Myanmar Rebels March to Topple the Military Regime
By Nava
Thakuria, New Age Islam
27
November 2023
India’s
eastern neighbour has been facing relentless turmoil following the military
coup on 1 February 2021 and it lately witnessed a flare-up in violence as many
ethnic armed outfits started a massive offensive against the Burmese military
junta in the last week of October. By now some parts of Myanmar have gone under
the control of pro-democracy & anti-junta rebels, which have vowed to throw
away the military dictators from Naypyidaw. The intense fighting continues in
the south-east Asian nation and it slowly expands into new localities with
densely populated areas. From the States of Shan, Karen, Kayah (formerly
Karenni), Mandalay & Sagaing divisions, the battles against the junta
forces (popularly known as Tatmadaw) expanded to Rakhine and Chin States.
The
land of golden pagodas slipped into an intensive conflict soon after the
present band of dictators, led by Min Aung Hlaing, staged the coup over a
thousand days ago alleging voting fraud and ousted a democratically elected
government under the leadership of Nobel peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
whose party National League for Democracy (NLD) recorded a massive victory in
the last national elections. The pro-democracy icon was detained and later
imprisoned by the military-controlled courts for many years with fictitious
cases alleging her involvement in various electoral corruption.
By now
2,940 civilians have been killed and over 24,000 have been arrested by the
military authorities within 1000 days of the coup, where more than 3,33,500
civilians rendered homeless because of the ongoing gun fighting between junta
forces and armed rebel groups. No less than 150 media personnel were also
detained by the military council and some 25 are still inside various jails. At
least three journalists died of military atrocities in separate incidents. Days
back, the Geneva-based global media safety and rights body Press Emblem
Campaign expressed serious concern over the imprisonment of working journalists
in Myanmar and urged the authorities to ensure fair trials for them.
The
recent wave of gun fighting broke out on 27 October, when three ethnic minority
groups (namely Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta'ang National
Liberation Army and Arakan Army) coordinated their offensive in the northern
Shan locality, which is adjacent to China. Named Operation 1027, the offensive
has achieved some successes as Tatmadaw had to lose nearly 200 military camps
and nine towns till the third week of November. Lately, the Arakan Army (AA)
has launched an offensive in Rakhine State killing many soldiers and even
compelling some to surrender with arms & ammunition.
Speaking
to this writer, Burmese political activist Khin Ohmar informed that the Rakhine
State has already descended into a full-blown civil war, where the Myanmar
military is shelling innocent people and using airstrikes to displace more
people while blocking humanitarian assistance to the people in distress. She
also added that the military junta is laying landmines and continuing to use
airstrikes on overpopulated villages as a form of collective punishment. But
lately, the soldiers have been abandoning their outposts and various strategic
points to avoid the hit of AA offensives, added Ohmar.
Amazingly,
a recent public demonstration attracted the attention of political observers as
it chanted slogans against China, which is usually known as a good neighbour
and arms supplier to Myanmar. A good number of people assembled in front of the
Chinese Embassy in Yangon on 19 November and propagating anti-Beijing statements
was an unusual occurrence in the country. The seemingly pro-junta militia
groups claimed that Beijing was behind the recent offensive against the
military regime and also supporting the People’s Defence Forces (PDF), the
armed wing of the National Unity Government. Speculations are now raised that
Communist China wants to topple the current batch of Burmese military
dictators.
The
troubles in various western Myanmar localities increased the influx of refugees
to northeast India. Many Burmese soldiers also crossed the porous boundary to
arrive in Mizoram and were later sent back by the Indian agencies. The
government in Aizawl has extended necessary support to the refugees (mostly
Chin people as they enjoy ethnic proximity to Mizos). The Chin bordering hilly
State now gives shelter to thousands of asylum seekers and many of their
children even enrolled names in the government-run schools. Manipur and
Nagaland have also witnessed the arrival of over 600 Burmese nationals in the
last few days.
Meanwhile,
New Delhi has directed Indian nationals in Myanmar to register their names with
the embassy in Yangon. It also asked the citizens to avoid non-essential travel
to the country in view of the evolving security situation there. Earlier India
called for cessation of gun fighting between the junta forces and rebel groups
near the international border. It maintained the call for the return of peace
and stability as well as democracy in the country. The Buddhist-majority
country supports a number of north-eastern militants including the Ulfa
(independent) chief Paresh Barua, who have been waging a war against New Delhi
for separatist homelands.
Amazingly,
most of the north-eastern militants remain supportive of the Burmese military
rulers and hence they are keeping themselves away from the anti-junta armed
movement. But their camps are also on the rather of anti-junta groups as it
came to public notice that a group of armed Burmese rebels recently raided the
camp of United National Liberation Front, a banned outfit from Manipur,
somewhere in Tamu locality. They also seized some documents and a large volume
of arms and ammunition from the UNLF camp. New Delhi must deal with the junta
carefully as it simply cannot ignore the generals if it wants a sustainable
solution to insurgency problems in the region.
…
The
writer is a northeast Bharat-based senior media columnist
--
URL:
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism