ABSTRACT
Introduction That peasant protests and rebellions are almost unheard of throughout the entire era of military rule in Burma is an axiom, provoking little or no intellectual curiosity on the part of academicians and policy makers. This is contrasted with the situation under the British colonial government, which saw periodic outbursts of peasant revolts following its occupation of the country, including the famous Saya San's peasant revolution in 1929.1 Since the military government's takeover in 1962, Burmese cultivators have hardly appeared to voice their demands nor express their problems openly through public protests, let alone take up arms against this oppressive state.
