The development of nationalist movements in Southeast Asia

Authors Avatar

The development of nationalist movements in Southeast Asia

 

Burmese nationalist movement

Factors for the rise of Burmese nationalism

Political

1.        The British administration destroyed the old political system. The Konbaung dynasty was abolished and the Hlutdaw was removed. It removed the traditional headmen because they had led the resistance movement after 1885 and replaced them with salaried ones, like the myo-ok or  the myothugyi.

2.        It was convenient to adopt, wholesale, Indian administrative models that were not relevant to Burma. they had negative consequences. For example, the role of the headman, the economic and social institutions at the local level was completely reversed to conform to an Indian model

In 1920, many villages were grouped together under a circle headman, thus reducing the number of village headmen. The new headmen failed to inspire the kind of trust and loyalty among the peasantry that the myothugyi had in the pre-British era as he was regarded as a paid British officer. Instead of acting as the highest official at the local level, the headman became under the British the lowest official of the central administration representing an even smaller administrative unit, the village. As a result, the role of headman providing leadership at the village level, degenerated.

3.        The Burmese felt alienated because of the British distrust and policy of not associating the Burmese with the administration in significant numbers. Instead the British preferred Indians and minority groups especially the Karens many of whom were Christians.

The educated Burman elite found the status of Burma as an Indian province (until its separation in 1937) offensive to their pride in Burma as an ancient kingdom with its own glorious traditions

Economic disruption

1.        British rule introduced many economic changes hardly any of which benefited the Burmese people.

Large tracts of land were brought under rice cultivation and exports increased tremendously, but they benefited the Indian moneylenders and British companies involved in processing, shipping and exporting of the grain. Crops and lands were mortgaged by the Burmese peasants to the Indian chettiars who charged exorbitant interest rates as high as 120%. Indians came to own about one-fourth of the entire arable land through foreclosures by World War 2.

2.        The peasants became insecure and restless who moved from village to village ready to listen to political leaders who identified the influx of Indian money lenders and labour with British imperialism. It was in the rice producing delta of Lower Burma that nationalism was most active.

3.        In the extractive industries, like oil, zinc, lead and tin the Burmese were also exploited. The Burmese did not benefit economically from the exploitation of mines or teak forests. Railroads laced the country and shipping clogged its ports. Yet both capital and labour were largely alien mostly British and Indian, who did not share their profits with the indigenous Burmese.  

4.        As the empire grew so did administrative system and where else but to India would the British turn for such a labour force to man the administrative system? There had grown up in India generations of professionals and paraprofessionals and a wide range of others with equally needed skills who knew and could work with the British. In 1917, the Colonial Secretary announced in Parliament that it was government policy to place as many Indians as possible in the Burmese administration. In addition, the demand for manual labour increased as Rangoon and other cities grew. The upper and middle sectors of the colonial administration were staffed by British from the Indian Civil Service which extended to the district level. The British also controlled a large part of the private trade, both domestic and foreign and such government functions as the army and police, and a variety of services throughout Burma. However, they were a minority of the official community and if Burma was to pay for itself, it was essential that lower salaried officials could be Indians. Thus, for a long time, the Burmese were excluded from the higher levels of the bureaucracy. It was only in 1923 that a Burmese passed the Indian Civil Service examinations and Burmese representation at professional levels continued to be small until the close of the colonial era.

 

5.        Indian immigration into Burma was great and it was encouraged by the British. In 1931, the Indian population in Rangoon was 53% which was termed an Indian city for the Burmese numbered only 32% in Rangoon.  Certain occupations, such as the port and shipping fields became dominated by Indians. In Rangoon, the centre of Burmese industry, Indians held 62% of all skilled positions and about 95% of the unskilled jobs. In the Irrawaddy delta in 1931, Indians held 65.8% of trade positions, 52.1% of public administration jobs, 36.3% of jobs in transport and the same percentage in industry. Hence, there was no possibility for the Burmans to adjust to these new economic conditions or to acquire entrepreneurial talents. The labour vacuum was filled at all levels by Indians.

Thus, as their country was beginning to experience economic growth, Burmans were excluded from most aspects of that growth. They continued to be farmers, a few were in the traditional extractive industries and some remained petty traders in the bazaars .

6.        The Burmans also faced competition from the Chinese who had been in Burma for a long time.

Hence, there was ethnic division of labour. The Burmans were on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, in agriculture at the mercy of foreign moneylenders at home and the world market price for rice abroad. Few could have middle-class aspirations and the middle class until well after independence, was essentially Indian and Chinese.

7.        Discrimination together with economic depression, began to produce unrest that was directed toward the foreign community. Discontent centred not only on the colonial masters, but on the Indians who were associated with the British. The 1930 Rangoon dock strike which saw Burmese against Indians resulted in riots which killed about 100 people and injured 1000.

Social

The role of Buddhism in the nationalist movement

1.        The most single factor disruptive of Burmese society was the British neglect of the Buddhist sangha (monkhood) Traditionally, the monks had played a crucial educational and cultural role helping social cohesion. The opening of government and missionary schools competed directly with the Buddhist schools. The cultural inroads made by the British wee opposed by the Buddhist monks whose monasteries became centres of resentful opposition to the West.

2.        The monks or pongyis were also involved in the nationalist movement for when the King was removed, the British had actually removed the patron of the Buddhism. Moreover the removal of the “thathanabaing” (supreme patriarch) disestablished Buddhism. The Burmans had a real fear that the Christian invaders were destroying their religion. Christian missionaries were very active in Burma. Secular education dislocated the priesthood who were regarded as the traditional teachers. Since public expression of nationalist sentiments through the formation of political organisation was outlawed by the British it was natural that these feelings and their organisational expression were first articulated through Buddhist groups, such as the Young Men’s Buddhist Association (YMBA) founded in 1906 on the Christian model and the General Council of Burmese (Buddhist) Organisation started in 1922.  By 1916, the YMBA had begun publicly to express concern over British religious policy.

3.        The YMBA established schools conforming to the governmental curriculum requirements but also giving lessons in Buddhist scriptures to counter the Christian missionary schools, which offered Bible lessons. The YMBA schools soon became centres of the community’s social life and national awareness. They resorted to religious organisations as a politically safe way to promote nationalistic sentiments. Buddhism provided a common platform for those who deeply resented the colonial government’s neglect of and injury to their faith. Numerous political parties of later years were led by former YMBA volunteers.

4.        The most well known nationalist monk was U Ottama. In 1921, the returned from India strongly influenced by Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance movement. He advocated independence and was arrested in 1921. The following year he was released, but spent the years 1924-1927 and 1928-1929 in jail for anti-British activities, after which he died. Another of the Buddhist monk-martyrs to the nationalist cause was U Wisara, who died in a Rangoon jail in 1929 after a hunger strike. Monks were also involved in and sometimes led, the anti-Indian riots of the 1930s. The Shwedagon Pagoda grounds were used for some of the anti-British student protests of the same period and the area was a common site for demonstrations.

Join now!

Student movement of the 1920s

1.        The students of the 1920s were influenced by Western political ideas such as J.S.Mill’s “Liberty”, democracy, freedom, etc

They were also influenced by other nationalist movements such as the Indian National Congress political demands and Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement, the PKI Revolt of 1926, the 1911 Revolution.

2.        They expressed grievances over the the high pass mark set by the University of Rangoon which resulted in a high failure rate.  They were also against the discrimination over job opportunities.

When the University of Rangoon was established, the British government passed the University of Rangoon Act ...

This is a preview of the whole essay