Pyinmana: The Threat from Within

A prominent army leader who founded the Burmese army along with independence hero Gen Aung San has said that the government’s decision to move its administrative offices 400 km north of Rangoon to Pyinmana is because the regime fears a possible uprising.

Brig-Gen Kyaw Zaw, a member of the “Thirty Comrades,” who fought for independence for Burma from British rule, commented that the junta is not worried about an American seaborne invasion—the most touted reason—but is afraid of its own people, who are tiring with the regime. If people take to the streets in Rangoon or elsewhere, it would be easy to continue to run the country’s administrative affairs from Pyinmana, in central Burma, while sending troops to quell protests or an uprising, the general told Washington-based Radio Free Asia.