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Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In thisBurmese name,Padoh Mahnis anhonorific,not agiven name.
Padoh Mahn
Sha Lah Phan
ဖဒိုမန်းရှာလာဖန်း
Secretary General of theKaren National Union
Succeeded byNaw Zipporah Sein
Personal details
Born(1943-07-05)5 July 1943
Tawgyaung,Maubin District,Karen State,British Burma
Died14 February 2008(2008-02-14)(aged 64)
Mae Sot,Thailand
Manner of deathAssassination(gunshot wounds)
NationalityKawthoolese
Political partyKaren National Union
SpouseNang Kyin Shwe
ChildrenSay Say Phan
Nant Bwa Bwa Phan
Zoya Phan
Slone Phan
Alma materRangoon University

Padoh MahnSha Lah Phan(Burmese:ဖဒိုမန်းရှာလာဖန်း,Pwo Western Karen:ၦဒိၪမၩ့ၡၪလၩဖၩ့;July 5, 1943 – February 14, 2008) was the secretary general of theKaren National Union(KNU), aninsurgentgroup inMyanmar.[1]

Early life

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Mahn Sha Lah Phan was born and raised in Tawgyaung,Maubin District.He studied at theUniversity of Yangon,receiving a degree in history. After graduating, he joined the Karen resistance in Burma, and it was then that, like many other members of the Karen resistance movement, he changed his name to Mahn Sha Lah Phan, which inKarenmeans "Mr. Star Moon Bright". He chose star and moon (Sha Lah) to represent the light of the future, and bright (Phan) in the belief that the future would be bright.[2]

Activism

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The KNU, through its armed wing, theKaren National Liberation Army,has been fighting against the Burmese government for autonomy for theKaren peoplesince 1949. It operates in both Burma andThailand.He served as the Secretary-General of the KNU.[1][3]Sha Lah Phan was against any form of surrender to theBurmese government.[1]

Personal life

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Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan married a former KNU soldier, Nang Kyin Shwe, and had three children in addition to adopting a boy named Say Say. Despite frequently moving back and forth across the Burma-Thailand border, he insisted that his children receive the same education he did, and had adopted Say Say to give him a better education than what would have been available to him in his home village. His two daughters,Zoya PhanandNant Bwa Bwa Phan,are both political activists in theUnited Kingdom,and Bwa Bwa is currently the United Kingdom representative of theKaren National Union.[2]

In 2005, Phan allowed two Burmese children posing as refugees to stay in his house atNoh Poe.The children were reallychild soldierswho were sent to assassinate both him and Zoya; however, before they could carry out their plan, they admitted their real reason for coming to him. In return, he permitted them to stay at Noh Poe to prevent them from being forced back into theBurmese army.[2]

Death

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On February 14, 2008 at about 4:30pm in theborder townofMae Sot,Thailand, Sha Lah Phan was sitting in theverandaof his home when two gunmen approached him bearing gifts, which were reportedlyfruit baskets.[1][3]One attacker shot Phan twice in thechestwhile the second gunman shot him as he lay on the ground.[3]The attackers escaped in apick-up truck.[1]His house was approximately five kilometres from the Thai-Burmeseborder.[3]He died instantly and was reportedly 64 years old at the time of his death.[3]

Phan had predicted an increase in violence ahead of a Burmese constitutionalreferendumin May 2008, in aninterviewwithReutersthe week of his death.[1]His adopted son, Say Say Phan, blamed a Karen splinter group, theDemocratic Karen Buddhist Army(DKBA), for carrying out the attack on behalf of the Burmese military rulers.[3]


References

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  1. ^abcdef"Burmese rebel leader is shot dead".BBC News.2008-02-14.Retrieved2008-03-08.
  2. ^abcPhan, Zoya (2009). Little Daughter: a Memoir of Survival in Burma and the West.Simon & Schuster.
  3. ^abcdefRadnofsky, Louise (2008-02-14)."Burmese rebel leader shot dead".The Guardian.Retrieved2008-03-08.
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