Myanmar Spring Chronicle – September 07 Scenes
MoeMaKa, September 08 2022
A few months after the military coup at the beginning of last year, the National Unity Government (NUG), which is based in Thailand Myanmar border area, was established. Soon after that, the armed force of the NUG called PDF (People Defense Force) was formed. The PDF was formed in May 2021, and on September 7th of that year, Duwa Lashi La, the Acting President of the NUG government, declared a state of emergency to overthrow the military council and conduct the ‘armed Resistance’ (most called as D-Day).
Today is exactly one year since D-day was announced, and it is time to review how far the political and military goals have been achieved, and what were gained and lost for the people, NUG and the country. Everyone will understand that the political journey is not over yet. However, I think there will be differences in views and evaluations on how long and how far till the victory.
In the past one year, there have been hundreds of thousands of attacks, such as, the battle, named ‘Resistance,’ between the PDF and the military council Army and, the so-called urban guerrilla forces’ ambushes, assassination, bombing, shooting at the military council outpost and the bombing of offices and buildings where the junta troops camp. In these attacks, there were deaths on the side of the military council and also on the side of the PDF. And, from the time of the military coup until September of last year, more than 1,000 civilians were killed, and today, more than a year later, the number of civilian deaths has reached over 2,000. On the other hand, it appears that the military council has stated that at least 2,000 of their supporters and members of the USDP party have been killed with accusations of pillars and informers of the junta.
In addition to the loss of life, the number of refugees fleeing the war has increased by more than 900,000 in the past year, and if we add it to the number of refugees before the military coup, the total number of refugees is now over 1.3 million. This figure does not include the estimated 700,000 to 1 million Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state to Bangladesh. All together, there are more than 2 million refugees, which means that 1 in 25 people in Myanmar, which has a population of over 50 million, is a refugee fleeing the war. In addition to civilian deaths and the number of refugees fleeing the war, another number to be recorded in Myanmar is the number of houses burned. Most of the house burnings were done by the military council troops, while a smaller number were probably burned by PDF armed forces, such as the houses of militias supported by the military council. Relating the arson of houses, the military council never officially admitted to, but they are committing such destruction of houses, destruction of villages, taking food or destroying them as a military tactic in continuing civil wars and, in the Rohingya villages in Rakhine State.
As a result of these wars; the loss of human lives, the destruction of communities, the burning of villages, and the inability to work in agriculture and livestock-husbandry and trading, there is a possibility that we may face food shortages and famine in the near future.
After the NUG chose the path of armed struggle, those with experience would have expected that the struggle to overthrow the military council would last for a period of months or years. As experienced politicians, it is necessary to prepare for such a period of time, and the public should not be persuaded by encouraging words as if they will win today or tomorrow.
It will be necessary to inform the public that overthrowing the military dictatorship may be a long-term struggle and prepare long-term methods.
It’s encouraging to see this kind of campaigning that an outcome will be made within a year, but if it still hasn’t been completely eliminated after another year, the public may think that the political leaders have deceived them. If that doesn’t happen, it will be a sign of poor leadership of leaders who believed that they would actually win.
As politicians, it is better to honestly inform and organize the public to face reality, by finishing what they promised, rather than eloquently and cheerfully speaking what public like.