The seven-year-old white elephant captured in March. PHOTO/THE GLOBAL NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR
To most observers, the draft ceasefire agreement reached by the government and 16 armed ethnic groups on March 31 was the result of long hours, hard work and the careful dance of diplomacy.
Or maybe it had something to do with an enormous animal.
An op-ed on Sunday in state-backed newspaper The Mirror placed much stock in the idea that the agreement, which could potentially end more than 50 years of bloody warfare, was signaled by the capture of a rare white elephant in the forests of the western Ayeyarwaddy region in March.
“In Myanmar’s history, the white elephants do not appear all the time. Only if the country is prosperous, when there is a good harvest with enough food, or when there is peace,” the article said, as quoted by The Irrawaddy magazine. “Precious white elephants bring the signs of peace, so now the draft NCA [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement] … is being signed between the government and ethnic armed groups’ leaders.”
Myanmar Timber Enterprise, a state-owned logging agency, found the 7-year-old female, making her the ninth albino to be brought into captivity. The elephants are normally kept in zoos in Naypyitaw and Yangon.
White elephants, which are actually pinkish in color, are revered in Myanmar and throughout Southeast Asia and have traditionally been kept by royalty. The animals are said to bring good fortune as well as herald political change, so the op-ed columnist’s argument is not entirely ridiculous.
However, as The Irrawaddy report pointed out, the former military junta would often use the appearance of white elephants for propaganda purposes.
