Thakin Chit Maung (; 1915 – 3 March 2005), also known as Widuya Thakin Chit Maung, was a veteran Burmese politician.

Political career

His political career in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

(also called

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

) began as a teenager in the early 1930s when he joined the nationalist organisation,

Dobama Asiayone Dobama Asiayone ( , ; ), better known as Thakins ( , ; ), was a Burmese nationalist group formed around the 1930s and composed of young, disgruntled intellectuals. Drawing their name from the way in which the British were addressed during colon ...

(We Burmans Association). He participated in the anti-British campaign led by General

Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947), known honorifically as '' Bogyoke'' Aung San, was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he w ...

(father of

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

) and fought against the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1950, Chit Maung helped established the

Burma Workers and Peasants Party The Burma Workers Party, until 1958 the Burma Workers and Peasants Party, was a communist party in Burma, formed on 8 December 1950 by leftist elements of the Socialist Party. In December 1962 it merged with the People's Comrade Party to form ...

, nicknamed the "Red Socialists",. As there is another Burmese politician Thakin Chit Maung of the same name and as both of them took the appellation '

Thakin Dobama Asiayone ( , ; ), better known as Thakins ( , ; ), was a Burmese nationalist group formed around the 1930s and composed of young, disgruntled intellectuals. Drawing their name from the way in which the British were addressed during colon ...

', 'Master' - this Thakin Chit Maung is known by the additional acronym mentioned usually before his name: 'Widura'. Hence Widura Thakin Chit Maung. Widura Thakin Chit Maung earned this additional name around February 1959 after he gave a speech in the then Burmese Parliament. In his speech Thakin Chit Maung compared the travails of the Burmese people during the caretaker administration of General

Ne Win Ne Win (; ; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002), born Shu Maung (; ), was a Burmese army general, politician and Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981. Ne Win was Burma's mili ...

with the travails that the embryo ('would-be')

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

had gone through in the Buddha's previous existence as the Minister Widura which were depicted in The

Jataka The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...

Tales. Thakin Chit Maung's speech in Parliament was broadcast live on radio at that time and soon thereafter he gained the appellation or honorific of 'Widura Thakin Chit Maung'. Thakin Chit Maung who was then a member of Parliament representing the leftist

National United Front The National United Front () was a political alliance in Myanmar. History The alliance was formed in 1955 as a successor to the People's Democratic Front, ahead of the April 1956 general elections. The NUF consisted of leftist parties such as ...

(not to be confused with

National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...

of the renamed

Burma Socialist Programme Party The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was the ruling party of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1962 to 1988 and the country's sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government i ...

formed in late September 1988) opposed the then proposed amendment to Section 116 of the 1947 Burmese Constitution which would allow General Ne Win to continue to serve as 'care taker Prime Minister' (Section 116 of the 1947 Burmese Constitution stated in effect that no person who is not a member of Parliament shall serve as a Minister or Prime Minister for more than six months. General Ne Win was not a member of Parliament and since by February 1959 he had served as prime minister for nearly six months there were moves to amend the Constitution in order for General Ne Win to continue to serve as caretaker prime minister. The Constitution was amended and General Ne Win's caretaker government held multiparty elections in February 1960. The Clean Faction of the

Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) was a broad popular front that ruled Burma (now Myanmar) between 1947 and 1958. It included both political parties and trade unions as members. The league evolved out of the anti-Japanese res ...

(AFPFL) led by

U Nu Nu (; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as Burmese names#Honorifics, U Nu and also by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a prominent Burmese people, Burmese statesman and the first Prime Minister of Union of Burma. He was ...

won the 1960 elections by a landslide and General Ne Win handed back power to U Nu.) The other Burmese politician Thakin Chit Maung is known by the name of his home town

Myanaung Myanaung (, , ) is a town in northern Ayeyarwady Region of south-west Myanmar. It is the capital of Myanaung District and the administrative seat of Myanaung Township. The town has six urban wards, numbered one through six going from the north t ...

and hence Thakin Chit Maung (

). Both Thakin Chit Maung (Widura) and Thakin Chit Maung (Myanaung) were members of the Internal Unity Advisory Board (IUAB) informally known as the 'Thirty-three' since there were 33 members in the Board. The late General

, then Chairman of the

Union Revolutionary Council The Union Revolutionary Council (), officially the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma () or simply the Revolutionary Council (RC; ), was the supreme governing body of Burma (now Myanmar) from 2 March 1962, following the overthrow of U N ...

(also known as RC) that has taken over power through a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

on 2 March 1962 formed the IUAB on 2 December 1968 and the Board was to report its suggestions to the RC by 31 May 1969 to enhance 'national unity'. Thakin Chit Maung also formed the Democratic Front for National Reconstruction in the 1980s and joined the Veteran Politicians Group in the late 1980s. The Veteran Politicians Group later sent open letters to Burma's then military ruler, Senior General

Than Shwe Than Shwe (; ; born 2 February 1933) is a retired Burmese army general who held influential positions within Myanmar's government. Serving as the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) from 1992 to 2011, he played a signifi ...

, urging the release of

and for national reconciliation talks to take place between the

State Peace and Development Council The State Peace and Development Council ( ; abbreviated SPDC or , ) was the official name of the Military dictatorship, military government of Burma (Myanmar) which, in 1997, succeeded the State Law and Order Restoration Council (; abbrevi ...

(SPDC), the

National League for Democracy The National League for Democracy (, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victo ...

(NLD) and the various ethnic groups throughout the country. Thakin Chit Maung died at the age of 90 in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

on 3 March 2005.

External links

*Democratic Voice of Burm

*National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chit Maung, Thakin 1915 births, Maung, Thakhin Chit Maung, Thakhin Chit Burma Workers Party politicians