Geoff Aung’s searching essay on the anti-coup rebellion from last year included a discussion of the ah-zah-ni, perhaps best translated as “martyr,” and a critical figure in Burma’s long history of resistance to authoritarianism, colonial or afterwards.

This week we feature some texts that sketch the contours of the ah-zah-ni. Nick Cheesman’s Master’s Thesis that covered school textbooks in Myanmar (featured in DC recently) discusses the ah-zah-ni (pp 215-18).

Houtman’s work, featured recently on DC for its treatment of Myanma-fication, is worth mentioning again, as it contains a discussion of the ah-zah-ni on pp 241-42.

The anthem kaba ma’ chay bu: (“The world is not fulfilled”), written by Naing Myanmar after the 1988 anti-government uprising, contains the line ah-zah-ni dway nay de’ dain: pyi – “The country where the martyrs live.” We include Min Zin’s essay; see pp 225-26 for a discussion of the song.