Pe Khin

Pe Khin (Burmese: ဖေခင်; 27 August 1912 – 25 February 2004) was a Burmese diplomat. He was one of the main negotiators at the Panglong Conference in Burma and the architect of the historical Panglong Agreement.

Pe Khin
Myanmar Ambassador to Pakistan
In office
1947 – 1952
Myanmar Ambassador to Thailand
In office
1952 – 1956
Myanmar Ambassador to the Headquarters of the United Nations
In office
1956 – 1958
Preceded byWin (Burmese diplomat)
Succeeded byU Thant
Myanmar Ambassador to Egypt
In office
1958 – 1962
Succeeded byMyint Lwin
Myanmar Ambassador to Russia
In office
1964 – 1965
Preceded byU Kyin
Succeeded byU Ba Saw
Myanmar Ambassador to Singapore
In office
August 1966 – 1972
Personal details
Born27 August 1912
Swehman village, Pyawbwe Township, Mandalay Division, British Burma
Died25 February 2004 (2004-02-26) (aged 91)[1]
NationalityBurmese
ResidenceNew York City
Alma materWesleyan School
Rangoon University
OccupationPolitician

Early life

Pe Khin was born in Swehman village, Pyawbwe Township of Mandalay Division to A.A. Khan (U Bo Galay) and Daw Toke on 27 August 1912.[2] He studied Urdu at Swe Hman village Primary School and passed the fourth standard examination.[3]

He passed the seventh standard examination at Pyawbwe Township's Wesleyan School and matriculation examination at the Kelly School in Mandalay. He also stayed at the Bago Hostel, together with future founder of modern Burma Aung San, and received a B.A. and B.L. from Rangoon University. He worked at the labour office in the Chauk Petroleum oil field in 1938.

Political beginnings

In January 1946, he attended the first convention of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) as a delegate from the Burma Muslim Congress. The seventh proposal at the convention was made by Pe Khin, who proposed that the frontier areas and ethnic groups be joined together with the Burmese interim government to achieve independence. It became one of the main points of the Panglong Agreement.[4][5] Pe Khin later became a Central Executive Member of the AFPFL and was appointed as their secretary for ethnic minorities in Burma.[6]

He was elected as a Member of Parliament representing the Phaw Bawl Township in the April 1947 constituent assembly elections.[7] He was the main lobbyist behind a letter by Mandalay leaders requesting that Aung San appoint U Razak for a cabinet post.[8]

After Aung San left the Panglong Conference disappointed and frustrated on 12 April 1947, Pe Khin was able to persuade Aung San to stay for another night and to allow him to negotiate with the ethnic minority leaders. Pe Khin successfully negotiated with them and so, U Aung Zan Wai, Bo Khin Maung Galay, U Pe Khin, Bo Hmu Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Dr. Sein Mya Maung, Myoma U Than Kywe all signed the subsequent Panglong Agreement, an important document which would eventually lead to independence from the British and the creation of the Union of Burma.[9][10]

Aung San and several members of his cabinet were killed while meeting in the Secretariat on 19 July 1947, in an assassination orchestrated by U Saw, a conservative pre-war Prime Minister of Burma.[11] Pe Khin then became a minister in the newly formed cabinet of Thakin Nu.

Diplomatic career

Pe Khin was appointed as Burma's first Ambassador to Pakistan in 1947.[12] He was then sent as the Ambassador to Thailand from 1953 to 1956.[13] In 1964 he was transferred to the Soviet Union and in 1966 to Singapore. After 25 years of diplomatic service he retired in 1972.[8][14]

Activities in NGOs

Pe Khin was active in the Burma Muslim Congress from 1945, together with U Razak and Khin Maung Latt.[15] He was also a patron of the Burma Islamic Council and Burmese Muslim Organization.[15]

Published books
  • Panglong, An Inside Story
  • AFPFL convention
  • Seed of the Panglong Conference
  • Burma and the Non-aligned policy
  • ... and numerous articles in English and Burmese[15]

Awards
  • "Maha Tharaesithu" in the First Honours list given out by the Burmese government after independence.[14]
  • Country's Honour First Grade on 7 June 1980.[14]

References
  1. U Thudaw, p. 1
  2. U Thudaw (Myanmar Cupid) Myanmar Muslim. net Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine Myanmar Cupid Community Forums p1 sentence 1
  3. U Thudaw, p. 1 sentence 3
  4. Pe Khin’s Ko Twe Pin Lon (in Myanmar) Yangon, Ministry of Information, 1990, p. 18.
  5. "Deedok Journal weekly, 4-2-1946, pp31, 15-16)". Archived from the original on 2010-04-13. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
  6. U Thudaw, p. 2, paragraph 3
  7. Smith, Martin (1991). Burma - Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity. London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
  8. Dr. Nyi Nyi - U Razak of Burma, p. 37
  9. "The Panglong Agreement, 1947 , Online Burma/Myanmar Library".
  10. Preface by Takkatho Ne Win (Personal Secretary of General Aung San) in the book of Pe Khin, Pinlon An Inside Story, p. 19
  11. The Irrawaddy magazine, Who Killed Aung San? — Interview with ex-Gen. Kyaw Zaw, August, 1997,
  12. First Air Ferry By a Myanmar From England To Myanmar. Para 9 sentence 6
  13. The view of a Myanmar citizen Ambassador to Thailand article. The Myanmar Times/July 15–21, 2002/ Vol. 7-No. 124 and New Light of Myanmar 22.07.2002 republished Archived 2012-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
  14. U Thudaw, p. 3
  15. U Thudaw, p. 4
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