Word: burma
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Thien Pe is a young Burmese author who had no love for the British when they controlled his country, less for the Japs after they took Burma from the British. He remained in Burma for two months after its conquest by Japan, then escaped via India to Chungking. There he wrote a book, What Happened in Burma, and it was published last week in India...
...essence of his conclusions: Burma cannot be rewon by arms alone; the Burmese people must first be won, and they can only be won if British political strategy in the Far East is improved. Author Thien Pe addressed himself to the British and to Burma, but his premise applied as well to the U.S. and to all of Asia...
Japan Did It. After the bloody suppression by the British of Burmese nationalist demonstrations in 1938 and 1939, Japanese agents found little difficulty in organizing their own Burmese Nationalist Revolutionary Party. They also fostered an underground Burma Independence Army and acquired the support of Dr. Ba Maw, a former Premier whom the British once imprisoned. Thirty-two nationalists were smuggled to Japan, there trained as pro-Japanese agitators. Inept British administrators did nothing effective to offset these preparations. "Meanwhile," wrote Thien Pe, "British imperialism was fighting on three fronts in Burma. It justly hated the pro-Jap elements. It openly...
When Japan attacked Burma, the Independence Army fought with the Japs. The population at large was indifferent to both the Japs and the British. But the aid of the pro-Japanese minority was vital...
...Allies Can Do It. The Japs soon disillusioned the Burmese. Jap soldiers looted and raped. The Japanese made Puppet Ba Maw the nominal dictator of a nominally independent Burma, but they broke many of their promises. Many Burmese, says Author Thien Pe, would now turn against the Japanese and fight with the British if London would give the Burmese people any real encouragement...