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We Shall Work and Co-operate With All Genuine Democrats

Soa Hso Kham Pha is the eldest son of the late Saopha-loong, Soa Shwe Thaike, who was the first President of the Independent Burma. When Burma fell under military dictatorship, Soa Shwe Thaike was put into jai by the military regime, and later died in jail under suspicious circumstances.

Last year Soa Hso Kham Pha, also known as Tiger Yawnghwe, founded the Interim Shan Government with the cooperation of a group of Shan elders. Recently the ISG has established a freedom fighting force called Shan State Army (Central) with thousands of troops to fight against the neo-fascist military regime in Burma.

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This will confirm the Shan  and the Interim Shan Government's pledge that we shall work and co-operate with all genuine democrats of  Burmese, Arakan, Chin, Kachin,  Karenni, Mon Kaen and  Shan States who believe in full equality for all and the right to self-determination of all peoples  -  irrespective of race, colour or creed - to re-establish  trust and harmony in the region that was the Union of Burma but now the imperial Pyi Daw of  the the fascist  regime of the  Burmese military who attempts and claims to control by armed might and criminal atrocities.  

Trust that was shattered by Ne Win & his coup, must first be re-establish firmly and ratified by binding treaties with severe penalties under the auspices of the UN and International Courts for defaults and not merely on wishful thinking and say-so. General Aung Aung San, the  independence leader of the Burmese agreed with us in the need for co-operation and trust and we with him, and that was why he signed the Panglong Agreement with us and we with him.  

It is unfortunate that the NLD chose to oppose the Shan People's democratic consensus for independence that is our right by Treaty (Panglong 1947)and the 1948 Constitution of the Union of Burma that was the instrument  of federation  - which means a partnership of equals and not a mandate for one  to dictate to the other partners as lord and  master.  

In denying our right to exercise our Treaty and Constitutional rights, the NLD is  not only short-sighted as General  Aung San was not and they are aligning themselves with the fascist and chauvinistic Burmese military regime in the hope of sharing in the  spoils of Imperial Burma of the SPDC. The NLD's position was not unanticipated by us. 

Trust and harmony must first be re-established before we can talk about co-operation and a partnership of equals in a federation or confederation. The Shan State itself is not that small - it is larger than Cambodia both in area and in population for instance and larger than some 24 States of the United States and some 22 countries of Europe and the  areas where the Tai or  Shan people inhabit even today stretch from NE India, through Burma, the Shan States and into southwest China and in China alone according to Premier Chou-en-lai, 1957, there are more  than 100 millions Tai or Shan Speaking Peoples in the PRC, not counting the Lao, Thai and other related Tai Peoples in Vietnam and Cambodia. Taken in this context in the larger worldscape, the Burmese or Burman are but a small ethnic group.  It is well to remember this. 

The concept of federation or confederation is nothing  new to us Tai / Shan. Ancient Nanchao  or Lanchao was such a confederation as was the Federated Shan States during the British period and indeed before the British  Annexation that successive Burmese kings from Bayinnaung onwards sought to divide and rule, as does the current fascist Burmese regime, successors to  Ne Win, and still do.   

This should clarify the position of the Interim Shan Government that our Cabinet will also concur as will our Resistances Forces and Allies. You will have read and heard about disagreements within the Shan family - and this is what one gets in a democracy, nothing unusual, it is the messy normalcy of democratic practice. Only in dictatorships does total & absolute agreement and consensus is claimed to exist. 

Best regards & sincere wishes,

Tiger Yawnghwe