Myanmar Spring Chronicle – April 14 Scenes
MoeMaKa, April 15 2023
Thingyan being promoted or not & the decisive for political victory?
It is not just this year that Thingyan is becoming an arena of political competition. Since 2021, Thingyan has been transformed into a place for political competition, political organization, and political instigation, as well as to show off political strength.
Not just traditional festivals like Thingyan have become a place for political competition, but big days and events for religious celebrations often have the shadow of political competition. Not only does this kind of politics in Myanmar have a shadow effect on other fields, but we will see similar incidents happening internationally. For example, boycotts of the Olympic Games due to political events have already been seen in international events. It should be said that the idea that sports are just sports and religion is just religion is no longer a popular idea.
In Myanmar, Thingyan Festival has been transformed into a political arena since the Thingyan Festival which was held more than 3 months after the military coup in 2021. For those who lost their lives and were detained, the public was urged not to celebrate Thingyan 2021 as a silent and completely non-participating Thingyan. Most of the people stayed quiet that year. Last year’s 2022 Thingyan also saw the continuation of the silent strike action. It was a Thingyan festival that was not crowded and many people avoided participating in the festival. On the one hand, some may not dare to go to the pavilions in crowded places due to statements by the urban guerrillas who warned them not to go to the water splash pavilions sponsored by the military council, and that they would carry out attacks and explosions.
In this year’s Thingyan, the effects of political and military battles are still there without diminishing like the previous year. Since before Thingyan, the anti-dictatorship forces have urged the public not to participate in Thingyan celebrations sponsored by the military council. Urban guerrillas have issued warnings not to go near the pavilions made by the military council because explosive attacks can occur, and there are many people who avoid crowds and pavilions during Thingyan. On the other hand, the military council tries to attract their supporters, people from the suburbs of the cities, and those who are far away from the political community and information by arranging cars, giving them travel expenses, and trying to show that Thingyan is crowded.
It is true that it is becoming a platform to measure the level of public support for Thingyan, whether it is falling, stagnant, or rising. However, I think that we should not directly conclude the victory of the revolution by whether or not people are happy and participating in the Thingyan festival. Rather than judging the victory of the revolution by a single measure of public activism, the revolution will be successful when conditions such as strategy and tactics, the ability to understand and use our own strengths and the timing of the situation, the ability of allied organizations to work together, and the need to carry out a decisive battle in a perfect state of both strength and strategy are fulfilled.
It is also necessary to avoid the illusion that the enemy is already collapsing on its own. It is a false hope to imagine a situation where the enemy will break down by itself. It is most important not to forget that the victory is directly related to having the right strategy, tactics, alliance formation, organization of the forces, and being under one command.