ABSTRACT
For non-ethnically defined Burmese opposition groups the objective is to replace the current regime at the centre with a form of democratic government that will permit a system of civic governance to develop, which will address concerns of ethnic minorities as well as alleviate the severe social and economic pressures faced by ordinary Burmese people across the country. Especially for the ‘traditional’ hill-dwelling people beyond the Buddhist realm, this fissure is not perceived as ideological dilemma but as an outcome of deep-rooted prejudices, which in turn have had implications for the development of systems of governance through which non-Burman minorities are permitted to access their community rights. Although signatories to Panglong Agreement believed they had signed in favour of general political principles that were of benefit to all ethnic minorities within what was to be the new Burmese state. The rendering of ‘Citizenship’ through a historically defined indigeneity has also engendered an ethnographic realpolitik amongst some of main ethnic groups.
