Dagon Tara - War and Peace Fronts

After I arrived in Yangon, I went to stay at the Christian Tricity Women’s Hall on Lancaster Street (now Nawaday Street). My schoolmate, Ko Htun Hla, had invited me. He had put a piano in my place. Where could I get a piano? It was brought from nearby houses, and the bed I slept on was the same. I went to look at the nearby houses. I went to look for mosquito nets.

People were standing on the houses, strewn with things. That street was a wealthy, English-speaking street, so there were good things. They couldn't carry the piano.

At that time I was 22 years old. I was already involved in the war. Japan could not take over all of Burma. The Burma Independence Army was advancing upwards and was working to take over all of Upper Burma. The leaders of the Burma Independence Army were close friends and colleagues of mine in the Student Union. They asked me to write a leaflet to be dropped from an airplane entitled “All Burmese.” It was a leaflet asking the people to help when the Burma Independence Army was advancing. Not only that, at the Rangoon City Hall, at the reception for General Ida, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Army, I composed a song and played it on the piano. Ko Htun Hla would bring it to me. I don’t remember the exact date. I would go and add the existing date. Look, I’m already involved in the war.

But I was starting to feel disappointed with the war. That's why I lived with them all my life in Japan, but I didn't take any jobs. Even if they offered me a job, I wouldn't accept it. The economy was in ruins. There were a lot of thieves. There were a lot of drunkards. I felt with my own eyes that morality was deteriorating.

During the Japanese era, I read a lot of books. I knew that there was an underground anti-fascist movement. A revolutionary leader was hiding somewhere in Yangon. I was given ice cream. He wanted ice cream, so a friend of mine told me to take him there. I was a little disappointed.

I had to read the order issued by the Burmese Army to the military districts that were about to fight against fascism by kerosene lamp because the lights went out that night. At that time, the leaders of the organization that was fighting against fascism were my great friends. The commander-in-chief, the deputy commander-in-chief, the commander-in-chief of the military department, and the commander-in-chief of the defense department were my schoolmates. The political leaders were also my good friends. Even during the war, I felt that they were fighting for independence (which the West calls resistance). At that time, the anti-fascist revolution was carried out by a multi-party and multi-organizational anti-fascist organization. I walked from my house in Shwe Taunggyi to watch the ceremony where the war speech was delivered on the vacant land west of Shwedagon Pagoda (now called the Revolution Park). The public welcomed the soldiers with flowers. They felt that they were fighting for independence and came to support them with their hearts. Airplanes circled the sky, celebrating the military parade.

That same evening, I returned to my hometown, Kyaw Lat, by night boat. The Japanese were about to leave. Before they left, the Japanese were holding a labor camp, so we had to hide in a pagoda. Meanwhile, our friends’ revolutionary camp on the delta sent a messenger to call me. I did not go with them. Later, they said, “I know you are not armed. I did not call you to fight, but I was sent because Thakin Soe asked me to publish a Karen-Burma friendship pamphlet.” I smiled too. I couldn’t.

After the war, my life became clearer. I was no longer on the border between politics and literature as before. I had entered the literary realm. When I published “Tara Magazine,” I became completely involved in literature. My friends on the other side were still calling me. They invited me to be the vice president of the trade union, to be the editor of a magazine published by the Women’s Congress, and to work in the information department of the Federation of Myanmar Students’ Union. Both sides were my colleagues in the student union. I did not join either side. I was also struggling to get the magazine out on time month after month. I was not very busy. I did not see these friends much. It was sparse.

I have already connected with the people who read, haven't I? I have the experience of reading, the experience of going through war and revolution. I can think clearly. Now, the thought of how to prevent war has already entered my mind.

As in the past, there was no longer any thought of doing things like dropping a manifesto from the Burma Independence Army by airplane, or playing the piano and composing music at a reception for the commander of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Although World War II is over, the possibility of another war still exists.

I felt a sense of awareness as I listened to the war news on the radio. How could we stop the war? Then the war prevention (or peace) movement began. I kept a close eye on the news about the peace movement. I included as much as I could in the magazine I published.

I read every single speech of the world’s scholars at the conference held in the old city of Wroclaw, Poland. I translated as much as I could and put it in the magazine. My mind began to realize that peace was a doable thing. I came to believe in the prohibition of nuclear weapons. In addition, my magazine participated in the campaign to collect signatures for the prohibition of nuclear weapons, known as the “Stockholm Declaration.” In fact, after the war, I felt that I would no longer be involved in organizations. I couldn’t. My mind could not help but participate in the peace movement because of the environmental impact.

(d)

At that time, I didn't feel like it was a "cold war." I felt like there were peace forces on one side and war forces on the other. I was thinking and believing this way based on everything I had read. At that time, the term "cold war" hadn't even been coined.

The problem is that I am not a political insider. Although I have close friends in politics, I cannot say that I completely agree with them. I have not worked with them much. Therefore, I do not understand the political intrigue.

I believe the words written on the paper. I understand the meaning of the words. As far as I can understand, of the two major groups that emerged after World War II, the socialist group wants peace. I understand that the capitalist group wants war. I also understand that these two groups are competing. Then in 1950, North and South Korea were at war on the Korean Peninsula. It was a war known as the Korean War. It was a threat to world peace. The UN Security Council declared North Korea an aggressor and asked the UN member states to participate. Some countries sent troops to Korea. Then the FSLA government agreed to the UN decision. It did not send the army. In that case, I felt that North Korea was not an aggressor. I wrote an article in the Eagle Journal under the title The People’s Revolution in Korea.

I wrote that there was a civil war on the Korean Peninsula between the socialist group and the capitalist group. I wrote that the United Nations was interfering in this internal affairs and invading it. What is happening on the Korean Peninsula is an internal affair, a people’s revolution. I sent this article to the First Myanmar Light newspaper. My friend Shwe Pein Thaung was the editor-in-chief. He did not include it. Therefore, I only reported it in the Eagle Journal. My pen name is Maung Thit. At that Security Council meeting, the Soviet Union, among the five permanent members with veto power, boycotted the Security Council, so I understood that the resolution on Korea could be approved. I was interested. However, I did not have the intention to participate in peace organizations. When I went to China in 1951, I changed my mind.

Royal Journal, July, 1994.