Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan
|
Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan |
|
|---|---|
| ဖဒိုမန်းရှာလာဖန်း | |
| Secretary General of the Karen National Union | |
| Succeeded by | Naw Zipporah Sein |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
5 July 1943 Tawgyaung, Maubin District, British Karen |
| Died | 14 February 2008 (aged 64) Mae Sot, Thailand |
| Cause of death | Assassination |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Political party | Karen National Union |
| Spouse(s) | Nang Kyin Shwe |
| Children | Say Say Phan Nant Bwa Bwa Phan Zoya Phan Slone Phan |
| Alma mater | Rangoon University |
Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan (Burmese: ဖဒိုမန်းရှာလာဖန်း; July 5, 1943 – February 14, 2008) was the secretary general of the Karen National Union (KNU), which is the largest insurgent group in Burma.
Mahn Sha Lah Phan was born and raised in Tawgyaung, Maubin District. He studied at the University of Yangon, receiving a degree in history. After graduating, he joined the Karen resistance in Burma, and it was then that, like many other members of the Karen resistance movement, he changed his name to Mahn Sha Lah Phan, which in Karen means "Mr. Star Moon Bright". He chose star and moon (Sha Lah) to represent the light of the future, and bright (Phan) in the belief that the future would be bright.
The KNU, through its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, has been fighting against the Burmese government for autonomy for the Karen people since 1949. It operates in both Burma and Thailand. He served as the Secretary-General of the KNU. Sha Lah Phan was against any form of surrender to the Burmese government.
Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan married a former KNU soldier, Nang Kyin Shwe, and had three children in addition to adopting a boy named Say Say. Despite frequently moving back and forth across the Burma-Thailand border, he insisted that his children receive the same education he did, and had adopted Say Say to give him a better education than what would have been available to him in his home village. His two daughters, Zoya Phan and Nant Bwa Bwa Phan, are both political activists in the United Kingdom, and Bwa Bwa is currently the United Kingdom representative of the Karen National Union.
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