Myanmar Spring Chronicle – February 14 Scenes
MoeMaKa February 15 2023
The exhortation of Acting President Duwa Lashi La
According to news reports at a cabinet meeting of the NUG government held on February 14th, Acting President Duwa Lashi La remarked that the revolution cannot move forward with general views in order to give the people specific political results in 2023.
The revolution has entered its third year, and he also said to give the public certain results. It has been more than 2 and a half years since May 2021, when the armed revolution was officially announced. It can be said that the military council’s security forces and police are controlled under a certain limit because they had to open many fronts, and in many areas, they couldn’t cross the main roads, rivers, and roads that connected one city to another safely when the anti-coup movement reached two years. On the other hand, villages are still being burned down, civilians are being killed with the accusation of being PDF members or supporters, and in the cities, arrests are still being brought to court, and prison terms up to the death penalty are still being imposed.
The upper part of Magway Division, most of the regions of Sagaing Division, and some regions of Mandalay Division are continuous in terms of territory, and armed attacks, the burning of villages, looting, and destruction of property are still happening.
While PDF members are attacking, their family members and villagers are in a situation where they can’t do their livelihoods. As long as the entire conflict area resists, the military council is likely to continue raiding, destroying the villages, and killing the suspects.
When considering this situation, locals from Sagaing Division, as well as some from Magway and Mandalay Division, have to struggle hard to survive, and as public defense forces, there is a need to prioritize public protection.
As important as it is to go attack the enemy’s camps, convoys, and base battalion, it is also necessary to urgently consider how to do it to minimize the damage to the public.
It is true that the nature of guerrilla warfare is to live with the local population and attack the military council troops. But because the ongoing raids, arrests, killings, and burning of houses of the targeted local community by the junta troops have resulted in more loss of property and lives for the community, it is becoming difficult for the public to continue to support the revolution. It is necessary to think about the situation so that the public cannot continue to live and support the revolution.
Guerrilla warfare is not a wrong strategy, but it may be necessary to reconsider where it to be conducted. The geographical position of Sagaing Region is different from that of other regional states, so now is probably the time to review the selection of areas where each state or region will fight.