Reminds me of our meeting with Padoh Mahn Sha, together with David Tharkabaw, Saw Sarkis and my wife some two years before he was assassinated.

Through correspondence with him, I came to know on how he was thinking in terms of ethnic struggle for self-determination and national unity.

His wisdom is that in order to achieve self-determination rights for the non-Bamar ethnic nationalities, they need to work in unison militarily and politically. Besides, the ethnic should and must seek cooperation and coordination with the like-minded democratic elements from the Bamar masses, political parties and even from the Burma Army.

A bold initiative at that time, as the ethnic groups only understood that the Tatmadaw or Burma Army was an evil entity and must be avoided or gotten rid of it but never to be considered as an alliance in the ethnic struggle for self-determination.

No doubt, his progressive thought has found the way, not even in the KNU but also into other ethnic resistance movements, finding large acceptance on how they should go about with their struggles.

Padoh Mahn Sha’s political legacy will live on for a long time to come.

Link to the story: Relatives barred from Padoh Mahn Sha statue ceremony