Karen hero Saw Ba U Gyi

Saw Ba U Gyi

Karen people live in Burma and Thailand because they don't have a country. We have an important leader, Saw Ba U Gyi, and we never forget him. He helped the Karen people to get freedom. He was a good person.

Saw Ba U Gyi WAS born in Bassein in 1905 to a wealthy landowning family. In 1925 he went to London and became a lawyer where, two years later, he was called to the English bar. He returned to Burma where, 1937, he joined the government of Ba Maw SA, minister of revenue. He is the one who loved his people and he cared. He wanted his people to have freedom and a separate Karen country. He didn’t want to fight with the country.

He asked another country to help the Karen people to get freedom. K.N.U is Karen National Union. The K.N.U asked to give the Karen state, they said "from Karen one Key and the Burmese one Key." But the Burmese people didn’t want the Karen state and they took all two countries. Saw Ba U Gyi also outlined what were to be the main principles and cornerstone of the Karen revolution: “1. For us surrender is out of the question, 2. The recognition of Karen state must be complete, 3. We shall retain our arms, 4. We shall decide our own political destiny.” Saw Ba U Gyi knew the Burmese took the Karen country and he asked the Burmese soldiers to give back the Karen state but the Burmese soldiers said "No" and Burmese soldiers say, "This is my country" and they killed the Karen people. Saw Ba U Gyi saw that the Karen people didn't live together. Some Karen lived in forest. Burmese took the Karen girls and married them and the boys had to work, but they didn't get the food or drink.

Saw Ba U Gyi and Karen soldiers worked together to get back the Karen country and they fought the Burmese soldiers. Saw Ba U Gyi saw a lot of Burmese living in the state. The Karen didn’t have food or money so they have to work and they got money. The Burmese soldiers took their money.

In order to avoid making a shrine to the fallen Karen heroes saw Ba u Gyi's body was thrown into the sea. To this day the 12th of August is respected as Martyr’s Day and ceremonies marking saw Ba u Gyi’s death are conducted by Karen throughout the world.