Thakin Tin Mya - Communist Party of Burma

From Yangon - to India

The late Red Flag communist leader Thakin Soe (1910-May 1989) wrote his autobiography. In this writing, he did not systematically write about the nationalist and communist movements he participated in and led, but rather, he carefully documented his strong political ideology and personal involvement.

Thakin Soe left for Rangoon on September 17, 1945, after the Second World War (U Thein Pe Myint wrote in his Wartime Traveler 2 that Thakin Soe arrived at the Katta on September 16, 1945. U Thein Pe Myint was a daily diary writer, so he may be right). Thakin Soe wrote in his autobiography about his visit to India and his return to Rangoon from India at the end of December 1945 as follows:

“Thak Soe, the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of Burma, who knew the affairs of Burma during the Japanese occupation and after the Japanese withdrawal, was very knowledgeable and

The author was invited to India by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, PC Joshi. At that time, there were three members of the Politburo in the Communist Party of India. The General Secretary was PC Joshi, Rana Devi and the other was A.D. Curry. On the one hand, there was a problem with going to India. The reason was that the British did not trust the authors because they were both members of the Japanese revolution and the communist party. They were partly involved in the revolution against Japan and partly in helping Ko Thein Pe, and they did not want to give them much opportunity to fight against Japan. They found a good opportunity to solve the problem of going to India. What is this? There were members of the British Communist Party among the British troops. Who is this party member? (Lieutenant. Not Captain. Captain Anggar is also a Major. Thakin Tin Mya.) A military officer named McKenzie. The commander of his army is a captain. That captain is a military officer named Captain Anggar. Although he is more senior than McKenzie, he is not as high as McKenzie in terms of party membership in the Communist Party of Burma, so when Lieutenant McKenzie asks him to send the author to Kolkata, India, where Ko Thein Pe and others are, he is a low-ranking party member, so he must send him. In addition, Captain Anggar is also a man of many tricks, and he has many keys that can steal all kinds of cars. So McKenzie secretly sends the author to Kolkata, so Captain Anggar has to come up with a plan. How did you get the idea here? Because Indonesia, which is owned by the Dutch, is Dutch.

There were flowers in Indonesia, and Captain Anger was responsible for transporting these prisoners, so the author was named as a prisoner of war in Indonesia. When asked about the author at that time, he was given the name John Michael Lorraine. He also warned me that if someone recognizes you on the plane, we are gone for. So I was taken on the plane. When I got on the plane, the passenger list was written. The author’s name was called, but I didn’t remember my own name very well. When I got on the plane, I didn’t recognize the author’s name, “John Michael Lorraine.” The person who called me was so fast and confused that I didn’t recognize him. Captain Anger hit the author with his knee and called him “Rass” and left. This was not a matter of the march. The author took the plane and arrived in Kolkata where Ko Thein Pe and his family were. It was 1945. On September 17, I returned, in late December and early January 1945. First I was in Calcutta. I took the train from Calcutta. The train from Calcutta to Bombay is about 1,800 miles. About 300 miles before reaching Bombay, I took the electric train. The electric train was like a breeze. It didn’t make the noise of a train running on coal and steam. Riding the train in India is worse than in Burma. All the people on the train were black. I didn’t see any of that on this electric train. There was also a circular train there. It was electric. It was very smooth. When the train entered the station, it didn’t make a loud noise, it just made a hissing sound like the wind. The railway tracks were wide and the trains were big. In Bombay, the writers discussed political issues. The liberation of Burma, the liberation of its slavery. So, the writers will return at the end of December. On the way back, we took a train from Bombay. We took a short boat ride from Calcutta and then went to Dhaka (now the capital of Bangladesh) and then to Burma by land. The party (the Indian party) could not afford this. What help did we provide? We sent an Indian Bengali Korean (a messenger) who knew the way. Once we crossed these areas, we reached Tekkanet (Nat River), from Nat River we went to Maung Taw, Buthidaung (when we got a car), from Buthidaung we went to the old city (now called Mrauk U) and back to Sittwe. In Sittwe, we met with Rakhine Tun Kyaw (Major San Tha Kyaw) from the party. They were merchants, so they knew the prices. There, a longyi called Bengal Plakap cost 3 kyats, 50 paise. When it reached the market in Yangon, it was 35 kyats. We came with these merchants and military vehicles.

We arrived in Taunggyi. From Taunggyi, we traveled one ton by road and one ton by car to reach (Yangon).*

At that time, Thakin Soe's trip to India was organized by the leaders of the Communist Party headquarters, Thakin Than Tun, Ko Ba Hein, Thakin Ba Thein Tin, and Thakin Mya Thwin. Thakin Soe was invited to visit India by the Communist Party of India. The Communist Party of Burma contacted the Communist Party of India to suggest this invitation, and the Communist Party of India invited Thakin Soe.

In July 1945, the Second Congress of the Communist Party of Burma was held. The Congress punished the General Secretary of the Party, Thakin Soe, by a majority vote, for secretly marrying a party cadre, Ma Hnin May, without having legally separated from his current wife. As a result of this punishment, Thakin Soe was depressed. The Party Politburo assigned me, who was very close to Thakin Soe, to help monitor and assist the depressed Thakin Soe. I was also in charge of the Party Headquarters’ Organization Bureau, so I was directly responsible for controlling the party cadres.

Around mid-August, I went to Thakin Soe's house. In the basement of the house where he was temporarily staying (the Natural Dharma Association building in the Baraka-Zaykalay neighborhood), I found two large rolls of newspaper.

“What are these scrolls for, Thakin Soe?” I asked.

Thakin Soe said, “Here, Thakin Tin Mya, if you leave the party, we will publish a newspaper. We can spread socialism with newspapers. That’s why I bought these rolls of paper.”

I was shocked. It seemed that Thakin Soe had decided to do whatever he wanted from his depression. I could not accept Thakin Soe’s plan. “I cannot leave the party, Thakin Soe. Thakin Soe, the party has been suspended for two years now. If you appeal to the party central committee soon, you will be able to return to the party. Most of the party members have punished Thakin Soe too much. It should have been only six months. They have given me the opinion that Thakin Soe should lead the party again. Regardless of this situation, Thakin Soe will publish a newspaper. I will also follow Thakin Soe.