Tensions over unresolved land ownership disputes could spark a nationwide uprising if the issue was not dealt with soon, a senior member of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party has warned.
The increasing frequency of protests over the time being taken to resolve the disputes could lead to tension throughout the nation and escalate into a full scale uprising, U Aung Thein Lin, the party’s Pyithu Hluttaw MP for South Okkalapa in Yangon Region, told Mizzima on May 21.
“These protests are everywhere and I fear they may result in a national uprising and if this happens it will reverse our democratic transition,” said U Aung Thein Lin, a member of the USDP’s central executive committee and of the Farmland Investigation Committee.
Concern about the potential of the issue to create unrest was echoed by U Tint Zaw Oo, secretary of the Farmers’ Union at Myaungmya Township in Ayeyarwady Region.
“If farmers feel that the government is being negligent on these issues, then I could foresee a second Saya San Rebellion,” U Tint Zaw Oo told Mizzima on May 21.
The Saya San Rebellion refers to a 1930-1 uprising against British rule that is often characterised as a revolt by peasant farmers.
The Farmland Investigation Commission referred 745 cases of alleged ‘land grabs’ to the Land Use Management Committee in September 2013.
U Aung Thein Lin called last month for changes to make the process for handling the disputes faster, saying he doubted the committee could meet its deadline to resolve the 745 cases by September this year.
