Ethnic Shan communities around the world celebrated the 63rd anniversary of Shan State Day, formerly known as Shan National Day, on Feb. 7. Meanwhile, the armed Shan State Army-South rebels held a ceremony at their headquarters in Loi Tai Leng on the Thai-Burmese border.
Burma's military government gave permission for Shan festivals to be held in cities such as Rangoon, Mandalay, Taunggyi and Muse “for social and cultural reasons,” according to the sources.
Shan National Day commemorates the 1947 meeting in Panglong Township between Shan sawbwas (chieftains) and politicians at which a united front against British colonial rule was agreed on.
Five days after their meeting, Gen Aung San and representatives from the Executive Council of the Governor of Burma met with ethnic leaders from the Shan, Chin and Kachin minorities, and signed the historic “Panglong Agreement,” which guaranteed autonomy for those ethnic groups once Burma won independence from Britain. Burma became independent in 1948.
“Panglong brought unity to Shan State and steered Burma to independence. The agreement should serve as a blueprint for Burma’s future,” the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News quoted a local leader as saying.
The last time Shan State Day was publicly and politically celebrated inside Burma was in 2005 when prominent Shan political veterans, younger leaders and Burmese politicians gathered to discuss the formation of a federal union.
Days later, Burmese military authorities arrested several key figures, included President of the Shan State Peace Council Sao Hso Ten, politician Shwe Ohn, and the chairman and the secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), Hkun Htun Oo and Sai Nyunt Lwin respectively.
Three of the Shan leaders were sentenced to prison terms of between 75 and 106 years. Hkun Htun Oo was given a 93-year sentence for charges that included defamation and high treason.
The SNLD won the second highest number of seats, 23, at the 1990 election, second only to its close allies, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
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