Impending Demise Of Myanmar Military Junta: Democratic Transition Can Be Resumed
By Nava
Thakuria, New Age Islam
18 January
2024
The ongoing
confrontation between the Myanmar military regime and ethnic rebels supported
by civilian armed forces carries the potential to change the political history
of the southeast Asian nation forever. A country of 55 million population with
varied ethnicity has witnessed almost a civil war in the last few months where
the military rulers have indulged in brutal crackdown against the pro-democracy
activists and they are responded by public forces in various shape and sizes
resulting in the death of thousands and displacement of millions of families to
escape the violence erupted in various localities.
Prime
Minister Senior General Min Aung Hliang and National League for Democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi before the February 2021 coup in Myanmar.
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Lately, the
Arakan Army (AA), a powerful ethnic insurgent group remained active in western
Myanmar, has declared their control of
Paletwa, the capital of Chin State, which is adjacent to India’s
north-eastern State of Mizoram). Quoting the responsible AA leaders, the media
reported that the AA fighter had seized the important port town on the bank of
river Kaladan near the international border with India and Bangladesh.
Significantly Paletwa is an essential component of New Delhi’s ambitious
Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project aiming to connect Arakan’s Sittwe
port (in the Bay of Bengal) to the landlocked north-eastern region.
There were
at least 29,440 armed clashes and attacks against civilians since the military
coup that took place on 1 February 2021. The
number of displaced people in Burma (Myanmar) reached 2.6 million,
660,000 were newly displaced since 27 October (the day the Three Brotherhood
Alliance launched its combined offensive against the military regime in
Naypyidaw) as the junta soldiers continued their violent actions. As the
resistance forces are gaining more areas, the frustrated junta’s retaliation
may only grow and thus more people will be displaced, said Alternative ASEAN
Network on Burma, a regional network engaged in advocacy, campaigns and
capacity building to establish a free and democratic Myanmar, in its latest
report.
It also
added that the alliance of three ethnic armed groups (Arakan Army, Myanmar
National Democratic Alliance Army and Ta'ang National Liberation Army) had
already taken over 400 junta bases (spread over 30 towns in five States and regions) since it launched
‘Operation 1027’ on 27 October 2023. The military regime led by Min Aung Hlaing
engaged in 86 mass killings last year
(which is up from 44 in 2022) causing the death of 1,342 anti-junta activists,
asserted the forum adding that the junta lately broke the China-sponsored
temporary ceasefire (following the 23 December Kunming agreement) with the
Three Brotherhood Alliance members by launching
air & artillery strikes on civilian population. Even the junta
soldiers bombed a museum (also a proposed UNESCO world heritage site) in the
Arakan (Rakhine) region
As the new
year brings more news on victories by the pro-people armed forces, the junta
continues to lose its control rapidly and now the soldiers have been lashing
out in retaliation with large numbers of indiscriminate airstrikes, massacres
and other atrocities inflicted upon the people of Myanmar, said Progressive
Voice, a participatory rights-based policy research and advocacy organization,
adding that Myanmar people have had enough of this violent, illegitimate
military junta, and have made immense sacrifices in the nearly three years
since the failed coup attempt to dismantle the military and build a new federal
democracy. But, going into 2024, there is a sense of optimism among the Myanmar
public catalyzed by the successes of Operation 1027 and complementary
activities, it stated in a weekly briefing.
In the
bygone year, a new level of coordination was seen politically and militarily in
Myanmar, which is exemplified by the combined offensive against the military
regime that dethroned the Aung San Suu Kyi led elected government. Massive
gains in terms of territory, the loss of military junta bases, and control of
key trade routes and towns mark significant steps forward for the people’s
revolution. However, these are not just military victories, but political
victories as the cooperation between various groups, including Ethnic
Resistance Organizations (ERO), People's Defense Forces (PDF), and National
Unity Government (NUG) was established and it reveals a level of political
coordination and strategy that many in the international community have yet to
acknowledge.
Moving into
the new year, one can expect that the momentum built by the Myanmar people with
nearly three years of brave and courageous work, determination and a dignified
struggle would be visible globally, commented a pro-democracy Burmese political
activist, who wanted anonymity, while talking to this writer from Yangon, where
he expressed hope that the international community will come forward supporting
the democratic will of Myanmar people.
With more
meaningful and substantial support from international actors, and with
legitimate cooperation and coordination among revolutionary organizations, not
only can the atrocious military regime be dismantled, but also preparations for
transitional arrangements for their common political agenda of genuine federal
democracy can be achieved, added the activist concluding that this momentum can
translate into liberation, systemic change, and the establishment of an
inclusive federal democracy with a genuine and sustained peace.
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Nava
Thakuria is a northeast India-based professional journalist who is an
engineering graduate.
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/myanmar-military-junta-democratic-transition/d/131541
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