大象传媒

The Karens of Burma

Many British officers could tell you about the Burmese hill peoples who fought with them as levies against the Japanese - Chins, Kachins and Karens among them. It was my good fortune to have the Karens alongside me when I was in the forests between Moulmein and the Siamese (Thai) border in 1945. One of many who remain clearly in my mind was Saw Ku, and as I wrote some notes about him at the time I would like to give this picture of him as a tribute to all his people. He was not typical by any means, but he was outstanding. To follow the story of the Karens please go on to read 'Loyalty betrayed'.

Saw Ku

Rifleman Maung Aye came from Bassein. He was a Karen, and was far too independent to be a good soldier. His conduct-sheet was a mass of red-ink entries. When Burma was overrun by the Japanese in 1942 his battalion was disbanded near Kawkareik, and the men told to go home. He and a few pals drifted to Moulmein and then across to Bilugyun Island. There he got various labouring jobs - farm work, and collecting oil for torches from the trees - as he was far too lazy, and not working well enough he had a pretty hard time.

After a year or so he decided he鈥檇 had enough of it and went to the village of Magithit with a friend he鈥檇 made, who lived there. He was lucky enough to meet another ex-soldier who had a home-made shot gun. Honest work didn鈥檛 appeal to Maung Aye, and the two of them started raiding the Burmese huts scattered about the paddy fields. When they had enough loot they bought a rifle - there were many left behind by the Army - and attracting more followers, they went from strength to strength, each successful dacoity giving them more arms. They even bought an L.M.G. [light machine-gun] and some rifles which had been stolen from the Japs by some Indians.

They raided every village of any size in the Moulmein district, and even went up to Myawaddi where they got a haul of gold from the rich Shan and Burmese merchants. Some of it bought more ammunition, the rest was distributed amongst his lieutenants - after he鈥檇 taken his share. In this raid he had more than 100 men, 30 armed, and the rest with swords and dahs. They would follow him anywhere and he knew it, but, as he said to us later, 鈥淲ithout me my men would be useless.鈥�

At Kyain-Seikgyi they had ten cart-loads of booty ready to take away when the Japs appeared. They had to leave it and run, and in the ensuing fight he lost one man and the Japs, three. He was by no means the only leader doing this. Other Karens and Burmans raided each other and some Karens didn鈥檛 care whether they attacked Burmans or others of their own race. The Japs eventually decided to do something about it and started punitive expeditions; with the idea no doubt of setting a thief to catch a thief any leader who surrendered was pardoned and made responsible for future law and order in his area. Many gave in, others were captured. The Japs burned Kyi-Ok, a village which was helping Maung Aye and he attacked them. Accounts of the battle are varied and exaggerated, but at any rate a Japanese Captain was killed. There was much lamentation amongst the enemy that an officer who had fought gloriously at Singapore should die at the hands of a bandit.

From then on he was a marked man. He was soon the only dacoit leader left, and as he only attacked Japanese and Burmans he was looked on by the Karens as a protector. They are a minority and have a feeling of racial inferiority so they would do anything for anyone who would fight their battles for them. He was utterly ruthless in his determination for Karen unity, and when his cousin, who was living with another man鈥檚 wife and threatening to cause trouble refused to heed his warnings he had him shot. When he changed his name to its Karen equivalent Saw Ku, (Maung Aye is Burmese, and means 鈥渃old 鈥�) I don鈥檛 know, but he came to us as Saw Ku to offer us, if we could get more arms dropped, a hiding place, food and his men.

As soon as I saw him I realised the reason for the stories of his successes we had already heard about. He had one of the strongest personalities I had ever met. He was a born leader. About five foot six tall and perfectly proportioned, he was about twenty-two; good looking, with a wide mouth showing large teeth, brown eyes set far apart, a revolver in a holster at his belt and a large ruby on his finger. He never moved without a body-guard of four eighteen-year old toughs who would do anything for him. When he spoke his voice was musical and his speech was so slow and deliberate that, even though we couldn鈥檛 understand a word of it, it was almost hypnotic in effect.

He took us to his forest hide-out near Kyi-Ok which meant a journey of some 70 miles. His arrangements for getting us there were perfect and could only have been so with the willing co-operation of all the Karen villages. Food, and accommodation en route for 200 men, bullock carts in relays and even a boat appeared as required with faultless timing. Nominally he is a Christian though he has three wives. One of them often appeared at our camp. She was very pretty and used to ride up on a pony with a body-guard as strong as Saw Ku鈥檚 own.

When we left the village where we first met him, to go down to his camp, the villagers gave us a farewell
sing-song-cum-prayer-meeting. (American Methodist Missionaries are very strong about there). Saw Ku gave a mouth-organ solo; he then he made a long speech in which he said he didn鈥檛 have much time nowadays to be a good Christian but he was still one at heart; then he sang a hymn. We have two pastors among our levies and he does all he can to support them. There are two services of a Sunday and sometimes prayers at roll call in the evening. All his followers appear - detailed!

He is a great believer in charms. It is said that this dates from the time when a very great friend was killed by a Jap L.M.G. while the rest of the party who were all wearing charms, escaped. He has many bracelets and wears a necklace which contains something hidden by a cloth covering. We got to the stage at Kyi-Ok of saying 鈥淣o Japs about today, Saw Ku鈥檚 got his charms on鈥� One day an Officer said something to his men which upset him. He dressed himself in full war kit and came to see our commander almost in hysterics. He said 鈥淗is medicine had gone wrong鈥�. To our alarm he drew his revolver, but gave it to Ian and told him that if things were going wrong like this he wanted to die. Reasoning with him was no good. He burst into tears and had to be led away like a child.

Immediately after the war, when we were in Moulmein, Saw Ku took the opportunity to execute (literally) rough justice and shoot someone whom he鈥檇 marked down as a collaborator. Unfortunately the British civil administration had recently arrived intent on restoring peace-time law and order. Saw Ku was put straight into jail. I cannot remember what it took to get him out, but Ian was occupied for days trying to sort out the problem. I think that he was killed within a year or so of Burmese independence, still fighting for the Karens.

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