"...striking at the very roots of Burmese manhood and racial purity." It has often been remarked that, while Indian nationalism was essentially a product of British rule, there had always existed a traditional Burmese nationalism arising from its cultural homogeneity. Buddhism obviously played a large part in creating this homogeneity, but it could not be said to have supplied ideas to support nationalism; rather it provided an essential component of the self-concept which enabled the Burmese to see themselves as different from foreigners. And foreigners under the colonial administration were not just the English but also the Indians and the Chinese. Thus, the feeling that grew among the Burmese was not the intense racial antagonism which developed in India but a more diffused xenophobia fed by a well-justified apprehension that their very existence as a distinct people would be jeopardized if the course of colonial rule was allowed to run unchecked. The threat to their racial survival came not so much from the British as from the Indians and Chinese who were the more immediate targets of twentieth century nationalism. Not only did these immigrants acquire a stranglehold on the Burmese economy, they also set up homes with Burmese women, striking at the very roots of Burmese manhood and racial purity. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma and India: Some Aspects of Intellectual Life under Colonialism, p. 35.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 11:47:05 +0000
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