Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Burma kingdom had never extended effectual political control over these areas which thus became excluded' or 'scheduled' areas in colonial terminology Thus, from a modern state concept pre-colonial Burma's actual control of the excluded areas could always be questioned. And this argument was repeated by some representatives of ethnic groups during the negotiations for independence. Another criterion of difference was Christian versus Buddhist as synonymous with "White Westerner' vs. Burman (kala pyu/ bamar). Individuals from the minorities who converted where considered kala by the Burmese king and his officials (Gravers, Chapter 9 in this volume), and Burmese kings often complained that the Christian missionaries totally 'converted' the ethnic identities oftheir followers.24 Thus, a double exclusion took place as a result of this policy of difference: the Christian from the Buddhist and the ethnic minorities from the majority. This process and its mechanisms are crucial, l suggest, in understanding why ethnicity became highly politicized and polarized in Burma