Abstract
‘Now when we build our new Burma shall we build it as a Union or as a Unitary State?’ Bogyoke Aung San asked at the AFPFL convention in May 1947 when the basic principles of the constitution were formulated and the first draft was approved. ‘In my opinion,’ he answered, ‘it will not be feasible to set up a Unitary State. We must set up a Union with properly regulated provisions to safeguard the rights of the national minorities. But we must take care that ‘United we stand’ and not ‘United we fall.’’1
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References
Burma’s Challenge, by Aung San, 1946.
Draft constitution approved at AFPFL convention, appendix iv.
Constituent Assembly, Proceedings, vol. 2, No. 5, August 4, 1947, p. 133.
appendix iii.
Minutes of the sub-committee on the Union and the Units, in Minutes of the Constitution Drafting Committees, Constituent Assembly, Government Press, 1948.
Frontier Areas Commission of Enquiry, Report, Part II, p. 109, Government Press 1947.
Guardian newspaper, May 15, 1958, exchange of letters between U Ba Swe-U Kyaw Nyein, and U Nu.
Statement by Sawbwas of the Shan State, Guardian, May 26, 1958; by the Chin leaders, Guardian, May 30.
Dr. Ba Maw’s opinion on the discretionary power, from the standpoint of constitutional law and convention in Guardian, May 30, 1958; U Nu’s address at mass rally emphasising that the constitution was drafted by Aung San and other leaders and legal experts, and not for his special benefit, Guardian, June 2; Thakin Chit Maung, Information Minister, replying for the rival faction, that the power must be used in the interest of the people, and not to maintain a ‘power-mad’ Prime Minister in power, Guardian, June 3.
Appendix iv. After the 1960 eletions the move for “recall” law fizzled out.
Minutes of the Constitution Drafting Committees, sub-committee on the Shan State on August 14, 1947; for contemporary events read’ spotlight on the Shan State,’ by ‘Asmi’ (U ThaungMyine) in Guardian magazine May, June, September, October, 1955.
Minutes.
Burma Weekly Bulletin, May 21, 1969.
U Zan Hta Sin, who resigned as Head of State, to side with the AFPFL faction which opposed U Nu, revealed how he was sent for by U Nu in Peking in 1956, and told on arrival by U Nu that the Chinese claim was just and must be met. U Zan Hta Sin said that the Kachin State Council was opposed to the surrender of the villages, but was forced to agree. Guardian newspaper, June 5, 1958.
Constituent Assembly, Proceedings, vol. 2, No. 10, August 16, 1947, pp. 459-60.
Minutes.
Constituent Assembly, Proceedings, vol. 2, No. 10, pp. 464-468.
Burma and the Insurrections, Government Press, 1949.
Report of the Regional Autonomy Enquiry Commission, 1952; Burma and the Insurrections.
Statement to the press on February 4, 1949, reproduced in Towards Peace and Democracy, speeches by U Nu, Government Press, 1949.
From Peace to Stability, speeches by U Nu, Government Press, 1951.
Burma and the Insurrections.
Debate on the Amendment Act in which U Nu participated, and the stories of the Karen State movement, and of the Kayah State came out from first-hand sources, is reported in Constituent Assembly (Parliament), Proceedings, vol. 14, No. 28, October 5, 1951.
Burma Gazette, 1952 Part I, page 1.
Constituent Assembly, Proceedings, vol. 2, No. 1 July 29, 1947, page 22.
Constituent Assembly, Proceedings, vol. 3, No. 8, September 23, 1947, pp. 308–331.
Constituent Assembly (Parliament), Proceedings, vol. 10, No. 7, February 9, 1950, pp. 150–175.
Ibid.; s. 8 of the Act.
‘Our Younger Brother, the Kayah,’ by U Tin U, Guardian magazine, July, 1954; but see Constitution Amendment, Act 10, 1959.
Profile of U Vum Ko Hau, in Guardian magazine February, 1956; ‘On Chin Affairs,’ by ‘Asmi’ (U Thaung Myine), in the magazine of December 1954, and January, February, and March, 1955.
Guardian newspaper, April 11, 1958, reporting speech at Mon cultural festival at Moulmein.
e.g. Parliamentary Proceedings, Deputies, vol. 6, No. 33, debate on the motion to appoint a special enquiry commission for Arakan State; vol. 3, No. 8, debate on U Nu’s speech.
Report of the Regional Autonomy Enquiry Commission, 1952.
Parliamentary Proceedings, Deputies, vol. 3, No. 8, p. 611.
U Nu’s speech at assembly of Shan Sawbwas and leaders is reported in the Guardian newspaper, May 8, 1957.
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© 1961 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
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Maung, M. (1961). The States. In: Burma’s Constitution. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-8892-0_12
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