Political Career
Thein Pe Myint became involved in politics as a Rangoon University student in mid-1930s. Then still known by his birth name Thein Pe, he became a secretary of Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association), an influential anti-colonial association whose members included the who's who of Burmese independence politics--Thakin Aung San, Thakin Nu, Thakin Kyaw Nyein, Thakin Mya, Thakin Than Tun, Thakin Shu Maung (later Ne Win), etc.
Already a well-known, if controversial, writer, Thakin Thein Pe quickly became one of the leading spokesmen of the Left movement in Burma. He was an important student leader in the university student-led protests against the colonial British Government in 1936 and during the "Uprising of 1300" in 1938.
When the Second World War began, Thein Pe Myint was one of a few leading Burmese independence activists that refused to ally with fascist Japan. In an open break with most other prominent student leaders like Aung San, Thein Pe Myint sided with the allied powers even if it meant working with the hated colonial master British. In 1942, Thein Pe Myint went underground when the Japanese empire conquered Burma.
Indeed, Thein Pe Myint would be vindicated later when Japanese rule proved disastrous. General Aung San, who hitherto had allied with the Japanese, sent Thein Pe Myint as an envoy to India to seek help from the Allies for the fight against the Japanese. He played a leading role in propaganda and liaison activities between some of the wartime Burmese leaders like General Aung San and the British Force 136, the special operations and intelligence unit.
After the war, he worked in many associations and parties including the Communist Party of Burma, Sino-Burmese Friends Associations, People Peace Association, Burmese Writers Association. In 1946, he became the first minister of Agriculture and Forestry in General Aung San's government during the war. He was jailed in 1948 but released in 1949.
After independence, Thein Pe Myint's political career turned to advocacy as a journalist.
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