Ref: the 1947 Panglong Agreement- How can I forget?

Dear Daw Aungsan Suu Kyi,

I was at Panglong in February 1947 with my parents when the Panglong Agreement was signed between Bogyoke Aung San, representing the Bamar and the leaders of the Shan, Kacin and Chin. I was a young school girl , but I remember the whole atmosphere after the agreement was signed , jubilant and joyous. At first the Shan and other ethnic Leaders were sceptical about becoming part of the Federal Union of Burma, but they were won over by Bogyoke Aungsan’s open-ness and sincerity and accepted that the formation of the Union was for the common good and benefit of both the Bamar Heartland and other ethnic States. Through mutual trust and respect both sides agreed that all members of the Union should enjoy equal status and opportunities, and each state the rights of internal autonomy, self-determination and the right to secede.

The Panglong Accord is unlike the cease-fire agreement, signed and broken, and repeated again and again; it was meant to be permanent and honoured. The make and break of the Federal Union of Burma depends on whether the original 1947 Agreement is honoured or not. It is the only tie that binds the Bamar Heartland and other ethnic States. All the ethnic states have never wanted to break up the Union; even after all these years of unfair treatment by the Bamar Military/politicians they are without exception, still willing to be part of the Union.

The 1947 Panglong Agreement, is the pillar of Honour, Truth, Justice and Freedom and
is embedded in the Heart and Soul of every Shan and other ethnic nationalities. For them it cannot be replaced, there is only one 1947 Agreement. An attempt to destroy the 1947 Panglong Agreement by deception or force will have an unsettling and unstable effect on the whole of Burma, as seen during the last fifty or more years. It could go on for many more generations, even after we are dead and gone.

The Clauses in the Panglong Agreement was to be recorded in the 1948 Constitution, which was to be drafted by Bogyoke Aungsan and his Executive Committee Members. During a drafting session Bogyoke Aungsan and his colleagues were assassinated.

I hope you, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, will honour your father’s promises and signature, and please do not let his values, and his and the death of his colleagues, the sufferings and loss of countless lives be all in vain. Please try to make something good come out of the “1947 Panglong Agreement”.

Sincerely yours,

Sao Noan Oo