Do you realize, my dear, how complicated identity and belonging can become in this world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many famous people themselves were born far away from the lands they later came to represent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former President of Singapore was born in what is now Malaysia. Leaders and statesmen across the world have often carried roots from more than one land. Even the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was denied burial in Jerusalem \u2014 the place where he had long wished to rest forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you remember the former Malaysian Agriculture Minister whose wife was of Burmese descent? At one time she was blacklisted from entering Myanmar after acting in the Hollywood film Beyond Rangoon about the 1988 uprising. Yet later, after marrying into political influence, the same military authorities welcomed her with a red carpet reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Politics changes quickly, but human connections remain complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And history repeatedly teaches us that division brings consequences lasting for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the countries that were partitioned:
Korea, Germany, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Taiwan \u2014 and many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Families were separated for decades. Relatives became foreigners overnight. Borders rose between people who once shared the same streets, languages, and memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union into many independent states, most of them still remained economically and strategically tied to Russia. Geography and history cannot simply be erased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And please do not misunderstand me, dear Nan Sai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am not defending those Bamar leaders who behaved arrogantly toward ethnic minorities, acting like overbearing elder brothers. That behaviour created deep wounds and mistrust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I also observe that whenever smaller states attempt to move too far away from their former unions and seek protection from rival blocs, new tensions often emerge. Even Europe and Russia have repeatedly faced disputes despite their long economic ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look also at the Indian subcontinent after partition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India and Pakistan fought multiple wars. When East Pakistan sought independence, a bloody conflict followed, eventually giving birth to Bangladesh with India\u2019s assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet even after independence, tensions and disputes continued among neighbours over trade routes, borders, rivers, roads, and pipelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kashmir remains divided and trapped between competing powers, with ordinary people continuing to suffer while larger states pursue their own strategic interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why I fear division without genuine reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there is another reality we must face honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
General Than Shwe is not Mikhail Gorbachev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Myanmar military will not peacefully allow the country to break apart easily. They will use force to prevent disintegration. Many ordinary citizens \u2014 including even some opposition groups and ethnic leaders \u2014 also fear complete fragmentation of the Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I remember correctly, even one prominent Shan resistance leader openly expressed concern about total separation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why I still believe dialogue, coexistence, and negotiated partnership remain wiser than irreversible divorce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Part VII \u2014 Borders Cannot Cut Human Hearts Do you realize, my dear, how complicated identity and belonging can become in this world? Many famous people themselves were born far away from the lands they later came to represent. The former President of Singapore was born in what is now Malaysia. Leaders and statesmen across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,16,132,21,123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-history","category-opinion","category-satire","category-song","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5692"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5693,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5692\/revisions\/5693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}