The road they took wasn't as easy as expected, however no matter what happened to them, they willingly confronted obstacles to pave a smooth way for the next comers. They never did things for personal gain, only in the interest of their people. Alongside them, there are many more to be mentioned who laid down their lives for freedom of their people.
It has been over a half century since a better day for the national movement, and the movement they were involved in from the very beginning is still up in the air ─ further pooling into a vicious circle.
Saw Maw Reh
Saw Maw Reh, who settled in Kyehpoegyi when he was young and worked as a personal guard for the last
Kyehpoegyi's chief during the British rule in Burma, shouldered the bulk of the burden when Burma was freed from British rule and Karenni politics turned into hysteria. Initially, he hesitated to take up the load, as he was inexperienced in politics.
n Lay
Mahn Aung Than Lay, who had a very uncertain future orientation, unknowingly had a long and hard walk to the northeast from the delta. He finally made up his mind to take up the bumpy path with fellow Karennis after his work with military police ended soon after Burma’s independence. He was skillful in using rifles during his heyday; he was famous in shooting among his comrades and was known as “one-shot-hit Aung Than Lay”.
Saw Kha Poe
Kha Poe, who was seemingly from the same area of his original birthplace in the delta, like Mahn Aung Than Lay, made his way to the Karennis a bit later than Mahn Aung Than Lay. His service with alliance forces had left him well versed in the field of artillery. With his uncanny skills he was able to train several Karenni armed men to be well capable of fighting against the Burmese troops in the battlefield.
They were named as three loyal comrades when several senior leaders in the movement were either killed by or surrendered to the Burmese troops. At this time, many followers were at loose ends with the movement as it went into a nosedive. No one dared any longer to throw their hat into the ring to take up the leadership and free the movement from its predicament.
By recognizing that the movement was on the rocks, the three comrades upheld their pledge to the Karenni people and were determined for the movement to go ahead come hell or high water rather than call it quits. They made bricks without straw and paddled their own canoes, as they couldn’t count on anyone in their surroundings.
Even at their wit’s end with scant resources -when they saw the movement wouldn't be over anytime soon, and would continue to drag on down a long and difficult path ahead- they continued to put their hands to the plow to break new ground.
It was about early 1960s, and they struggled on a long walk to the northeast in search of new territory. When they reached the eastern part of the Salween River, they were met with hostility and new challenges. As they were strangers to the inhabitants, who failed to come to terms with them, no local broke their fall. Instead, the locals were making contact with a nearest Burmese post to smash them.
Realizing their effort had fallen flat and a foul game was on the horizon, in the nick of time they decided to escape. With help of locals, the Burmese troops had cornered them into a tight spot by posting their men along the west bank of Salween River in an attempt to gun down them.
After having sworn an oath to keep their loyalty to one another through thick and thin- but without putting all of their eggs in one basket ─ Saw Maw Reh made a narrow escape by floating down himself through Salween River while Mahn Aung Than Lay was left behind along with a handful fellows to find their way out from the encirclement of Burmese troops. Since no exodus was in sight and their adventure seemed to be coming to a bad end, Mahn Aung Than Lay and his loyalists finally surrendered unconditionally to the Burmese troops.
Due to their surrender, the entire movement fell through, nearly putting the national struggle on permanent hold. A few years later, Mahn Aung Lay luckily reunited with Saw Maw Reh and Kha Poe after he escaped from the detention cell.
One year after the Burmese military coup in 1963, on the spur of the moment, General Ne Win, the coup leader, announced through the state media an offer of peace talks to all jungle-based armed groups. Upon agreement between three non-Burman ethnic armed groups to meet the coup-makers to discuss a peace accord, Saw Maw Reh together with the Karen National Union (KNU) and New Mon State Party (NMSP) went to Rangoon for the meeting after consulting the other leaders of KNPP and people's representatives.
However, the talks were a failure when the regime accused the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) and the KNU of using the discussion to gain ground by organizing people and collecting tax in both towns and villages.
Under the leadership of the three comrades and as they hung tough, the movement gradually regained its strength; it was nearly out of the frying pan and into the fire, so to speak. Steadily, from month to month many young men from both urban and rural areas joined their hands with hearts and souls allowing the movement gain momentum once again.
The loyal comrades worked unselfishly, giving their whole hearts and souls beyond their means to the cause until they met their end. Few people are well aware of and take into account the role they played in the past, since they left few records behind before their last breaths.
However, the road they took still leaves us a long way to go and we all must bear their cross and take up the challenge to the bitter end since a better future still remains on the horizon.
-By Hsetayluu
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