Karen National Union

Karen National Union
ကညီ ဒီကလုာ် စၢဖှိၣ်ကရၢ
AbbreviationKNU
ChairpersonPadoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win
Secretary-GeneralPadoh Saw Thadaw Moo
P'doh Saw Thaw Thi Bweh
Padoh Saw Hla Tun
SpokespersonPadoh Saw Taw Nee
Vice chairP'doh Saw Hser Gay
Founded5 February 1947 (1947-02-05)
HeadquartersKlo Yaw Lay Manerplaw (until 1995)
Armed wingKNLA, KNDO
Ideology
ReligionChristianity
Buddhism
National affiliationNational Unity Consultative Council
Slogan"Give me liberty, or give me death!"[1]
Anthem"Dear Our People"
Party flag
Website
www.knuhq.org

The Karen National Union (Burmese: ကရင် အမျိုးသား အစည်းအရုံး; abbreviated KNU) is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), that claims to represent the Karen people of Myanmar. It operates in mountainous eastern Myanmar and has underground networks in other areas of Myanmar where Karen people live as a minority group.

Some of the Karen, led primarily by the Karen National Union (KNU), have waged a war against the central government since early 1949. The aim of the KNU at first was independence. Since 1976 the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State.

The Karen conflict is the second longest internal war in the world after the Dagohoy rebellion in the Philippines, having been waged for 85 years until 1829.[2][3]

  1. ^ "The Politics of Pressure: KNLA". www.ibiblio.org. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Burma's Longest War: Anatomy of the Karen Conflict". Tni.org. 28 March 2011. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  3. ^ Palafox, Quennie Ann J. (6 September 2012). "THE VISION OF FRANCISCO DAGOHOY". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2024. The most prominent of which was Francisco Dagohoy- the ringleader of the uprising that lasted for 85 years, the longest in history of the Philippines.