BURMA: Devilish Devious

Had anybody seen U Saw? What had become of the crafty, witty Premier of Burma who needled the British Empire in its hour of greatest trial? He had dropped from public view in December, 1941. U.S. officials, who could not learn his whereabouts from the British, guessed he was still jailed somewhere in Africa.

U Saw had engaged in effective propaganda for Burmese independence. Just before Pearl Harbor Londoners flocked to hear him twit British imperialism. When he was reminded of the Japanese menace, U Saw made a restrained statement of loyalty to the Crown: "The people of Burma are rather inclined to rely on the devil they know than on the devil they don't." Then he suavely added: "It is not for me to decide [between Britons and Japs] the degree of their devilment." On his way home U Saw perhaps got as far as Cairo. Then no more was heard of him.

Recently in Rangoon U Saw's wife became conspicuously active in politics. One British official disclosed that U Saw, wherever he was, had recently been allowed more freedom of movement. In New Delhi there was a rumor that U Saw might soon reappear on the Burmese political scene—with British support.

That the British Raj could ever forgive U Saw seemed possible only to those who know how devious is the course of empire and how tough the imperial going has been in Burma since it was liberated from the Japs.

Shrewd, burly Governor Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith was having trouble with young (28) Major General Thakin Aung San (commander of the Burma National Army). Aung San went over to the Japs early in the war, switched back to the British with the tide. But once the Japs had surrendered, Aung San demanded immediate Burmese independence. Hoping to mollify him, Sir Reginald asked Aung San to suggest a few names for a new council. When Aung San listed eleven fervent nationalists, Sir Reginald rejected his list. Thereupon Aung San was elevated to a crest of Burmese popularity and excitement dangerous in a country still full of Japanese arms.

The British needed an antidote for Aung San. U Saw was a possibility. He was, after all, a devil the Raj knew well.