Khun Kya Nu, prominent ethnic Shan leader and pro-democracy fighter, died in exile on Monday in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, at the age of 72.
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| Khun Kya Nu (1935 - 2007) Photo: S.H.A.N |
He was the sixth of 10 children of Khun Kya Bu, one of the signatories of the historic 1947 Panglong Agreement that was supposed to lay the foundations of a modern federal union of Burma. The agreement was also signed by Burma’s independence hero, Gen Aung San, father of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, along with several ethnic leaders.
While studying at Rangoon University, he joined the armed Shan resistance in 1959. He became commander-in-chief of the Shan State Army, which was transformed from the Shan State Independence Army in 1964.
Khun Kya Nu retired from the SSA in 1976, but still took part in leading Shan political groups and ethnic political alliances, including the Shan State Constitution Drafting Committee, which he chaired, and the Ethnic Nationalities Solidarity and Cooperation Committee, which later became the Ethnic Nationalities Council.
During his long commitment to the Shan cause and to the construction of a democratic, federal Burma he won the respect of many ethnic leaders and democratic organizations.
Khuensai Jaiyen, editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News, and a close associate, said Khun Kya Nu’s death was a loss for the Shan people and ethnic communities.
“He is one of the few leaders after the late Eugene Chao Tzang Yaanghwe who had principle and initiated Shan politics. It will be hard to find anybody to replace him.”
Sai Lao Hseng, spokesman for the Shan State Army-South, said the SSA-S was saddened by Khun Kya Nu’s death. His passing would have its effect on Shan politics, Sai Lao Hseng said. The Shan people should follow the course he had taken, he added.
Khun Kya Nu’s funeral will be held on Saturday in Chiang Mai.
