Paul; Elaine Lewis (1984). Peoples of the Golden Triangle. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. ISBN 978-0-500-97472-8. 
• Matisoff, James A. (1991). "Sino-Tibetan Linguistics: Present State and Future Prospects". Annual Review of Anthropology (Annual Reviews Inc.) 20 (1): 469–504. DOI:10.1146/annurev.an.20.100191.002345. 
• Falla, Jonathan (1991). True Love and Bartholomew: Rebels of the Burmese Border. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-39019-4. 
• Smith, Martin (1991). Burma - Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity. London and New Jersey: Zed Books. ISBN 0-86232-868-3/ISBN 0-86232-869-1 pbk. 
• Phan, Zoya (2009). Little Daughter: a Memoir of Survival in Burma and the West. Simon & Schuster. 

Online[link]

• Karen Baptist Convention in Thailand
• San C. Po, Burma and the Karens (London 1928)
• Adventist World Radio Karen
• "Burma:International Religious Freedom Report 2005". U.S. State Department. 2005-11-08. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51506.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
• "Karen Weblinks". http://www.stolaf.edu/people/leming/karenlinks.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
• Kendal, Elizabeth (2006-03-09). "Day of Prayer for Burma". Christian Monitor. http://www.christianmonitor.org/documents.php?type=Prayers&item_ID=233&action=display&lang=English&&PHPSESSID=db74c41. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
• "Description of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family". http://stedt.berkeley.edu/html/STfamily.html. Retrieved 2006-07-18. 
• "Recent humanitarian efforts serving the Karen people". http://burmamission.org. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Karen people

• the Karen people of Burma
• S'gaw Karen Grammar
• S'gaw Karen Dictionary
• S'gaw Karen Bible
• Karenvoice.net, shares the information of Karen interacting in the world from the past, struggling in Burma in the present and transiting in the world again in the future
• Karens Around the World Unite.
• Karen Human Rights Group, a new website documenting the human rights situation of Karen villagers in rural Burma
• Kawthoolei meaning "a land without evil", is the Karen name of the land of Karen people. An independent and impartial media outlet aimed to provide contemporary information of all kinds — social, cultural, educational and political
• Free Burma Rangers, website of NGO that provides humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced People
• Index of IRF reports on Burma 2001-5
• Kwekalu literally "Karen Traditional Horn", the only online Karen language news outlet based in Mergui/Tavoy District of Kawthoolei
• Karen Women's Organization
• Karen Audio Bible

Thein Sein သိန်းစိန်
President of Burma
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 March 2011
Vice President	Sai Mauk Kham
Preceded by	Than Shwe (Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council)
Prime Minister of Burma
In office 24 October 2007 – 30 March 2011 Acting: April 2007 – 24 October 2007
Leader	Than Shwe
Preceded by	Soe Win
Succeeded by	Position abolished
First Secretary of the State Peace and Development Council
In office 2004 – 24 October 2007
Preceded by	Khin Nyunt
Succeeded by	Tin Aung Myint Oo
Member of the Pyithu Hluttaw
In office 7 November 2010 – 30 March 2011
Succeeded by	Sanda Min
Constituency	Zabuthiri Township
Majority	65,620 (91.2%)
Personal details
Born	(1945-04-20) 20 April 1945 (age 67)[1] Kyounku, British Burma
Political party	Union Solidarity and Development Party (2010–present)
Other political affiliations	State Peace and Development Council (Before 2010)
Spouse(s)	Khin Khin Win
Alma mater	Defence Services Academy
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Website	http://www.president-office.gov.mm
Military service
Service/branch	Myanmar Army
Years of service	1968–2010
Rank	General

This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.

Thein Sein (Burmese: သိန်းစိန် [θéɪɴ zèɪɴ]; born 20 April 1945) is a Burmese politician and former military figure who has been president of Burma (Myanmar) since March 2011. Previously, he was Prime Minister from 2007 until 2011. He is generally considered to be a moderate and reformist in the new government.^[2]

Early life[link]

Thein Sein was born in Kyonku, British Burma (now Myanmar), a small village in what is now Ngapudaw Township in the Irrawaddy delta to parents Maung Phyo (father) and Khin Nyunt (mother). He was the youngest of three children. His parents were landless, and his father made a living carrying cargo at the river jetty and weaving bamboo mats.^[3]

Political career[link]

Thein Sein graduated from the 9th intake of the Defense Services Academy in 1968.^[4]

Throughout Thein Sein's four-decade-long military career, he was considered a bureaucrat, not a combat soldier. In 1988, he served as a major for Sagaing Division's 55th Light Infantry Division and later served as a commander for Sagaing Division's 89th Infantry Battalion in Kalay Township. The following year, he studied at the Command and General Staff College in Kalaw, Shan State.

By 1991, he had returned to Yangon, after being promoted to the rank of colonel and 1st Grade General Staff Officer in the War Office. He was then promoted to Brigadier General, but remained at his position in the War Office, which marked the first time a Brigadier General was promoted to General Staff Officer.

In 1995, he was recruited as the commander of Yangon Division's Military Operations Command 4 in Hmawbi. A year later, in 1996, he was appointed to lead the new Triangle Regional Military Command in Kyaingtong, Shan State, serving this role for four years (1997–2001). While serving as Commander, he was known to be close to drug lords in the United Wa State Army and Lahu militia officials.^[5][6]

In 1997, he became a member of the State Peace and Development Council and was appointed as Secretary-2 in 2003.^[7][8] He was also promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General that year.^[9]

After Khin Nyunt was deposed in 2004, Thein Sein was promoted to Secretary-1.^[7]

Prime Minister[link]

Thein Sein was appointed in April 2007 by the nation's ruling military junta^[10] as interim prime minister, replacing Soe Win, who was undergoing medical treatment for leukemia.^[11][12] Thein Sein was formally appointed as Soe Win's permanent successor on 24 October 2007 after Soe Win's death on 12 October 2007.^[13]

Sein held the position of first secretary in the ruling State Peace and Development Council junta. He was the country's fourth-highest ranking general,^[14] and also served as the chairman of the government-sponsored National Convention Convening Commission.^[15] Thein Sein carried out high-level negotiations with Bangladesh and Cambodia.^[11][12]

In 2007, sometime after his official appointment as prime minister, he was promoted to the rank of General from Lieutenant General.^[16] On his first official visit outside Myanmar as prime minister, Thein Sein carried out high-level negotiations with Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.^[17][18][19]

In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, he led the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee as chairman and was criticized for the government's systematic blocking of relief efforts.^[8]

Presidency[link]

On 29 April 2010, he retired from the military, along with 22 other military officials, to lead the Union Solidarity and Development Party as a civilian.^[20] During the 2010 general election, he was head of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which contested in a controversial elections and won the overwhelming majority of seats in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Thein Sein ran against National Unity Party candidate Kyaw Aye during the election, contesting a Pyithu Hluttaw seat to represent the constituents of Naypyidaw Union Territory's Zabuthiri Township. He purportedly won 91.2% of the votes (65,620).^[21]

On 4 February 2011, Sein was elected by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw's Presidential Electoral College as the next president of Myanmar, becoming the country's first non-interim civilian president in 49 years. Tin Aung Myint Oo and Sai Mauk Kham were named as the new vice-presidents.^[22]

Sein was sworn in on 30 March 2011 alongside the two vice presidents and the newly elected parliament.^[23] In the first month of his presidency, he sought the support of ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan to support Burma's bid to chair the ASEAN Summit in 2014.^[24] As of July 2011, the government has formed a planning committee led by foreign affairs minister Wunna Maung Lwin.^[25]

Thein Sein is considered a moderate willing to engage with Aung San Suu Kyi; he had a high-profile meeting with her in Naypyidaw on 19 August 2011.^[26]

On 17 August 2011, he was quoted by the state newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar as saying:^[27]

Various news sources intrepreted his suggestion as an invitation for overseas Burmese citizens to return to their country of origin and help rebuild the Burmese economy.^[28]

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Burma's President Thein Sein in Naypyitaw, 1 December 2011.

He suffers from heart disease and uses a pacemaker.^[29][30]

References[link]

v t e Heads of state of Burma (Myanmar) Sao Shwe Thaik Ba U Win Maung Ne Win1 San Yu1 Sein Lwin1 Aye Ko2 Maung Maung2 Saw Maung1 Than Shwe1 Thein Sein ^1 military officeholders ^2 acting officeholders

v t e Prime Ministers of Burma (Myanmar) U Nu Ba Swe U Nu Ne Win U Nu Ne Win[m] Sein Win[m] Maung Maung Kha[m] Tun Tin Saw Maung[m] Than Shwe[m] Khin Nyunt[m] Soe Win[m] Thein Sein[m] ^[m] military officeholders

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi MP AC
Chairman of the National League for Democracy
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 September 1988
Preceded by	Position established
Member of the Pyithu Hluttaw for Kawhmu
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 May 2012
Preceded by	Soe Tint
Majority	46,730 (71.38%)[1]
Personal details
Born	(1945-06-19) 19 June 1945 (age 67) Rangoon, British Burma (now Yangon)
Political party	National League for Democracy
Spouse(s)	Michael Aris (1972–1999)
Relations	Aung San (father) Khin Kyi (mother)
Children	Alexander Kim
Alma mater	University of Delhi St Hugh's College, Oxford University of London
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Awards	Rafto Prize Nobel Peace Prize Jawaharlal Nehru Award International Simón Bolívar Prize Olof Palme Prize Bhagwan Mahavir World Peace

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Aung San Suu Kyi MP AC (Burmese: ; MLCTS: aung hcan: cu. krany, IPA: [ʔàʊɴ sʰáɴ sṵ tɕì]; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese opposition politician and General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma. In the 1990 general election, the NLD won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her most recent release on 13 November 2010,^[9] becoming one of the world's most prominent (now former) political prisoners.^[10]

Suu Kyi received the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the government of India and the International Simón Bolívar Prize from the government of Venezuela. In 2007, the Government of Canada made her an honorary citizen of that country;^[11] at the time, she was one of only four people ever to receive the honor.^[12] In 2011, she was awarded the Wallenberg Medal.^[13]

On 1 April 2012, her opposition party, the National League for Democracy, announced that she was elected to the Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house of the Burmese parliament, representing the constituency of Kawhmu;^[14] her party also won 43 of the 45 vacant seats in the lower house.^[15] The election results were confirmed by the official electoral commission the following day.^[16]

Suu Kyi is the third child and only daughter of Aung San, considered to be the father of modern-day Burma.

Name[link]

A family portrait, with Aung San Suu Kyi (in white) as a toddler, taken in 1947, shortly before her father's assassination.

Aung San Suu Kyi derives her name from three relatives: "Aung San" from her father, "Suu" from her paternal grandmother and "Kyi" from her mother Khin Kyi.^[17] She is frequently called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Daw is not part of her name, but is an honorific, similar to madame, for older, revered women, literally meaning "aunt."^[18] She is also often referred to as Daw Suu by the Burmese (or Amay Suu, lit. "Mother Suu," by some followers),^[19][20] or "Aunty Suu", and as Dr. Suu Kyi,^[21] Ms. Suu Kyi, or Mrs. Suu Kyi by the foreign media. However, like other Burmese, she has no surname (see Burmese names). The pronunciation of her name is approximated as "Awn Sahn Sue Chee," although the "ch" in "Chee" is unaspirated.^[22]

Personal life[link]

Part of a series on the
Democracy movements in Burma
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Background
Post-independence Burma
Internal conflict in Burma
Burmese Way to Socialism
State Peace and Development Council
Mass protests
8888 Uprising · Protests of 2007
Concessions and reforms
Roadmap to democracy New constitution Reforms of 2011
Elections
1990 · 2010 · 2012
Organizations
National League for Democracy · 88 Generation Students Group · Burma Campaign UK · Free Burma Coalition · U.S. Campaign for Burma · Generation Wave · All Burma Students' Democratic Front · The Irrawaddy · Democratic Voice of Burma · Mizzima News
Figures
U Nu · Aung Gyi · Tin Oo · Aung San Suu Kyi · Min Ko Naing · Thein Sein
Related topics
Human rights in Burma · Politics of Burma · Foreign relations of Burma
v t e

A portrait of Khin Kyi and her family in 1948. Aung San Suu Kyi is seated on the floor.

Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon (now named Yangon).^[23] Her father, Aung San, founded the modern Burmese army and negotiated Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1947; he was assassinated by his rivals in the same year. She grew up with her mother, Khin Kyi, and two brothers, Aung San Lin and Aung San Oo, in Rangoon. Aung San Lin died at age eight, when he drowned in an ornamental lake on the grounds of the house.^[17] Her elder brother emigrated to San Diego, California, becoming a United States citizen.^[17] After Aung San Lin's death, the family moved to a house by Inya Lake where Suu Kyi met people of very different backgrounds, political views and religions.^[24] She was educated in Methodist English High School (now Basic Education High School No. 1 Dagon) for much of her childhood in Burma, where she was noted as having a talent for learning languages.^[25] She is a Theravada Buddhist.

Aung San Suu Kyi at the age of six.

Suu Kyi's mother, Khin Kyi, gained prominence as a political figure in the newly formed Burmese government. She was appointed Burmese ambassador to India and Nepal in 1960, and Aung San Suu Kyi followed her there, she studied in the Convent of Jesus and Mary School, New Delhi and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi with a degree in politics in 1964.^[26][27] Suu Kyi continued her education at St Hugh's College, Oxford, obtaining a B.A. degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1969. During her time in Oxford, she fell in love with a Pakistani man but the relationship ended in tears.^[28] After graduating, she lived in New York City with a family friend who was once a popular Burmese pop singer.^[28] She worked at the UN for three years, primarily on budget matters, writing daily to her future husband, Dr. Michael Aris.^[29] In 1972, Aung San Suu Kyi married Aris, a scholar of Tibetan culture, living abroad in Bhutan.^[26] The following year she gave birth to their first son, Alexander Aris, in London; their second son, Kim, was born in 1977. Subsequently, she earned a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 1985. She was elected as an Honorary Fellow in 1990.^[26] For two years she was a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS) in Shimla, India. She also worked for the government of the Union of Burma.

In 1988 Suu Kyi returned to Burma, at first to tend for her ailing mother but later to lead the pro-democracy movement. Aris' visit in Christmas 1995 turned out to be the last time that he and Suu Kyi met, as Suu Kyi remained in Burma and the Burmese dictatorship denied him any further entry visas.^[26] Aris was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 which was later found to be terminal. Despite appeals from prominent figures and organizations, including the United States, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Pope John Paul II, the Burmese government would not grant Aris a visa, saying that they did not have the facilities to care for him, and instead urged Aung San Suu Kyi to leave the country to visit him. She was at that time temporarily free from house arrest but was unwilling to depart, fearing that she would be refused re-entry if she left, as she did not trust the military junta's assurance that she could return.^[30]

Aris died on his 53rd birthday on 27 March 1999. Since 1989, when his wife was first placed under house arrest, he had seen her only five times, the last of which was for Christmas in 1995. She was also separated from her children, who live in the United Kingdom, but starting in 2011, they have visited her in Burma.^[31]

On 2 May 2008, after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, Suu Kyi lost the roof of her house and lived in virtual darkness after losing electricity in her dilapidated lakeside residence. She used candles at night as she was not provided any generator set.^[32] Plans to renovate and repair the house were announced in August 2009.^[33] Suu Kyi was released from house arrest on 13 November 2010.^[34]

Aung San Suu Kyi arrvies to give speech to the supporters during 2012 by-election campaign at her constituency Kawhmu township, Myanmar on 22 March 2012.

Political beginnings[link]

Coincident with Aung San Suu Kyi's return to Burma in 1988, the long-time military leader of Burma and head of the ruling party, General Ne Win, stepped down. Mass demonstrations for democracy followed that event on 8 August 1988 (8–8–88, a day seen as auspicious), which were violently suppressed in what came to be known as the 8888 Uprising. On 26 August 1988, she addressed half a million people at a mass rally in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital, calling for a democratic government.^[26] However in September, a new military junta took power.

Influenced^[35] by both Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence^[36][37] and more specifically by Buddhist concepts,^[38] Aung San Suu Kyi entered politics to work for democratization, helped found the National League for Democracy on 27 September 1988,^[39] but was put under house arrest on 20 July 1989. Offered freedom if she left the country, she refused.

One of her most famous speeches was "Freedom From Fear", which began: "It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."

She also believes fear spurs many world leaders to lose sight of their purpose. "Government leaders are amazing", she once said. "So often it seems they are the last to know what the people want."^[40]

Political career[link]

Suu Kyi meets with Edgardo Boeninger of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 1995.

1990 general election[link]

In 1990, the military junta called a general election, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) received 59% of the votes, guaranteeing NLD 80% of the parliament seats. Some claim that Aung San Suu Kyi would have assumed the office of Prime Minister;^[41] in fact, however, as she wasn't permitted, she did not stand as a candidate in the elections (although being a MP isn't a strict prerequisite for becoming PM in most parliamentary systems). Instead, the results were nullified and the military refused to hand over power, resulting in an international outcry. Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest at her home on University Avenue (16°49′32″N 96°9′1″E / 16.82556°N 96.15028°E / 16.82556; 96.15028) in Rangoon, during which time she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990, and the Nobel Peace Prize the year after. Her sons Alexander and Kim accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. Aung San Suu Kyi used the Nobel Peace Prize's 1.3 million USD prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people.^[42] Around this time, Suu Kyi chose non-violence as an expedient political tactic, stating in 2007, "I do not hold to non-violence for moral reasons, but for political and practical reasons,"^[43] however, nonviolent action as well as civil resistance in lieu of armed conflict are also political tactics in keeping with the overall philosophy of her Theravada Buddhist religion.

1996 attack[link]

On 9 November 1996, the motorcade that she was traveling in with other National League for Democracy leaders Tin Oo and U Kyi Maung, was attacked in Yangon. About 200 men swooped down on the motorcade, wielding metal chains, metal batons, stones and other weapons. The car that Aung San Suu Kyi was in had its rear window smashed, and the car with Tin Oo and U Kyi Maung had its rear window and two backdoor windows shattered. It is believed the offenders were members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) who were allegedly paid 500 kyats (@ USD $0.5) each to participate. The NLD lodged an official complaint with the police, and according to reports the government launched an investigation, but no action was taken. (Amnesty International 120297)^[44]

House arrest[link]

Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years, on different occasions, since she began her political career,^[45] during which time she was prevented from meeting her party supporters and international visitors. In an interview, Suu Kyi said that while under house arrest she spent her time reading philosophy, politics and biographies that her husband had sent her.^[46] She also passed the time playing the piano, and was occasionally allowed visits from foreign diplomats as well as from her personal physician.^[47]

The media were also prevented from visiting Suu Kyi, as occurred in 1998 when journalist Maurizio Giuliano, after photographing her, was stopped by customs officials who then confiscated all his films, tapes and some notes.^[48] In contrast, Suu Kyi did have visits from government representatives, such as during her autumn 1994 house arrest when she met the leader of Burma, General Than Shwe and General Khin Nyunt on 20 September in the first meeting since she had been placed in detention.^[26] On several occasions during Suu Kyi's house arrest, she had periods of poor health and as a result was hospitalized.^[49]

The Burmese government detained and kept Suu Kyi imprisoned because it viewed her as someone "likely to undermine the community peace and stability" of the country, and used both Article 10(a) and 10(b) of the 1975 State Protection Act (granting the government the power to imprison people for up to five years without a trial),^[50] and Section 22 of the "Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts" as legal tools against her.^[51] She continuously appealed her detention,^[52] and many nations and figures continued to call for her release and that of 2,100 other political prisoners in the country.^[53][54] On 12 November 2010, days after the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won elections conducted after a gap of almost 20 years, the junta finally agreed to sign orders allowing Suu Kyi's release,^[55] and Suu Kyi's house arrest term came to an end on 13 November 2010.

UN involvement[link]

The UN has attempted to facilitate dialogue between the junta and Suu Kyi.^[56] On 6 May 2002, following secret confidence-building negotiations led by the UN, the government released her; a government spokesman said that she was free to move "because we are confident that we can trust each other". Aung San Suu Kyi proclaimed "a new dawn for the country". However on 30 May 2003 in an incident similar to the 1996 attack on her, a government-sponsored mob attacked her caravan in the northern village of Depayin, murdering and wounding many of her supporters.^[57] Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene with the help of her driver, Ko Kyaw Soe Lin, but was arrested upon reaching Ye-U. The government imprisoned her at Insein Prison in Rangoon. After she underwent a hysterectomy in September 2003,^[58] the government again placed her under house arrest in Rangoon.

The results from the UN facilitation have been mixed; Razali Ismail, UN special envoy to Burma, met with Aung San Suu Kyi. Ismail resigned from his post the following year, partly because he was denied re-entry to Burma on several occasions.^[59] Several years later in 2006, Ibrahim Gambari, UN Undersecretary-General (USG) of Department of Political Affairs, met with Aung San Suu Kyi, the first visit by a foreign official since 2004.^[60] He also met with Suu Kyi later the same year.^[61] On 2 October 2007 Gambari returned to talk to her again after seeing Than Shwe and other members of the senior leadership in Naypyidaw.^[62] State television broadcast Suu Kyi with Gambari, stating that they had met twice. This was Suu Kyi's first appearance in state media in the four years since her current detention began.^[63]