1940: Burma

The Burmese Cabinet (or Council) resigned en masse on Jan. 21, when the Home Minister, Mr. U Ba Pe, who had been accused of disloyalty by the Prime Minister, refused, after repeated requests, to give up his post. Another Cabinet was immediately formed without the Home Minister, and a Ministry of Judicial Affairs was created which will carry on the functions and exercise the authority formerly assigned to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Meanwhile, work was proceeding on a railway which will eventually link Rangoon, Burma's highly important port city, with the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in the Province of Szechuan in China. In the early months of the year it was estimated that there were 75,000 Chinese laborers at work on this project, which is being financed by British capital. The building of this line is one of the most important developments that has come in the relations between Britain and China as a result of the enormous losses to British trade due to the blockading of the China coast and the seizure of all China's important harbors by the Japanese in the course of the Sino-Japanese war. Burma has now become extremely important, not only as the 'back door' for China's import and export trade, but also as the eastern frontier of the British Empire on the Asiatic mainland. Strategically it is, after Singapore, considered India's next important outpost of defense.

Despite the burdens of the European war, much attention is being paid to Burma's defenses, and in 1940 more than fourteen per cent of Burma's revenue was allocated to defense purposes. Especial attention is being given to defending Burma from air attacks.

In view of the tenseness of the entire Far Eastern situation, the British Government, on June 21, gave to Sir Archibald Cochrane, Governor of the Crown Colony, the same plenipotentiary powers given the Viceroy of India, to govern the country without reference to the central authority in England. On July 4, official appreciation of Burma's unconditional offer of help during the European war was expressed by the Government, and a pledge was given of consideration of dominion status for Burma after the war had been won. This pledge was in reply to a message from the Prime Minister, Mr. Maung Pu, in which it was stated that while it was his government's policy to give the utmost help to Britain in 'the common task of making democracy triumphant,' Burma's help could not be fully effective unless the Burmese were given the same rights in respect to defense and external affairs as the other self-governing members of the Empire.

During the year, there were demonstrations throughout Burma demanding immediate and complete independence for the country from British rule. There has been much anti-British propaganda carried on in Burma, and it is generally believed that much of the agitation for immediate independence is sponsored and underwritten by a foreign power. Late in August, Dr. B. A. Maw, the former Premier, who was known as the dictator of a 'freedom bloc,' was arrested by the British authorities, on an undisclosed charge, and sentenced to a year's imprisonment. Dr. Maw had long been active in the independence movement.

Several times in the course of the year there have been serious disturbances resulting from clashes between Hindus and Moslems. The most serious began on Jan. 28 at Rangoon, during the course of a Hindu religious procession, and lasted four days. During the course of the rioting fifteen people were killed, several hundred wounded, and over six hundred persons were arrested. Another, almost equally serious disturbance occurred on April 21, as Moslems in Rangoon were preparing to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed. In this case the rioting continued three days, and was finally put down with great severity by the police who fired into the crowds and dispersed them.

During the course of the celebrations in honor of the Prophet in April the Burmese Moslems, at the request of Mr. Ali Jinnah, head of the Moslem League of India, passed resolutions approving the stand taken by the League at its convention at Lahore, India, earlier in the month, proposing that all Provinces in India and Burma having a predominantly Moslem population should be autonomous. The Burmese Moslems also backed the League's demand for self-determination and future independence.