{"id":113236,"date":"2021-04-04T16:11:50","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T23:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=113236"},"modified":"2021-04-04T16:11:50","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T23:11:50","slug":"burma-how-a-nation-is-exploited-the-british-empire-in-burma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/04\/04\/burma-how-a-nation-is-exploited-the-british-empire-in-burma\/","title":{"rendered":"BURMA: HOW A NATION IS EXPLOITED \u2013 THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN BURMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senaka Weeraratna<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

There is so much publicity\ntoday in the Western Media of the vile nature of the Burmese (Myanmar) Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the Army took power\noverthrowing the Govt. of Aung San<\/strong> Suu\nKyi recently, the entire Western media was gunning for Aung San<\/strong> Suu\nKyi branding her as a tyrant engaged in the persecution of\nBengali Muslims who had infiltrated Myanmar illegally and calling themselves as\n‘ Rohingyas ‘.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the accolades she had won previously were withdrawn one by\none by western institutions and Universities for the ‘crime’ of not allowing\nillegal immigrants to settle down in Myanmar permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now again she is projected in better light by the media in order\nto demonise the Myanmar Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the vast majority of readers all over the world do not know\n(and which is kept hidden from them) are the factors that have contributed\nsubstantially to the political and economic crisis of Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exploitation of Burma by the British Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was written by an Englishman E.A. Blair in 1929 and\narchived by the Orwell Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.orwellfoundation.com\/the-orwell-foundation\/orwell\/essays-and-other-works\/how-a-nation-is-exploited-the-british-empire-in-burma\/\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SW<\/p>\n\n\n\n

……………………………….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burma : HOW A NATION IS EXPLOITED \u2013 THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN BURMA<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Following the recent troubles in India, we have asked our\ncontributor, Mr E. A. Blair, whose investigations on \u2018The Plight of the British\nWorker\u2019 have already appeared in these pages, to tell us something of the\nunrest which has been fermenting in the sub-continent for some years, and which\nis threatening to spread to English Indo-China.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr E. A. Blair, who lived in Burma for some years,\nhas written the following interesting article for us[1], which shows the\nmethods the British Empire uses to milk dry her Asian colonies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burma\nlies between India and China. Ethnologically it belongs to Indo-China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis three times the size of England and Wales, with a population of about\nfourteen million, of whom roughly nine million are Burmese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nrest is made up of countless Mongol tribes who have emigrated at various\nperiods from the steppes of Central Asia, and Indians who have arrived since\nthe English occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nBurmese are Buddhists; the tribesmen worship various pagan gods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nbe able to talk in their own language to the people of such diverse origins\nliving in Burma, you would need to know a hundred and twenty different\nlanguages and dialects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ncountry, the population of which is one-tenth as dense as that of England, is\none of the richest in the world. It abounds in natural resources which are only\njust beginning to be exploited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare tin, tungsten, jade and rubies, and these are the least of its mineral\nmaterials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nthis moment it produces five per cent of the world\u2019s petroleum, and its\nreserves are far from exhausted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nthe greatest source of wealth-and that which feeds between eighty and ninety\nper cent of the population-is the paddy fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rice\nis grown everywhere in the basin of the Irrawaddy River, which flows through\nBurma from north to south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe south, in the huge delta where the Irrawaddy brings down tons of alluvial\nmud every year, the soil is immensely fertile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nharvests, which are remarkable in both quality and quantity, enable Burma to\nexport rice to India, Europe, even to America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover,\nvariations in temperature are less frequent and sharp than in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks\nto abundant rainfall, especially in the south, drought is unknown, and the heat\nis never excessive. The climate as a whole can thus be considered one of the\nhealthiest to be found in the tropics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nwe add that the Burmese countryside is exceptionally beautiful, with broad\nrivers, high mountains, eternally green forests, brightly coloured flowers,\nexotic fruits, the phrase \u2018earthly paradise\u2019 naturally springs to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nit is hardly surprising that the English tried for a long time to gain\npossession of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n1820 they seized a vast expanse of territory. This operation was repeated in\n1852, and finally in 1882 the Union Jack flew over almost all the country.
\nCertain mountainous districts in the north, inhabited by small savage tribes,\nhad until recently escaped the clutches of the British, but it is more and more\nlikely that they will meet the same fate as the rest of the country, thanks to\nthe process euphemistically known as \u2018peaceful penetration\u2019, which means, in\nplain English, \u2018peaceful annexation\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthis article I do not seek to praise or blame this manifestation of British\nimperialism; let us simply note it is a logical result of any imperialist\npolicy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nwill be much more profitable to examine the good and bad sides of British\nadministration in Burma from an economic and a political standpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\nus turn first to politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngovernment of all the Indian provinces under the control of the British Empire\nis of necessity despotic, because only the threat of force can subdue a\npopulation of several million subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nthis despotism is latent. It hides behind a mask of democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngreat maxim of the English in governing an oriental race is \u2018never get\nsomething done by a European when an Oriental can do it\u2019. In other words,\nsupreme power remains with the British authorities, but the minor civil\nservants who have to carry out day-to-day administration and who must come into\ncontact with the people in the course of their duties are recruited locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nBurma, for example, the lower grade magistrates, all policemen up to the rank\nof inspector, members of the postal service, government employees, village\nelders etc. are Burmese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently,\nto appease public opinion and put a stop to nationalist agitation which was\nbeginning to cause concern, it was even decided to accept the candidature of\neducated natives for several important posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsystem of employing natives as civil servants has three advantages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First,\nnatives will accept lower salaries than Europeans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly,\nthey have a better idea of the workings of their fellow countrymen\u2019s minds, and\nthis helps them to settle legal disputes more easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirdly,\nit is to their own advantage to show their loyalty to a government which\nprovides their livelihood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nso peace is maintained by ensuring the close collaboration of the educated or\nsemi-educated classes, where discontent might otherwise produce rebel leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless\nthe British control the country. Of course, Burma, like each of the Indian\nprovinces, has a parliament-always the show of democracy-but in reality its\nparliament has very little power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing\nof any consequence lies within its jurisdiction. Most of the members are\npuppets of the government, which is not above using them to nip in the bud any\nBill which seems untimely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\naddition, each province has a Governor, appointed by the English, who has at\nhis disposal a veto just as absolute as that of the President of the United\nStates to oppose any proposal which displeases him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet\nalthough the British government is, as we have shown, essentially despotic, it\nis by no means unpopular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nEnglish are building roads and canals-in their own interest, of course, but the\nBurmese benefit from them-they set up hospitals, open schools, and see to the\nmaintenance of law and order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nafter all, the Burmese are mere peasants, occupied in cultivating the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nhave not yet reached that stage of intellectual development which makes for\nnationalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their\nvillage is their universe, and as long as they are left in peace to cultivate\ntheir fields, they do not care whether their masters are black or white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nproof of this political apathy on the part of the people of Burma is the fact\nthat the only British military forces in the country are two English infantry\nbattalions and around ten battalions of Indian infantry and mounted police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus\ntwelve thousand armed men, mostly Indians, are enough to subdue a population of\nfourteen million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmost dangerous enemies of the government are the young men of the educated\nclasses. If these classes were more numerous and were really educated, they\ncould perhaps raise the revolutionary banner. But they are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nreason is firstly that, as we have seen, the majority of the Burmese are\npeasants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly,\nthe British government is at pains to give the people only summary instruction,\nwhich is almost useless, merely sufficient to produce messengers, low-grade\ncivil servants, petty lawyers\u2019 clerks and other white-collar workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Care\nis taken to avoid technical and industrial training. This rule, observed\nthroughout India, aims to stop India from becoming an industrial country\ncapable of competing with England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis true to say that in general, any really educated Burmese was educated in\nEngland, and belongs as a result to the small class of the well-to-do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So,\nbecause there are no educated classes, public opinion, which could press for\nrebellion against England, is non-existent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\nus now consider the economic question. Here again we find the Burmese in\ngeneral too ignorant to have a clear understanding of the way in which they are\nbeing treated and, as a result, too ignorant to show the least resentment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides,\nfor the moment they have not suffered much economic damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis true that the British seized the mines and the oil wells. It is true that\nthey control timber production. It is true that all sorts of middlemen,\nbrokers, millers, exporters, have made colossal fortunes from rice without the\nproducer-that is the peasant-getting a thing out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis also true that the get-rich-quick businessmen who made their pile from rice,\npetrol etc. are not contributing as they should be to the well-being of the\ncountry, and that their money, instead of swelling local revenues in the form\nof taxes, is sent abroad to be spent in England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nwe are honest, it is true that the British are robbing and pilfering Burma\nquite shamelessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nwe must stress that the Burmese hardly notice it for the moment. Their country\nis so rich, their population so scattered, their needs, like those of all\nOrientals, so slight that they are not conscious of being exploited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npeasant cultivating his patch of ground lives more or less as his ancestors did\nin Marco Polo\u2019s day. If he wishes, he can buy virgin land for a reasonable\nprice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\ncertainly leads an arduous existence, but he is on the whole free from care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunger\nand unemployment are for him meaningless words. There is work and food for\neveryone. Why worry needlessly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But,\nand this is the important point, the Burmese will begin to suffer when a large\npart of the richness of their country has declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nBurma has developed to a certain extent since the war, already the peasant\nthere is poorer than he was twenty years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nis beginning to feel the weight of land taxation, for which he is not\ncompensated by the increased yield of his harvests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nworker\u2019s wages have not kept up with the cost of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nreason is that the British government has allowed free entry into Burma for\nveritable hordes of Indians, who, coming from a land where they were literally\ndying of hunger, work for next to nothing and are, as a result, fearsome rivals\nfor the Burmese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add\nto this a rapid rise in population growth-at the last census the population\nregistered an increase of ten million in ten years-it is easy to see that\nsooner or later, as happens in all overpopulated countries, the Burmese will be\ndispossessed of their lands, reduced to a state of semislavery in the service\nof capitalism, and will have to endure unemployment into the bargain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nwill then discover what they hardly suspect today, that the oil wells, the\nmines, the milling industry, the sale and cultivation of rice are all\ncontrolled by the British.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nwill also realise their own industrial incompetence in a world where industry\ndominates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British\npolitics in Burma is the same as in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrially\nspeaking, India was deliberately kept in ignorance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nonly produces basic necessities, made by hand. The Indians would be incapable,\nfor example, of making a motor-car, a rifle, a clock, an electric-light bulb\netc. They would be incapable of building or sailing an ocean-going vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nthe same time they have learnt in their dealings with Westerners to depend on\ncertain machine-made articles. So the products of English factories find an\nimportant outlet in a country incapable of manufacturing them herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign\ncompetition is prevented by an insuperable barrier of prohibitive customs\ntariffs. And so the English factory-owners, with nothing to fear, control the\nmarkets absolutely and reap exorbitant profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nsaid that the Burmese have not yet suffered too much, but this is because they\nhave remained, on the whole, an agricultural nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet\nfor them as for all Orientals, contact with Europeans has created the demand,\nunknown to their fathers, for the products of modern industry. As a result, the\nBritish are stealing from Burma in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe first place, they pillage her natural resources; secondly, they grant\nthemselves the exclusive right to sell here the manufactured products she now\nneeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nthe Burmese are thus drawn into the system of industrial capitalism, with any\nhope of becoming capitalist industrialists themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover\nthe Burmese, like all the other peoples of India, remain under the rule of the\nBritish Empire for purely military considerations. For they are in effect\nincapable of building ships, manufacturing guns or any other arms necessary for\nmodern warfare, and, as things now stand, if the English were to give up India,\nit would only result in a change of master. The country would simply be invaded\nand exploited by some other Power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British\ndomination in India rests essentially on exchanging military protection for a\ncommercial monopoly, but, as we have tried to show, the bargain is to the\nadvantage of the English whose control reaches into every domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nsum up, if Burma derives some incidental benefit from the English, she must pay\ndearly for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up\ntill now the English have refrained from oppressing the native people too much\nbecause there has been no need. The Burmese are still at the beginning of a\nperiod of transition which will transform them from agricultural peasants to\nworkers in the service of the manufacturing industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their\nsituation could be compared with that of any people of eighteenth-century\nEurope, apart from the fact that the capital, construction materials, knowledge\nand power necessary for their commerce and industry belong exclusively to\nforeigners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nthey are under the protection of a despotism which defends them for its own\nends, but which would abandon them without hesitation if they ceased to be of\nuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their\nrelationship with the British Empire is that of slave and master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is\nthe master good or bad? That is not the question; let us simply say that his\ncontrol is despotic and, to put it plainly, self-interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nthough the Burmese have not had much cause for complaint up till now, the day\nwill come when the riches of their country will be insufficient for a\npopulation which is constantly growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then\nthey will be able to appreciate how capitalism shows its gratitude to those to\nwhom it owes its existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E.\nA. BLAIR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

[1] Raoul Nicole wrote on 22 March 1929, while Orwell was\nstill in the H\u00f4pital Cochin, to say he was sorry Orwell was ill and thanking\nhim for his article on Burma. This would, he said, be included in an early\nissue of Le Progr\u00e8s Civique<\/em>, and,\nindeed, would have appeared already were it not that the journal had been\nembarrassed by a large number of articles on foreign affairs. Orwell was paid\n225 francs for the article on 11 June. This was the last article he is known to\nhave had published in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published\nby Le Progr\u00e8s Civique<\/em>, 4 May 1929. CW <\/em>86.\nTranslated into English by Janet Percival and Ian Willison<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senaka Weeraratna There is so much publicity today in the Western Media of the vile nature of the Burmese (Myanmar) Army. Before the Army took power overthrowing the Govt. of Aung San Suu Kyi recently, the entire Western media was gunning for Aung San Suu Kyi branding her as a tyrant engaged in the persecution of Bengali Muslims who had infiltrated Myanmar illegally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-senaka-weeraratna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}