U Nu
Nu, commonly known as U Nu and also by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a prominent Burmese statesman and the first Prime Minister of Union of Burma. He was educated at Rangoon University, where he developed his political ideas and became actively involved in the student movement. Nu's involvement in the nationalist movement deepened during his university years, and he quickly emerged as a leading figure advocating for Burma's independence from British colonial rule.
He played a crucial role in the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, the primary political organization leading the fight for independence. Following Burma's independence in 1948, Nu became the country's first Prime Minister under the provisions of the 1947 Constitution of the Union of Burma. His tenure was marked by efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation, establish democratic governance, and navigate the complexities of ethnic and political divisions within Burma. Nu's administration faced numerous challenges, including economic difficulties, internal insurgencies, and the task of unifying a diverse population.
During his time in office, Nu implemented several significant reforms, including land redistribution policies and initiatives to promote education and healthcare. He also pursued a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs, aligning Burma with neither the Western bloc nor the Soviet Union during the Cold War. However, his government struggled with internal dissent and regional insurgencies, leading to political instability.
Nu's first term as Prime Minister ended in 1958, but he briefly returned to power in 1960. However, his second tenure was cut short by a military coup in 1962, led by General Ne Win. Following the coup, Nu was placed under house arrest and later allowed to go into exile. He continued to be an influential political figure and an advocate for democracy until his death on 14 February 1995. Nu's legacy is remembered for his dedication to Burma's independence, his efforts to establish democratic governance, and his complex role in the nation's turbulent political history.
Biography
Nu was born to U San Tun and Daw Saw Khin of Wakema, Myaungmya District, British Burma. He attended Myoma High School in Yangon, and received a B.A. from Rangoon University in 1929. In 1935 he married Mya Yi while studying for a Bachelor of Laws.Political career
Struggle for independence
Nu's political life started as president of the Rangoon University Students Union with M. A. Rashid as vice-president and U Thi Han as the general secretary. Aung San was editor and publicity officer. Nu and Aung San were both expelled from the university after an article, Hell Hound at Large, appeared in the union magazine, which was obviously about the rector. Their expulsion sparked off the second university students' strike in February 1936. Aung San and Nu became members of the nationalist Dobama Asiayone which had been formed in 1930 and henceforth gained the prefix Thakin, proclaiming they were the true masters of their own land. For a few years after independence in 1948 Nu retained the prefix 'Thakin', but around 1952 he announced that since Burma was already independent the prefix of 'Thakin' was no longer needed and henceforth he would be known as U Nu. In 1937 he co-founded with Thakin Than Tun the Nagani Book Club which for the first time widely circulated Burmese-language translations of the Marxist classics. He also became a leader and co-founder of the People's Revolutionary Party, which later became the Socialist Party, and the umbrella organisation the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, which advocated Burmese independence from both Japanese and British control during the 1940s. He was detained by the colonial government in 1940 along with Thakin Soe, Thakin Than Tun, Kyaw Nyein, U Măd, and Ba Maw. The prison holding Nu was largely abandoned by the British in the course of the rapid Japanese advance.From August 1943, when the Japanese declared nominal independence for Burma under a regime led by Ba Maw, Nu was appointed foreign minister. In 1944 he was appointed minister of information until the open rebellion by the AFPFL against the Japanese military in March 1945. Though aware of the resistance and in contact with its leaders, Nu did not actively participate in the underground activities of the AFPFL up to the rebellion, and unlike its leading figure Aung San, did not join the rebellion and move to areas under Allied control. Instead, Nu retreated with the Japanese and Ba Maw in late April, 1945. Nu was nearly killed on August 12, 1945, when Allied pilots strafed and destroyed the house Ba Maw had been given by the retreating Japanese, but both escaped the residence during the attack. Following Japanese surrender, Nu retired from politics for a time, writing his memoirs of the war years, Burma Under the Japanese and tracts on Marxism. As a popular figure with early connections to Aung San and other nationalists from their student days, however, Nu was drawn back into the politics of the AFPFL where he initially struggled to keep its Communist contingent within the party.
After the assassination of its political and military leader Aung San along with his cabinet ministers on 19 July 1947, U Nu led the AFPFL and signed an independence agreement with the British Premier Clement Attlee in October 1947.
Parliamentary era
Burma gained independence from Britain on 4 January 1948. U Nu became the chairman of the Old Myoma Students Association in Yangon. He became the first Prime Minister of independent Burma, and he had to deal with armed rebellion. The rebels included various ethnic groups, White Flag and Red Flag communist factions, and some regiments in the Army. Yet another challenge was the exiled Kuomintang. After being chased out of China by the victorious Communists, they had established bases in eastern Burma, and it took several years in the early 1950s to drive them out. A democratic system was instituted and parliamentary elections were held several times. Throughout the 1950s, U Nu oversaw the implementation of the Pyidawtha Plan, a national economic development plan to establish an industrial welfare state in Burma.He voluntarily relinquished the Prime Ministerial position in 1956. He was one of the leaders of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League from 1942 to 1963. AFPFL member Ba Swe served as prime minister from June 1956 to June 1957. In 1955, the University of Belgrade awarded him an honorary doctorate.
On 26 September 1958, he asked the Army Chief of Staff General Ne Win to take over as a "caretaker government", and Ne Win was sworn in as prime minister on 27 October 1958. In the February 1960 general election, U Nu's Clean faction of the AFPFL won in a landslide victory over the Stable faction led by U Ba Swe and Kyaw Nyein. U Nu returned to power forming the Pyidaungzu government on 4 April 1960. The Clean AFPFL was subsequently renamed the Union Party.
U Thant had been Secretary to the Prime Minister U Nu before he was appointed Burmese Ambassador to the United Nations in 1957. U Thant became the third UN Secretary-General in 1961. U Nu participated in the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961 in Belgrade making Burma one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement.
In 1961, U Nu briefly made Buddhism the state religion and caused dissent amongst Christian Kachin nationalists and was one of the main factors for the Kachin conflict.
Military era
Less than two years after his election victory, U Nu was overthrown by a coup d'état led by General Ne Win on 2 March 1962. After the 1962 coup, U Nu was put in what was euphemistically called 'protective custody' in an army camp outside Rangoon. He was released more than four years later on 27 October 1966. Among others, on the day of the military coup on 2 March 1962 President Mahn Win Maung as well as Chief Justice U Myint Thein was also put in 'protective custody'. Win Maung was released from detention in October 1967 and Myint Thein not until 28 February 1968.On 2 December 1968, Ne Win appointed U Nu to the 33-man Internal Unity Advisory Board to advise on suggestions for internal unity and political change. In February 1969, U Nu submitted a report recommending that power be handed back to him and that the Parliament abolished by Ne Win in March 1962 be reconvened to appoint Ne Win as president to remove the 'taint' of Ne Win's government being 'usurpers'. Soon after submitting his report, U Nu, feigning illness, and under the pretext of a pilgrimage to India left Burma for India. When Ne Win made no response to his report, U Nu left India for London.
In a London press conference on 27 August 1969, U Nu announced that he was the 'legal Prime Minister' and pledged that he would not give up his struggle for democracy in Burma and that Burma was under the 'same kind of fascism' that General Aung San had fought. In November 1969, Ne Win formally rejected U Nu's proposal, saying that he took over power – and held on to it – not because he craved power but to uplift the welfare of the 'workers and peasants' and that U Nu's proposals amounted to 'turning back the wheel'.
U Nu then used former Central Intelligence Agency official Bill Young to help him raise international funding for founding the United National Liberation Front. By the end of 1970, they had garnered more than $2 million.
U Nu later formed the Parliamentary Democracy Party and led an armed resistance group. U Nu's 'resistance group' consisted of no more than several hundred or at most a few thousand at its peak and his avowal to fight and overthrow Ne Win from the Thai border met with abject failure. He subsequently accepted an offer of amnesty granted by Ne Win and returned to Burma on 29 July 1980.
8888 Uprising
After keeping a low profile, teaching Buddhism in Burma and the United States – U Nu visited Northern Illinois University in the US to lecture on Buddhism in 1987 – U Nu became once again politically active during the 8888 Uprising forming the first new political party, the League for Democracy and Peace. Echoing his assertion that he was the 'legal Prime Minister' of August 1969 in London, U Nu reiterated on 9 September 1988 in Rangoon that he was still the 'legal Prime Minister'.U Nu initiated to form an interim government and invited opposition leaders to join him. Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had already signaled his readiness to recognize the interim government and Burmese troops started to change sides with Burmese Navy almost totally siding with the opposition. However, Aung San Suu Kyi categorically rejected U Nu's plan by saying "the future of the opposition would be decided by masses of the people". Ex-Brigadier Aung Gyi, another opposition politician at the time of the 8888 crisis, followed and rejected the plan after Suu Kyi's refusal. Crucial months were passed on the street and the interim government was not internationally recognized due to lack of support from opposition. Political analyst Susanne Prager-Nyein described Aung San Suu Kyi's refusal as "a major strategic mistake".
Nonetheless U Nu formed his own 'government' reappointing Mahn Win Maung who was overthrown in the 1962 coup as 'President'. After the State Law and Order Restoration Council took over power on 18 September 1988, the SLORC repeatedly asked U Nu to formally 'abolish' his 'interim government', but U Nu refused to do so. As a result, Nu was put under house arrest on 29 December 1989. SLORC spokesmen at that time stated that although U Nu could have been tried for 'treason', due to his advanced age and his contribution to the freedom struggle, he was not charged with that offence. He was released on 23 April 1992 the same day the SLORC Chairman Senior General Saw Maung was forced to relinquish power and replaced by military junta chief Senior General Than Shwe.