Ne Win

Ne Win's date of birth is not known with certainty. The English language publication Who's Who in Burma published in 1961 by People's Literature House, Rangoon, stated that Ne Win was born on 14 May 1911.[8] Dr. Maung Maung stated in the Burmese version of his book Burma and General Ne Win, also published in English, that Ne Win was born on 14 May 1911.[9] However, in a book written in Burmese titled The Thirty Comrades, the author Kyaw Nyein gave Ne Win's date of birth as 10 July 1910.[10]

David Ben-Gurion, the Prime Minister of Israel and General Ne Win as Prime Minister of Burma in 1959

Kyaw Nyein's date of 1910 can be considered as the more plausible date. First, Kyaw Nyein had access to historical records and he interviewed many surviving members of the Thirty Comrades when he wrote the book in the mid-to late 1990s.[11] (Ne Win was one of the Thirty Comrades who secretly went to undergo military training in the early 1940s for the purpose of fighting for independence from the British).[12] In his book published around 1998, Kyaw Nyein lists the names of the surviving members of the Thirty Comrades whom he had interviewed, although Ne Win was not one of them.[13] Secondly, when Ne Win died on 5 December 2002, the Burmese language newspapers that were allowed to carry a paid obituary stated the age of 'U Ne Win' to be '93 years'.[14] According to Burmese custom, a person's age is their age upon their next birthday.[15] Since Ne Win turned 92 in July 2002, when he died in December 2002 he was considered to be 93 years old.[16] Most Western news agencies, based on the May 1911 birth date, reported that Ne Win was 91 years old, but the obituary put up by his family (most probably his children) stated that he was 93 years old, which most likely stems from East Asian age reckoning.[17]

Ne Win, born Shu Maung (ရှုမောင်), was born into an ethnic Chinese family in a small village near Paungdale about 200 miles (320 km) north of Rangoon.[18] He spent two years at Rangoon University beginning in 1929, and took biology as his main subject with hopes of becoming a doctor. In 1931 he was expelled from the university after he failed an exam.[19] Ne Win eventually became "Thakin Shu Maung", or a member of the nationalist organisation Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association). Other members of the group included Aung San and U Nu.[20] In 1941 Ne Win, as a member of the Ba Sein-Tun Ok (Socialist) faction of the Dobama, was one of thirty young men chosen for military training by the Japanese operative Colonel Suzuki Keiji.[21] Their leader was Aung San and they formed the Burma Independence Army (BIA). During military training, Shu Maung chose a nom de guerre, Bo Ne Win (Commander Radiant Sun).[22] In early 1942 the Japanese Army and the BIA entered Burma in the wake of the retreating British forces. Ne Win's role in the campaign was to organize resistance behind the British lines.[23]

The experience of the Japanese occupation of Burma worked to alienate the nationalists as well as the population at large. Toward the end of the Second World War, on 27 March 1945 the Burma National Army (successor to the BIA) turned against the Japanese following the British re-invasion of Burma.[24] Ne Win, as one of the BNA Commanders, was quick to establish links with the British – attending the Kandy conference in Ceylon and taking charge of the anti-Communist operations in the Pyinmana area as commander of the 4th Burma Rifles after the Red Flag Communists and the Communist Party of Burma went underground to fight against the government in October 1946 and on 28 March 1948 respectively.[25] Burma obtained independence on 4 January 1948, and for the first 14 years it had a parliamentary and democratic government mainly under Prime Minister U Nu, but the country was riven with political division.[26] Even before independence, Aung San was assassinated together with six of his cabinet members on 19 July 1947; U Saw, a pre-war prime minister and political rival of Aung San, was found guilty of the crime and executed.[27] U Nu as leader of the Socialists took charge of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) formed by the Communists, Socialists and the BNA in 1945 now that Aung San was dead and the Communists expelled from the AFPFL.[28]

Following independence there were uprisings in the army and among ethnic minority groups. In late 1948, after a confrontation between army rivals, Ne Win was appointed second in command of the army and his rival Bo Zeya, a communist commander and fellow member of the Thirty Comrades, took a portion of the army into rebellion.[29] Ne Win immediately adopted a policy of creating Socialist militia battalions called 'Sitwundan' under his personal command with the approval of U Nu.[30] On 31 January 1949, Ne Win was appointed Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) and given total control of the army, replacing General Smith Dun, an ethnic Karen. He rebuilt and restructured the armed forces along the ruling Socialist Party's political lines, but the country was still split and the government was ineffective.[31]

On 2 March 1962, Ne Win again seized power in a coup d'état. He became head of state as Chairman of the Union Revolutionary Council and also Prime Minister. The coup was characterized as "bloodless" by the world's media. Declaring that "parliamentary democracy was not suitable for Burma," the new regime suspended the constitution and dissolved the legislature.[34]

Following riots at Rangoon University in July 1962, troops were sent to restore order. They fired on protesters and destroyed the student union building.[35]

Shortly afterward, around 8 pm local time, Ne Win addressed the nation in a five-minute radio speech which concluded with the statement: "if these disturbances were made to challenge us, I have to declare that we will fight sword with sword and spear with spear".[36] On 13 July 1962, less than a week after the speech, Ne Win left for Austria, Switzerland and the United Kingdom "for a medical check up".[37] All universities were closed for more than two years until September 1964.[38]

In 1988, 26 years later, Ne Win denied involvement in the dynamiting of the Student Union building, stating that his deputy Brigadier Aung Gyi – who by that time had fallen out with Ne Win and been dismissed – had given the order and that he had to take responsibility as a "revolutionary leader" by giving the sword with sword and spear with spear speech.[39]

Ne Win with Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi during their visit to Burma in 1964

Ne Win oversaw a number of reforms after taking power. The administration instituted a system including elements of nationalism, Marxism, and Buddhism,[40] though Ne Win lacked interest in either ideology or religion – terming this the Burmese Way to Socialism. He founded the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), which in 1964 was formally declared to be the only legal party.[41]

A system of state hospitals and institutions was established in Burma; medical care was free. Private hospitals were brought under public ownership. A new system of public education was introduced. A campaign to liquidate illiteracy was carried out starting in 1965.[42] Between 1962 and 1965 important laws against landlords and usury were adopted. They aimed at protecting peasants' rights to land and property and to renting the land. These measures included the law abolishing rents on land.[43]

On 2 March 1974, he disbanded the Revolutionary Council and proclaimed the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. He was elected president and shortly afterward appointed Brigadier General Sein Win as Prime Minister.[44] On 9 November 1981, Ne Win resigned as president and was succeeded in that post by General San Yu. However, Ne Win remained leader of the party and thus remained the ultimate political authority in the land until his resignation in 1988.

1967 anti-Chinese riots

Main article: 1967 anti-Chinese riots in Burma

Gen. Ne Win, Burmese P.M. touring Nesher Cement Factory in Ramleh.

In February 1963, the Enterprise Nationalization Law was passed, effectively nationalizing all major industries and prohibiting the formation of new factories. This law adversely affected many industrialists and entrepreneurs, especially those without the full citizenship.[58] The government's economic nationalization program further prohibited foreigners, including the non-citizen Chinese, from owning land, sending remittances, getting business licenses and practicing medicine.[59] Such policies led to the beginnings of a major exodus of Burmese Chinese to other countries – some 100,000 Chinese left Burma.[60]

Since Ne Win made Burmese as the medium of instruction, many Chinese-language schools had to be closed. When the Chinese embassy in Rangoon distributed Mao's red books in Burma, many Chinese went out on the streets in support of the Cultural Revolution. They were attacked by Burmese citizens, the most violent riots taking place in 1967.[60] Beginning in 1967 and continuing throughout the 1970s, anti-Chinese riots continued to flare up, as many elements in Burma tried to spread the Cultural Revolution. Many believed they were covertly supported by the government.[61] Similarly, Chinese shops were looted and set on fire. Public attention was successfully diverted by Ne Win from the uncontrollable inflation, scarcity of consumer items and rising prices of rice. The 1982 Citizenship Law further restricted Burmese citizenship for Burmese Chinese (as it stratified citizenship into three categories: full, associate, and naturalized) and severely limited Burmese Chinese, especially those without full citizenship and those holding FRCs, from attending professional tertiary schools, including medical, engineering, agricultural and economics institutions.[62][63] During this period, the country's failing economy and widespread discrimination accelerated an emigration of Burmese Chinese out of Burma.[64]

Students from universities throughout Rangoon demonstrated again in June 1975 in commemoration of the previous year's Labour Strike. Student-led demonstrations also occurred in March 1976, September 1987, March and June 1988.[65] In August and September 1988, these demonstrations turned into a nationwide uprising against BSPP rule in what is now known as the 'Four Eights Uprising'.[66]

The 8888 uprising was started by students in Yangon (Rangoon) on 8 August 1988. Student protests spread throughout the country.[67][68] Hundreds of thousands of monks, children, university students, housewives, doctors and common people protested against the government.[69][70] The uprising ended on 18 September after a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Thousands of deaths have been attributed to the military during this uprising,[67][71][72] while authorities in Myanmar put the figure at around 350 people killed.[73][74]

At the height of the Four Eights Uprising against the BSPP, Ne Win resigned as party chairman on 23 July 1988. In a truculent farewell speech to the BSPP Party Congress, he warned that if the "disturbances" continued the "army would have to be called and I would like to declare from here that if the army shoots it has no tradition of shooting into the air. It would shoot straight to hit."[75] The Tatmadaw troops shot, killed and maimed hundreds if not up to 3,000 or more demonstrators in various places throughout Burma from the period of 8 to 12 August 1988 and again on 18 September 1988, proving that Ne Win's farewell speech was not an empty threat.[76][77]

On 18 September 1988 the military led by General Saw Maung dispelled any hopes for democracy by brutally crushing the uprisings. It is widely believed that Ne Win, though in apparent retirement, orchestrated the coup from behind the scenes.[78]

For about ten years, Ne Win kept a low profile but remained a shadowy figure exercising at least some influence on the military junta.[79] After 1998, Ne Win's influence on the junta began to wane and Aye Ne Win and Kyaw Ne Win were released in 2013.[80]

Still under house arrest, Ne Win died on 5 December 2002 at his lakeside house in Yangon.[81] The death remained unannounced by Burmese media or the junta. The only mention of Ne Win's death was a paid obituary notice that appeared in some of the government-controlled Burmese language newspapers. Ne Win was not given a state funeral, and his former contacts or junior colleagues were strongly discouraged from attending a hastily arranged funeral, so that only thirty people attended the funeral.[82][83]

Ne Win's daughter Sandar Win was temporarily released from house arrest to attend his funeral and cremation. She later dispersed her father's ashes into the Hlaing River.[84]

Ne Win was married six times:[85]

1. He was first married to Daw Than Nyunt, who bore him a son, Kyaw Thein.
2. He was second married to Tin Tin, who bore him two sons, Ngwe Soe and Aye Aung.
3. He then married Khin May Than (Katie Ba Than), daughter of Professor Ba Than, the former dean of Rangoon medical school. The couple had two daughters and a son between them, Sandar Win, Kye Mon Win, and Phyo Wai Win. Khin May Than brought three daughters from her first marriage, Le Le Win and twins Thida Win and Thawdar Win, into the family. Khin May Than was Ne Win's favourite wife and her death in 1972 was a heavy blow to him.
4. He then married Ni Ni Myint, a university teacher, whom he divorced.
5. He then married June Rose Bellamy (Yadana Nat-mei), a great granddaughter of Crown Prince Ka Naung.
6. He remarried his former wife Ni Ni Myint.