HILL WARRIORS IN BURMA GO' TO WAR AGAINST COMMUNISTS

Grey River Argus, 6 September 1948, Page 5

HILL WARRIORS IN BURMA GO' TO WAR AGAINST COMMUNISTS

. (Received September 5, 9.40 p.m.) RANGOON, September 5. Karen warriors are lending Burmese Hill Tribes in full open revolt against Communism. The Karens’ national symbol the “drum flag” already flies over Moulmein, which is Burma’s second port. There the Karens have established a military Government, and have proclaimed themselves independent. The Karens already are masters of a thousand-mile-long area of southeasten Burma, stretching from Taunggyi to Mergui, where a narrow tongue of Siamese territory separates Burma from Malaya. A Karen military spokesman sadi: “Our first task is to rid the whole of Burma of Communists, and that includes the present Government, which, we know, receives directives from the Communist headquarters in Calcutta.” The Karens have prepared for two years for their uprising, during which time they have allied themselves with Chins, Kachinese, Arakanese and Shans. They raised funds to purchase arms abroad. The Karen National Union declared that a Karen uprising in the Tenasserim district took place without the knowledge of the K.N.U. The -K.N.U. spokesman said that the situation in Tenasserim, where the insurgents held two districts, was serious. The spokesman added that an attempt to disarm the Karens had been made by a police superintendent, who was sent to Moulmein to preserve order. This was considered unjustified, and it prompted the Karen decision to occupy key areas. A Burmese Government communique reports heavy fighting to Tantabin, between Government forces and five hundred insurgents, thirtythree of whom were killed.

THE LADY OF THE WHITE HORSE

(From Graham Barrow, Reuter's Correspondent). RANGOON (By Airmail). “A beautiful young maiden, flying through the night on a pure white stallion at the head of a cloumn of Burmese bandits”—this is the description given in the Burmese Press to the activities of Ma Khin Nyunt. leader of 300 Rebels who are attacking police outposts and convoys in Central Burma. Ma Khin Nyunt, oi’ the Lady of the White Horse, as she is called, made headlines in the Rangoon papers following two successful attacks on Government 'outposts in the troubled Yamethin district, between Rangoon and Mandalay. She was first heard of, however in the early months of last year—long before the outbreak of the present Communist insurrection. Early in 1947, when the late U Aung San’s Interim Government was faced with a serious breakdown of law and order, the authorities launched “Operation Flush” only to discover that some of the fiercest opposition came from a woman rebel. Every effort was made to capture the Lady of the White Horse, but she was always one jump ahead of the Government forces. _ A military spokesman, who described her as a “Virago,” said her success in evading the law was due to the assistance' she received from other gangs. Whatever difficulty she was in, she could always muster a sufficiently strong force of hex’ own oi’ other gangs to fight her way to safety. To-day, after 18 months of campaigning against the forces of law and order, Ma Khin Nyunt is more active than ever. She leads a band of adventurers and malcontents, armed with boty left by the Japanese. She operates in thickly forested areas, where some of the Government’s richest teak reserves afford ample cover against attack. The Lady of the White Horse, still in her early twenties, is undoubted 1 ;/ helping the Burmese Communists in their battle against the Government, lout there is nothing to prove that she is over-interested in the political issues that are being thrashed out in the Burmese capital. Records show that she is pure and simply a lady of the highways. Government convoys, merchants and ordinary travellers are her meat. She is by no means, a female Robin Blood, but the newspapers find her romantic story good “copy” for their readers. An enterprising film company has seized uoon the chance to portray the story of Ma on the screen, but they have run up against censorship difficulties, as the authorities frown on any undue emphasis on crime. Although Ma is regarded as Burma’s number one woman Dacoit, she is not alone in the field. In Myingyan, another district of central Burma, two women insurgents both former Government school teachers, decided that the sword was more remunerative than the pen, and now 1 head sizeable gangs of bandits. Many of their following are women. There have frequently been reports in the Press of “roving bands of women’ swooping down on convoys just beyond the outskirts of Rangoon. In an attack by insurgents on a police station at Fegu, 40 miles north of Rangoon, women passed ammunition to the men.