Story taken from the NEW EYE publication

Burma Issues

In Nyaunglebin Township of the Karen State in Burma, the villagers frequently change their leaders, as they constantly face abuse by Burma Army units stationed in the area. The soldiers always demand things from the villagers. If the villagers give them late, or give too little, when the village leaders go to the army they know they’ll suffer all kinds of abuse...

"You want to die, useless village head?!"

"Oh sir, I’m afraid."

The following events occurred at one village in the area during March, 1991. The village leader there was Saw Phar Thoo. If an order arrived from the army...

"Chief, the commander wants to see you. He gave the usual instructions."

"My face is already twitching... last night I had bad dreams too. As per usual they’ll be after money, pigs and chickens. How long before I’ll be free from this position as village head?"

One day Saw Phar Thoo received an instruction from the commander to go to the army camp immediately. When he arrived...

"The rebels passed to one side of your village last night. Why didn’t you notify me of this?!" "Because we di…didn’t know, sir. If we knew we would s... sa,.. say..."

"Okay, I don’t want to know about it! Take this!" Wack!

The officer continued,

"You really want to support these rebels, don’t you?! Okay, support them some morel" Pow!

"I humbly beg you, sir. I really didn’t know anything. I’m not lying."

"Don’t answer back! You can spend a night in the stocks, and it’s going to cost your village one pig to get you out."

Saw Phar Thoo spent the night in detention, being bitten by mosquitoes, flies buzzing around his painful wounds. Next day, the villagers brought a pig in exchange for his release, and had to carry him home. In the village, the people looked miserably at their headman’s condition,

"What kind of devil would do that...."

The headman spoke,

"Yeah, well, tomorrow we'll have a village meeting. Just let every body know."

"Okay chief, but have someone tend to your wounds, okay? You need to recover."

The next morning all of the villagers began arriving at the village head’s house.

Once enough people had arrived, Saw Phar Thoo began,

"I think you all understand what I’ve called you here to discuss. Although I’m feeling unwell, I wish to speak now. Everybody knows I’ve been village head here for more than five years, and I’ve really tried to do my best for our village. Yet now, when I’m getting into old age, I find myself always suffering abuse at the hands of those soldiers. So... I wish to resign my position as village headman. I’ve called this meeting for you all to select a new head."

None of the villagers moved. After a moment a young man spoke,

"Please, grandpa, this is your work. Nobody else dares to do it. You alone, grandpa, dare to face those soldiers, so this work is yours."

All the villagers spoke up in support. Saw Phar Thoo replied,

"I expected that you would all say this, but I thought long and hard before coming to my decision. If I continue this work then it’ll soon be the death of me. I really must step down."

The people began to discuss things together, but nobody wanted to take Saw Phar Thoo’s place, and nothing could be agreed upon...

"We can’t be without a village head, we need somebody..."

"But nobody wants to do it."

"Saw Phar Thoo, please give advice..."

So the elder couldn’t stay still, and suggested,

"Well, I do have one idea. It would involve everybody, male and female, over sixteen years of age. What we can do is... make a new village head every single day, one person per day, on rotation. I too will be included. That way, everybody will share the same risks and responsibilities. What do you all think?" The villagers agreed to this suggestion, and started the plan immediately.

Three days later, the Burma Army troops entered the village. Upon sight of a young man...

"Hey, you there! Go and call the village head. Tell him to bring chickens and alcohol... quickly!" "Yes... yes, sir.

A short time later, an elderly woman returned with the young man, carrying the provisions as demanded. The army officer growled...

"I tell you to go and fetch the village head, and you bring this old woman?! Where is he? What are you up to?"

"But she is the village head now, sir."

"I wanted Saw Phar Thoo, okay?! Never mind! Think about this, you moron!" Wack!

The soldiers took the chickens and departed, leaving the young man on the ground.

About a week later, they returned. Again, a villager was ordered to summon the village head. On this day a young man was the designated leader. He was terrified...

"Oh, uncle.., this is frightening..."

"We've got the things they want, anyway."

The officer flew into a rage at the sight of these two men. Complaining about the villagers' lack of respect, he had them tied up to a nearby tree.

Saw Phar Thoo soon arrived,

"It’s like this, sir. You always come into the village and beat people up, so nobody dared to be village head any more. But that put us in a fix, because we can’t be without a village head. In the end, everybody agreed that we would co-operate and share the work equally, one person per day. That way, if you beat us, sir, we would bear the burden of being beaten together, in unity... that’s all."

After Saw Phar Thoo had spoken the soldiers were silent. Without a word, they turned around and went on their way.