Violence - political violence, domestic violence, inter-ethnic violence, etc. - has been a permanent feature of #Myanmar since Konbaung Dynasty (1750s to 1885). U Aung Zay Ya, the founder of Konbaung and a village headman who raised an army of men to fight back the Mons, the powerful invaders from what is called in the British scholarship as Lower Burma, was said to have re-named a Mon fishing village on the river bank of Hlaing River Yan Gon (the end of strife) after his victory over the Mons. (There was no Burma back in 1750s , let along in 1100 AD, only a cluster of feudal kingdoms warring against one another). The Burmese nationalist scholars starting with Dr Htin Aung and Dr Ba Han (the Dictator Dr Ba Maws older brother) left a national discourse full of fantasies tracing the root of Burma to Pagan or Bagan. Bagan was an officially multi-ethnic, multi-lingual kingdom where monks drank local beer and rice wine and where Buddhism was both Tibetan version (Mahayana ) and Theraveda. Animism was pervasive. And the missionary king like Anawrahta tried to ban the practice of animism and locked up animist statues of worship to eradicate non-Buddhist tradition: worship of spirits. Neither U Aung Zay Ya nor Anawrahta succeeded in their respective missions: violence and conflict continue to be a centuries-old fixture in Myanmar society (the military has abandoned the City of End of Strife and set up their own feudal base - called Naypyidaw). The people embrace Buddhism in form - no real practice there beyond cultural rituals - and worship ethno-nationalism, racism and animism.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 09:37:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015