Aung San

Aung San-Atlee Agreement Signed Churchill Critical

Back To The Past-Today 
27 January 1947 

An agreement between Burma's Aung San and the British Government on the question of Burma's independence was signed today at No: 10 Downing Street today. 

The meeting between the Burmese delegation and Clement Atlee's Labor government since 13 January ended today with the signing of the conclusions reached during the past two weeks. 

The agreement outlined "the conclusions as to the methods by which the people of Burma may achieve their independence . . as soon as possible". 

Both sides confirmed that "It is the agreed objective of both . . . to achieve the early unification of the Frontier Areas and Ministerial Burma with the free consent of the inhabitants of those areas" and that they "shall be asked . . . to express their views upon the form of association with the Government of Burma which they considered acceptable . . . ". 

It was also agreed to set up forthwith a committee of inquiry "as to the best method of associating the Frontiers peoples with the working out of the new constitution for Burma". Accordingly, a Frontier Areas Committee of Enquiry (FACE) led by D.R. Reese-Williams was appointed. 

At the press conference held in Rangoon on 3 February, Aung San acknowledged, "(We are) not their representatives . . . The matter of the hills region is a matter for hills peoples. They will get equal rights like us, if they also want them. 

Winston Churchill, the former prime minister, denounced the agreement as "this dismal transaction". 
On the Burmese side, Thakin Ba Sein, one of the two delegates who refused to sign (the other was U Saw), described it as "falling short of national demands". The communists, on the other hand, accused Aung San of "betraying his country's cause" by "parleying with the British imperialists".