Traditional Shan culture is being eliminated by the Burmese military government’s use of tourism and religion, a Shan rights group said on Tuesday.
The exiled Shan Women Action Network highlighted the regime’s attack on Shan culture during a press conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for the launch of a new book, “Forbidden Glimpses of Shan State: A Brief Alternative Guide.”
The network said in a press release that the book shows how Burma’s military regime is threatening the last remaining vestiges of the 34 former Shan principalities and is erasing Shan culture by building monuments to honor ancient Burmese warrior kings and replicas of the famous Shwedagon Pagoda across Shan State.
Established in 1999, the network is well-known for its report “License to Rape,” published in 2002, which documents the military regime's use of sexual violence in the ongoing conflicts in Shan State.
According to the group, the junta has built many new pagodas and temples while de-emphasizing traditional Shan architecture and culture.
“The style and manner in which these structures have been built or renovated reveals that they have little to do with the propagation of Buddhism, but rather with the flaunting of power, cultural assimilation and superstition,” the group said.
Since the 1960 coup, the group noted that four palaces of former Shan rulers have been denigrated or destroyed by the military.
After the coup, authorities took over the Kengtung Palace in eastern Shan State for use as an administration office, and in 1991, demolished it and replaced it with a hotel. Authorities transformed the Yawnghwe Palace into a Buddhist museum.
The group said the study of the Shan language is banned in government-controlled areas, and at least 10 people were arrested in 2008 for involvement in teaching private classes in the Shan language.
The book launch was held on the last day of the Shan New Year. A three-day New Year festival was celebrated by the Shan community around Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Shan immigrants. Organizers said about 6,000 people attended the event.
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