by Nai Sac Lun
With an unexpected military coup, the 2020 election-winning political party, National League for Democracy (NLD), its newly formed political front, Committee for Representing Pyithuu Hlawttaw (CRPH), have worked hard to
organize ethnic people in participate in its fight for Federal Democratic Burma/Myanmar. As NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD members made many political mistakes over ethnic people with sentiment of Burman chauvinism. Unity among the majority democrats and the ethnic federalists is a key factor to topple the brutal military rule in the country.
No one had expected and calculated that the Burmese military would need to stage a military coup and seize state power from the Suu Kyi-led elected civilian government, under the 2008 Constitution that had been drawn by the Burmese Army itself to its heart’s content and that had given it so much power. But it did happen on 1st February, 2021. It was unexpected that the military would seize power on that day. The Burmese military does not like to use the term “military coup,” however. It prefers, instead, to use the term “keeping state power temporarily,” in accordance with the Constitution of 2008. As soon as it seized power under the name of the State Administrative Council (SAC), the Burmese military arrested and detained many leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), including the NLD government’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, on various charges. Shortly after the coup, the Burmese military leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, announced and promised that he would hold a general election in one year and would hand over power to any political party that would win the election. The Burmese military justified the coup that there had been a serious fraud in the general election held in November 2020, in which the Suu Kyi-led NLD won a landslide victory. The November 2020 general election was basically considered and accepted as free and fair both by the peoples of Myanmar and internationally, though there could have been a few flaws and mistakes in that election.
The past military junta, initially known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and later known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), ruled the country from 1988 through 2010. It was the military regime SLORC/ SPDC which went its own way and drew the undemocratic Constitution of 2008. Under this military-drawn undemocratic constitution, no one would think that the Burmese military would need to seize power from the elected civilian government which had only limited power.
After the February 2021 coup, the people from all walks of life in Myanmar took to the streets and rose up against the military coup, amid and regardless of the Covid-19 pandemic. The military junta (SAC) responded violently and brutally, shooting, killing and arresting many of the peaceful demonstrators who took part in the anti-military-dictatorship and pro-democracy nationwide uprisings. A large number of public servants and government employees from all sectors went on strike and participated in a Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), opposing the February 2021 military coup and demanding an immediate restoration of democracy in the country. The Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was so effective that the military junta (SAC) could not easily lay its foundation to function as a government until after five months of the coup. Because of the Burmese military regime SAC’s violence and brutality, many innocent people, including children, have shed blood. The international community has been disgusted by the brutal and barbarous acts of the Burmese military regime (SAC) and has seriously condemned it. The Western countries, especially the United States and the European Union (EU) countries, have increasingly imposed economic sanctions on the military junta (SAC). However, the countries of Communist China and Russia that have the power of veto in the United Nations’ Security Council have as usual been on the side of the Burmese military regime (SAC), opposing and blocking the passing of any strong resolutions in the UN Security Council, including military intervention such as the UN’s Responsibility To Protect (R2P), to effectively punish the Burmese military regime (SAC) and protect the defenseless people of Myanmar. Having been faced by the continued uprisings of the people, the determined defiance of orders and non-cooperation by the public servants and employees participating in the CDM, the emergence of an armed struggle of the ethnic majority Burman people who have chosen to take up arms as a last resort, the military attacks of some major ethnic non-Burman armed groups, along with the mounting international pressure, the Burmese military junta (SAC) has been in a fix and in a tight corner, experiencing great difficulty to stay in power. Until after five months of time has passed since its coup on 1st February, the Burmese military regime (SAC) has not been able to fully function as a government and bring the country under its complete control. Nevertheless, the junta SAC has stubbornly continued its violence against the peoples of Myanmar, killing, arresting and torturing them each day. Now, after five months of the military coup, more than 800 innocent people, including children and women, have been shot and killed. More than 5000 others have been arrested, detained and imprisoned by the junta (SAC).
A blessing amongst the bad things
The Burmese military regime SAC will eventually be doomed to collapse as a result of its own brutality which is the only strength and power it relies on in its all-out attempt to intimidate and control the peoples of Myanmar. The gross human rights violations and the crimes against humanity committed by members of the Burmese Army in the cities and towns since the military coup on 1st February 2021 have included shooting and killing, arbitrary arrest and detention, maltreatment, torture including torture to death, denial of the rights to medical care for those who were shot and wounded, looting and plundering, destruction of properties, and so on. The people including children are not safe when they are on the streets and even when they are at their own homes. Now that the modern communication methods are highly advanced, all the barbarous acts and atrocities of the SAC/ Burmese Army are quickly known to all the peoples of Myanmar and the international community minute by minute through the social media such as Facebook.
Now, especially the ethnic majority Burman people have realized the true nature and characteristics of the barbarous Burmese Army after clearly seeing with their own eyes all its recent atrocities and heinous crimes committed against them since the February 2021 coup. The ethnic Burman people themselves have now come to hate and loathe the barbarous Burmese Army. They can no longer tolerate its rule at all. The SAC/ Burmese Army will never be forgiven by the ethnic Burman people as well – for all its barbarities and atrocities.
At the same time, the ethnic majority Burman people, by comparison, have now realized and come to believe how brutal and ferocious the Burmese Army must have been against the ethnic minority groups of the country such as the Mon, Karen, Kachin, Karenni (aka Kayah), Chin, Rakhine, Shan and so on, all through the over 7 decades of the civil war in Myanmar. The ethnic Burman people in general have also realized the tragedy of the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, against whom the Burmese Army has committed genocide. As a result, the ethnic Burman people have had more understanding and sympathy now than ever before for all the oppressed ethnic minority groups as well as the stateless, oppressed Rohingya Muslims. All the peoples of Myanmar, the ethnic Burman and non-Burman alike, are now more united than ever before in their struggle to get rid of the barbarous SAC/ Burmese Army. This unity between the ethnic Burman majority and non-Burman minority groups has never happened before. It is a very good thing.
Moreover, the NLD members of parliament elected in the November 2020 general election and having the mandate of the peoples of Myanmar have formed the Committee Representing Pyihtaungsu Hluttaw or Union Parliament (CRPH) against the Burmese military junta SAC. Since its formation, the CRPH has declared that the military junta SAC is an illegal and terrorist group. The CRPH has also declared that all the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) fighting for freedom and self-determination have officially been removed from the list of illegal or insurgent organizations and have been recognized as legal organizations. The CRPH has further declared the abolition of the undemocratic Constitution of 2008 which is upheld by the Burmese junta SAC. Shortly after the CRPH came to existence, the National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel government, was formed with elected NLD members and ethnic non-Burman members to continue the fight for emergence of a genuine Federal Democratic Union which is the ultimate political goal of all the peoples of Myanmar. The CRPH/ NUG has been trying its best and hardest to work together as one with all the ethnic political organizations, both armed and unarmed. The CRPH/NUG, along with all the ethnic peoples, has aspired to establish a Federal Union Army with full participation of all the ethnic revolution armies. In the interim before the aspired Federal Union Army can practically be established, the CRPH/NUG has now started establishing the People’s Defense Force (PDF) for defending the defenseless peoples of Myanmar being under the oppression of the barbarous and brutal military dictatorship. Some major ethnic armed groups, such as the Karen National Union (KNU) in the south and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in the north, have already started cooperating with the CRPH/ NUG/ PDF by attacking the Burmese Army, by giving protection for those anti-junta activists and CDM members who have escaped persecution, by giving basic military trainings to those ethnic Burman recruits who would like to serve in the People’s Defense Force (PDF), and so on. All the ethnic Burman and non-Burman leading forces are now more united than ever before, both politically and militarily, in their common fight to overthrow the evil military dictatorship once and for all and to establish a genuine Federal Democratic Union of Myanmar, which is the only solution for the long-standing political problems in the country. This unity and solidarity gained between all the ethnic Burman and non-Burman leading forces has never happened before. It is a blessing amongst the bad things. Therefore, it is of crucial importance for all the ethnic Burman and non-Burman leaders to utilize and take advantage of this blessing wisely, carefully and effectively for the common struggle to bring about lasting peace, justice, freedom and racial harmony in Myanmar.
The Prevailing Doubtfulness
On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that there are many people amongst the ethnic non-Burman groups who still have doubts about and question the trustworthiness and reliability of both the ethnic majority Burman people in general and the ethnic Burman leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders. As a matter of fact, the ethnic non-Burman people’s distrust of the ethnic Burman and NLD leaders has all been caused by the NLD itself. During the 5-year term from 2015 to 2020 when they had some power shared with the Burmese military, the ruling NLD party and Aung San Suu Kyi were haughty and arrogant in their relationship with the ethnic non-Burman groups. They did not regard the ethnic non-Burman groups on an equal footing. They wanted to treat the ethnic non-Burman minority groups like their subordinates. While they were in power, the NLD leaders even publicly stated that the NLD had no allies and would not ally itself with any other democratic or ethnic opposition forces. The NLD leaders further even boldly expressed that the ethnic minority groups should stay under the NLD party and strive for their rights if they wanted their rights. By so saying, they showed their blatant disregard for the ethnic non-Burman groups that had faithfully been standing with them for so long when the NLD was seriously suppressed and Aung San Suu Kyi was detained under house arrest by the last military junta SLORC/SPDC. In the point of view of the ethnic non-Burman groups, the NLD leaders have just ignored their past.
Although the NLD had agreed to amend the Article 261 of the Constitution of 2008 when it was an opposition party before becoming a government, it changed its stance and refused to amend it after it had become a government, giving a reason that the Burmese military had been occupying the 25 per cent unelected, appointed seats in parliament. An amendment of that article of the constitution had been desired and consistently been demanded by all the ethnic non-Burman minority groups that would like to select and appoint their own chief ministers of their own ethnic states where they had won the majority of seats – not to be selected and appointed by the President from the ruling party. The NLD’s refusal to amend the Article 261 had made the ethnic non-Burman groups upset and dissatisfied with the NLD. From the point of view of the ethnic non-Burman minority groups, the NLD was inconsistent and unreliable, saying one thing before and saying another thing after becoming a government; and the NLD had no goodwill towards the ethnic non-Burman groups. Even though the local Rakhine and Shan political parties had won the majority of seats in their respective state parliaments in the 2015 general election, the NLD neither allowed them to form their own state governments nor allowed them even to appoint their own chief ministers in the Rakhine State and Shan State. Instead, the NLD had picked its own ethnic Rakhine and Shan members loyal to it and appointed them as chief ministers of the Rakhine State and Shan State. It was clear that the NLD lacked the goodwill to share power with the ethnic minority groups. This attitude of the NLD made the ethnic non-Burman groups unhappy with the NLD.
When it was in power, the NLD was unwilling to realize and make effective even a little bit of the rights of the ethnic minorities recognized and granted under the undemocratic Constitution of 2008. It was clear that the NLD lacked the goodwill to recognize and protect the rights of the ethnic minority groups in practice. Furthermore, all the ethnic non-Burman minority groups desire an amendment of the Constitution of 2008 to change to a Proportional Representation (PR) system, which they believe is more beneficial to them. This proposal for a constitutional change to the PR system was also supported by the Burmese military so it could have been passed successfully in parliament if the NLD while in power had a will to amend it. However, the NLD government had rejected it right away and instead had only focused on establishing its own power to influence and overwhelm the entire affairs of the country. The NLD had tenaciously been grasping the existing system of “Win 51% and Take the Whole.” The NLD government on the one hand claimed that it had been striving for a fundamental change of the undemocratic Constitution of 2008, but on the other hand, the NLD while in power had, with great relish, been using those parts of the undemocratic constitution that were to its liking.
The Committee Representing Pyihtaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) has formed the National Unity Government (NUG), the parallel government in which many members of the ethnic non-Burman groups participate along with the NLD members elected from the November 2020 general election, plus some scholars and activists. The NLD/ CRPH/ NUG has also planned and announced to establish a Federal Union Army (FUA) with full participation of the ethnic non-Burman armed organizations that have now been recognized and regarded as legal partners and allies of the NLD/ CRPH/ NUG to fight together for the overthrow of the military junta SAC. Five months have passed since the coup. The political situation now is very much different from the situation before the NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and detained at the time of the military coup on the 1st of February 2021. Will Aung San Suu Kyi fully agree with the rest of her NLD party and accept the prevailing political developments and arrangements to overthrow the SAC/ Burmese Army by joining hands with the ethnic non-Burman insurgent groups? Aung San Suu Kyi has a strong feeling of love and attachment for the Burmese Army that her late father had established. So, should the Burmese Army’s leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing offer to negotiate with her if he cannot go on, whoever can guarantee that Aung San Suu Kyi will not lean towards the Burmese Army in that scenario? Has she now realized and will she now admit that her past political stand has been wrong? No one knows her current stance exactly yet. In my point of view as an ethnic non-Burman person, we cannot trust her fully until we can hear her words of such admission coming from her very mouth.
In spite of the fact that she has been seriously wrong, Aung San Suu Kyi still has so much influence over her NLD party as well as the ethnic Burman people in general who are her loyal supporters. Even though she has made a serious mistake politically, there is still no one from her NLD party and her ethnic Burman supporters who wants or dares to criticize her or point out her mistakes. Only now, the NLD/ CRPH/ NUG members like Dr. Sa Sa have been trying hard to prosecute the Burmese Army and its top generals in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the genocide or crimes against humanity the Burmese Army has committed against the Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minority groups. Dr. Sa Sa, the NLD/ CRPH/ NUG international representative, was recently asked by a foreign journalist a direct question if it is true that it was the NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi herself having protected the Burmese Army from being prosecuted at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for possible genocide it had committed against the Rohingyas in Rakhine State. Dr. Sa Sa, not daring to answer that Aung San Suu Kyi had been wrong, began to ramble and gave irrelevant answers by saying this and that. When that foreign journalist repeatedly pressed him to answer his question, then Dr. Sa Sa answered that he could not say anything about the past and only wanted to talk about the future, thus avoiding answering the “yes or no question” being asked. If Aung San Suu Kyi now realizes that she has been wrong, it is important for her to sincerely admit her mistakes and make an apology both to the peoples of Myanmar, including the Rohingya Muslims, and to the international community so that her apology may be accepted and she may be respected again. The NLD people should be brave enough to point out the mistakes of their leader. If they dare not point out their leader’s mistakes or if they act as yes-men, it is the same as making their leader to become a dictator. It may also make their leader think that whatever she does is right. Though the loss is not big when an ordinary person has made a mistake, when the leader of a government or country has made a big mistake, the whole country may suffer a great loss.
Now, the junta SAC/ Burmese Army is on one side and the NLD/ CRPH/ NUG/ PDF on the other side, and the two main Burman groups are fiercely fighting each other, each group trying to overthrow or annihilate the other. Some people think that this is a golden opportunity for the ethnic non-Burman peoples to fight for their rights. On the other hand, the ethnic non-Burman groups are still concerned for their future. Should the two warring Burman groups be on good terms again in the future, they may once again be turning against the ethnic non-Burman groups. There have been enough historical lessons for the ethnic non-Burman groups: Whenever the Burman were united as one force, the ethnic non-Burman groups were in trouble. That is why the ethnic non-Burman groups have their doubts about the ethnic Burman.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s Great Mistake and Great Loss
Previously, when Aung San Suu Kyi was the democratic opposition leader and was being detained under house arrest for many years, the whole world highly admired her as a democracy icon and continuously and wholeheartedly supported her for her courage and the sacrifices she made in her struggle to bring peace, freedom and democracy in Myanmar. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In honor of her undaunted courage and sacrifice for democracy and human rights, the world community had given her over a hundred big and small prizes. During her long, arduous journey for democracy, as the whole world had given her its highest praise and admiration, she was well lit with glory. There was no one on earth to rival and vie with her. All the peoples of Myanmar, Burman and non-Burman alike, loved and trusted her. Even more than the ethnic non-Burman peoples, the people of ethnic Burman origin were all proud of her and happily took pride in her glory and fame. Too many of the people of ethnic Burman origin have until now respected and admired her more than a human being; they have worshipped her as if she were a faultless, divine goddess. As soon as the Suu Kyi-led NLD party won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election, a Rohingya man who was my co-worker working at a factory in the State of Indiana, the USA, happily told me: We, the Rohingya people, can now go home in Myanmar safely and with dignity because Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party has won the general election. Aung San Suu Kyi did really offer hope for everybody.
I was for the first time aware of her stand deviating from the truth, concerning the China-invested copper project at Letpantaung. Her NLD party won the by-election in 2012 and she was elected to the parliament. As far as I can remember, the then military-backed civilian government led by President U Thein Sein appointed and empowered her as the chair of the copper project inquiry commission with a task to find out the facts of the case and decide fairly between the local people and the Burmese police force that used violence in cracking down on the local people’s protest against the project. As a result of the police force’s suppression using incendiary bombs, many of the protesting Buddhist monks were badly injured and suffered severe burns. Amongst the badly injured monks, those who were in more critical conditions even had to go and receive medical care in neighboring Thailand. However, Aung San Suu Kyi stood on the side of the protest-suppressing Burmese police force and officially provided protection for the police officers responsible for the violent crackdown, instead of recommending punishment of the police officers. On her final report after her inquiry, Aung San Suu Kyi officially concluded that the police force had properly performed its duty to enforce the laws and protect the rule of law; and that the police force had used only smoke bombs, no incendiary bombs. Even a dog could distinguish incendiary bombs from smoke bombs, let alone human beings endowed with intelligence and knowledge. But, Aung San Suu Kyi had persistently been refusing to accept that the bombs having been used by the police in suppressing the protesters were the incendiary bombs. Because of her unjust decision and deviation from the truth, the local people were deeply saddened and disappointed, feeling great sorrow and helplessness.
Nonetheless, out of great respect and love for her, none of the ethnic Burman people could afford to oppose or blame her. As it was the time when she was at the peak of her glory and fame, there was no one in entire Myanmar who wanted to point out her mistakes and weaknesses. Under all her glory and fame previously, the peoples of Myanmar had thought that she was the only one to rely on, she was the only savior, and everything she said or did was the truth. Even now, her NLD members as well as her fellow ethnic Burman people still cannot afford to blame her for her mistakes but are always ready to forgive her for all her mistakes and weaknesses. I have noticed that some outspoken members of the ethnic non-Burman groups sometimes criticize Aung San Suu Kyi on social media such as Facebook. On such occasions, her fellow ethnic Burman supporters who worship her like a divine goddess always become intolerable and in response swear at those who have been criticizing Aung San Suu Kyi. On one occasion, one of such her supporters responded aggressively to an ethnic non-Burman person criticizing her on Facebook, like this: “Don’t touch our Mom, you stupid guy. If you touch our Mom, look at this sword.”
There have been three main groups for Aung San Suu Kyi to persuade so they will all support and continue to support her: 1) The international community 2) the ethnic non-Burman peoples including the ethnic armed organizations and 3) the Burmese Army. The ethnic Burman group is not counted here as one of the groups for her to persuade especially, for it is a hard core for her. Members of the ethnic Burman group are all her loyal supporters who will love and support her forever as their hero or their Mother.
After her NLD party won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election, Aung San Suu Kyi officially became the State Counselor to lead the NLD government, though she could not become a President under the military-drawn undemocratic Constitution of 2008. As she became the State Counselor and de facto leader of the NLD government, she began to sway and change a lot, leaning more and more towards the Burmese Army or Tatmadaw, under the slogan of “national reconciliation.” She and her NLD government failed to strive to do all that should have and could have been done in terms of improving human rights, promoting freedoms, amending the unjust laws, protecting the rights of the ethnic minority groups, and so on. The worst thing the world community could not continue to support her was the way she handled the issue of the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. When the Burmese Army had committed the flagrant human rights violations against the Rohingya community in 2016/ 2017, Aung San Suu Kyi continuously failed to condemn the Burmese Army and even failed to express her words of sympathy and protection for the seriously oppressed Rohingyas. The global community was frustrated at the way she had been dealing with the Rohingyas and started criticizing and blaming her. Her glory and fame as a democracy icon and a human rights hero began to fade away globally. Finally, the world community could not tolerate her anymore and accept her any longer when she went herself and defended the Burmese Army from being prosecuted for possible genocide against the Rohingyas, at the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands in late 2019. On the other hand, she failed to protect and even failed to say a single word of sympathy and compassion for the Rohingya people, against whom the Burmese Army had perpetrated all sorts of horrible human rights abuses and atrocities. Instead of protecting the oppressed, Aung San Suu Kyi had protected the perpetrators. The world community could not accept her at all any more. The world community withdrew one after another of the many prizes having once been awarded to her in honor of her conviction, courage and sacrifice in fighting for peace, freedom, justice and democracy. The pictures of her, which had once been posted up in public places of honor in some Western countries including France, were removed because she no longer deserved such honoring. She could not salvage her global reputation. She lost all the support, admiration and praise of the world.
Despite her loss of the world’s admiration and support, she did not seem to care and be sorry about it but continued trying hard to win the Burmese Army’s approval and favor. It seemed that it was the most important for her to persuade the Burmese Army to accept her and support her political role in Myanmar. Those members of the ethnic Burman majority group who respect and worship her like a divine goddess, like a faultless hero or like their beloved mother showed their wholehearted support for her, shouting “We Stand With You, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” when she went to defend the Burmese Army at the International Court of Justice. These Burman people were even angry and dissatisfied with the global community that was blaming Aung San Suu Kyi for her heavy bias against the oppressed Rohingyas. In actual fact, the world has not changed in opposing the oppression and supporting the oppressed; it is just Aung San Suu Kyi who has changed and deviated from her original stand for the oppressed, for the truth and for the moral code and principle.
How do the ethnic non-Burman peoples see Aung San Suu Kyi? How do they feel about her?
As has been mentioned briefly, Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD government had not done anything noticeable whatever, in terms of recognizing, promoting and protecting the rights of the ethnic non-Burman minority groups in the country. She and her NLD government had shown no interest and had failed to even make effective a little bit of the rights of the ethnic minority groups already being granted by the existing undemocratic, non-federal Constitution of 2008. She and her NLD government had also rejected right away the proposal for the introduction and realization of the mother-tongue-based, multi-lingual education system, desired and proposed by the ethnic non-Burman minority groups, including the Mon who have already introduced the mother-tongue-based Mon education system in all their Mon National Schools for the last several decades and need the recognition and support from the government. Aung San Suu Kyi had expressed her opposition against the proposal, saying in Burmese: “There are so many ethnic minority groups in Myanmar. If it is to be taught in all the many ethnic languages in state schools, it would only confuse the schoolchildren and complicate things. And the entire education system would be mixed up and confused. It is, therefore, unrealistic and impossible to introduce and adopt such an education system.” The ethnic non-Burman peoples of the country, including the Mon, have systematically been deprived of their birth rights to teach and learn their own ethnic languages and to preserve their own cultural heritage. The ethnic non-Burman peoples, including the Mon, are not allowed to study their own ethnic languages in state schools, whereas Burman/ Burmese is made the only official language in the country and taught as a major subject from kindergarten through university. Aung San Suu Kyi’s stand against the introduction of an education system based on the ethnic mother tongues and her rejection of the proposal had displeased, disappointed and dissatisfied the ethnic non-Burman groups in the country The successive Burman leaders in power have all consistently ignored the ethnic non-Burman demands for their birth rights. A Burman is a Burman. Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burman too and is no exception in following and exercising their traditional policy of Burman superiority and ethnocentrism.
As has been mentioned briefly, the ethnic Rakhine and Shan peoples exceptionally won the vast majority of seats in their respective States in the 2015 general election, whereas the Suu Kyi-led NLD party won a landslide victory in the whole country. Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party, however, did not allow the ethnic Rakhine and Shan groups to even pick and appoint their own Chief Ministers for their own States, let alone allowing them to form their own Rakhine and Shan state governments. This lack of magnanimity on the part of Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD government had especially displeased and disappointed the ethnic Rakhine and Shan peoples. The Suu Kyi-led NLD government had monopolized power and only prioritized its centralized control of power, unwilling to share power with the ethnic minority groups. The ethnic non-Burman minority groups all felt that Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party had not had goodwill towards them.
Based on the fact that it has had many ethnic non-Burman members faithfully supporting it, the Suu Kyi-led NLD party always claims that it represents not just the ethnic Burman majority group alone but also represents the ethnic non-Burman minority groups. However, the ethnic non-Burman peoples reject the NLD’s claim. The ethnic non-Burman peoples have had their own ethnic armed organizations as well as their own legal political parties to represent them, in their fight against the Burman ethnocentric rule and the military dictatorship. In actual fact, the ethnic non-Burman struggle for freedom and self-determination has been in existence far longer than the NLD party itself. The ethnic non-Burman struggle for freedom and self-determination is older than the NLD’s struggle for democracy. Whatever it may be, we all need to fight together in a more compatible and united manner in order to bring the long-standing military dictatorship to an end and establish democracy and federal system of government that all the peoples of Myanmar desire and deserve.
One other ugly political maneuver of the NLD government was using its own ethnic non-Burman members and supporters as pawns to play against the ethnic non-Burman political parties. For instance, after winning the 2015 general election, the NLD picked and appointed U Nyi Pu, who was an NLD party member of ethnic Rakhine origin, to the position of Chief Minister of Rakhine State in order to affect the ethnic Rakhine people’s acceptance and support. This maneuver of the NLD, however, failed to achieve its desired objective of persuading and pleasing the ethnic non-Burman peoples. Though it is true that U Nyi Pu is of ethnic Rakhine origin, he was only ready to do everything instructed by the NLD leadership in terms of the NLD policy and agenda, rather than representing the Rakhine people and having the ethnic Rakhine people’s best interests at heart. The NLD’s appointment of U Nyi Pu as Chief Minister of Rakhine State had been strongly opposed by the ethnic Rakhine political parties, but the NLD did not care about it. The NLD would have thought flippantly that such competition was fair and natural in a democracy. In so doing, the NLD had unintentionally created an undesirable, hostile environment between the NLD’s ethnic Rakhine members, such as U Nyi Pu, and the ethnic Rakhine political parties’ members. The NLD had used its own ethnic non-Burman members as pawns for its control of power in the ethnic non-Burman States. As the competition became intense and severe, the distrust and enmity had increased between the NLD Rakhine and the non-NLD Rakhine people. The NLD, intentionally or unintentionally, had created such a situation in which the non-NLD Rakhine and NLD Rakhine people had regarded each other more as enemies than rivals, thus dividing the ethnic Rakhine community into two opposing groups.
The NLD’s one other all-out attempt, the intended result of which was not clear to others was its ambitious erection of the statues of General Aung San, the Burma independence hero and father of the NLD leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in the several ethnic non-Burman States, including Kayah State and Mon State, against the will of the local ethnic non-Burman peoples. In early 2019, the Kayah people rallied in opposition to the statues of General Aung San put up in their cities. During the demonstrations, the Kayah activists shouted: “We don’t want Aung San’s statues. We the Kayah people only want Aung San’s promises to be fulfilled.” In response, the Suu Kyi-led NLD government arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned the several leaders of the Kayah activists. These acts of the NLD had only aroused the feelings of bitterness and hatred towards the NLD by the ethnic non-Burman minority groups, rather than producing any desirable results for the NLD.
There was also an incident occurring in Mon State in March 2017, in which Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD government lost the trust and support of the Mon people. A new bridge that connected the city of Mawlamyine and the island of Balugyun was named for General Aung San, the Burma independence hero and Aung San Suu Kyi’s father. More than 25,000 Mon people rallied in opposition to the name “Aung San Bridge.” The Mon people preferred to name the bridge for “Ramanya” which means Monland. The Suu Kyi-led NLD government ignored the expressed will of the Mon people and decided in parliament to keep the name “Aung San Bridge” anyway. The Suu Kyi-led NLD government similarly used Mi Kun Chan, an NLD member of ethnic Mon origin, a businesswoman and a member of Mon State Parliament, in an effort to keep the name “Aung San Bridge” anyway, without caring about the consistent, strong opposition from the Mon community. The NLD had Mi Kun Chan bring the case to the Mon State Parliament, where the NLD members were in the majority, to take a vote on the matter. The name “Aung San Bridge” was finally confirmed and adopted by the Mon State Parliament with a majority decision. The Mon people felt that this act of Suu Kyi’s NLD government was an act of bullying. From the common point of view of the Mon people, Mi Kun Chan, though she is a Mon, did not represent them; she was no more than a sycophant of the then State Counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi. After this incident, the Mon people came to realize the fact that they could not rely on and expect much in terms of getting their own birth rights from the NLD party/ government that could not even give them a bridge’s name.
One more bad thing happened when Dr. Aung Naing Oo, an election candidate from the Mon Unity Party (MUP), was elected from the Balugyun/ Chaungzon constituency in Mon State in the November 2020 general election. His losing opponent, who also is of ethnic Mon origin (whose name I do not remember) from the NLD party, filed a suit of election fraud against Dr. Aung Naing Oo. Although it could be said that such accusation and contesting was natural in a democracy, it had a very bad effect on the Mon community on the other hand. It caused a hostile environment between the NLD-supporting Mon and the MUP-supporting Mon people, dividing the Mon community into two opposing groups. But the NLD did not care about it at all. The NLD had single-mindedly been focusing on winning the election whatever the cost might be.
Towards the ethnic non-Burman armed organizations also, Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD government had been arrogant and insulting. To point out one of the most well-known instances, Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD government, in March 2020, declared the ethnic Rakhine armed group, the Arakan Army (AA), as a terrorist group to please the Burmese Army. Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD government even ordered the Burmese Army, which was never under their control, to crush and annihilate the more than 10,000-strong Arakan Army (AA). In apparently referring to the Arakan Army, Aung San Suu Kyi had said in Burmese using her insulting language: “Stop fantasizing and daydreaming, by taking up arms, that your dreams will ever come true.” This statement of Aung San Suu Kyi had belittled and insulted not just the ethnic Rakhine armed group AA alone but the entire ethnic non-Burman armed opposition groups that have been in the vanguard of the long-standing struggle, defying the ethnocentric Burman rule and the brutal military dictatorship. They have all been fighting and sacrificing for freedom and self-determination of their respective ethnic non-Burman peoples for the last more than seven decades since the country’s independence from Britain. By so arrogantly saying, she spontaneously meant that her non-violent struggle was more important and effective than the armed struggle of the ethnic non-Burman groups. The ethnic non-Burman peoples had also fought for their rights legally and in a non-violent means initially. But in the face of the brutal, violent suppression of the Burmese Army, they had all found it unavoidable to take up arms as a last resort to resist the violent suppression and fight on for their birth rights to self-determination. Aung San Suu Kyi does not seem to realize and understand this historical fact. Actually, both her non-violent struggle and the older armed resistance movement of the ethnic non-Burman peoples are important and necessary to bring the brutal military dictatorship to an end. We should understand that both struggles play their parts with one same aspiration of overthrowing the military dictatorship; so the two struggles should be compatible and harmonious.
Regarding the age-old civil war being fought between the Burmese Army and the multiracial ethnic armed groups, in my opinion, even though Aung San Suu Kyi could not support and stand on the side of the oppressed ethnic minority peoples, it is no problem and it is still fine. The ethnic minority peoples could well understand her difficult role to play between the Burmese Army and the ethnic minority armed organizations. But she should in no way have stood with and stood on the side of the Burmese Army that has traditionally abused and oppressed the ethnic minority peoples, or that is seen by them as their common enemy. Though she could not stand with the oppressed ethnic peoples, she should have and could have stood neutral between the Burmese Army and the ethnic armed groups; she should not have taken sides between the warring parties, in light of her glory as a world-famed Nobel Peace Prize Winner. As she had sided with the Burmese Army, traditionally notorious for human rights violations as well as for blocking the country’s transition to democracy, she could not be supported any more by both the ethnic non-Burman minority peoples and the world community. By siding with and supporting the Burmese Army, she lost all the support of both the ethnic minority peoples and the world community. One may herein argue that by standing neutral between the warring parties, Aung San Suu Kyi would have lost the support of the Burmese Army much earlier and a military coup could have happened much earlier. That is true. My point here is that though she could have lost the Burmese Army’s support earlier, she would not have lost the ethnic non-Burman peoples’ support and would not have lost the world’s support. It would be the lesser of two evils for her. Now, she has lost the support of the ethnic non-Burman peoples, the support of the world, and eventually the support of the Burmese Army. She has lost everything, except only the support of her fellow ethnic Burman people.
During its 5-year period in power from 2015 through 2020, the Suu Kyi-led NLD government became more and more the same as the Burmese Army in opinion and attitude. The NLD government repeatedly publicly stated that the protracted civil war in Myanmar – war fought between the Burmese Army and the ethnic non-Burman armed groups for over 70 years – was the result of the divide-and-rule policy having been practiced by the colonial British. By putting the blame on the long-gone colonial British, the Suu Kyi-led NLD government failed to admit and acknowledge that the actual cause of the civil war in Myanmar is the Burman ethnocentrism and the inequality of rights between the ethnic Burman majority and non-Burman minority groups. In reality, the “National Reconciliation” that she has been proclaiming means no more than her NLD government’s reconciliation with the Burmese Army that her late father General Aung San had established. The reconciliation with the ethnic non-Burman armed groups had been seen by her as a low priority. As a result, the trust and support for her from the ethnic non-Burman peoples had declined significantly during her 5-year stay in power.
Apparently, the most important thing for Aung San Suu Kyi was to win the favor and support of the Burmese Army. To keep the world’s support and the ethnic non-Burman peoples’ support was apparently her low priority. She would say and do anything to please the Burmese Army whenever she had a chance to. She so proudly said in Burmese: “Since my father is the father of the Tatmadaw, the Tatmadaw and I are relatives by blood.” Regarding the battles previously fought between the Burmese Army and the ethnic Kachin and Rakhine armed groups, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Arakan Army (AA), on behalf of her NLD government, she often used to say in Burmese: “We honor and take a great pride in the members of the Tatmadaw who have fought so bravely and have won the battles.” By this expression, she clearly showed that she sided with the Burmese Army in the civil war. On the other hand, she failed to express any words of sympathy for tens of thousands of the ethnic Kachin and Rakhine refugees who were fleeing for their lives.
What did Aung San Suu Kyi eventually get from the Burmese Army that her late father had founded and that she loves so much? On February the 1st, 2021, the Burmese Army staged a military coup under the banner of the State Administrative Council (SAC) and abolished her NLD government. Following the coup, the army junta SAC arrested and detained her, along with President U Win Myint and many other core NLD members. She was prosecuted with various charges big and small by the military junta SAC. Now, the military junta SAC/ Burmese Army has shown its clear intention to keep her in detention for the rest of her lifetime as well as to effectively suppress her NLD party so that it cannot operate any more. The Burmese Army or Tatmadaw that she loves and favors has now regarded her as its deadly enemy. She has sacrificed the admiration and support of both the world community and the ethnic non-Burman peoples for hopefully gaining the support and favor of the Burmese Army. Eventually, she has also lost the Burmese Army’s support that she has always been longing for. She has now lost everything. By always taking sides with the Burmese Army, she has been like “watering the poison tree” that has finally harmed herself. Now, she has reaped the harvest of supporting the murderous Burmese Army. It is no one but herself who has created her own great loss in the end. By now, she should have realized and understood her own great mistake. Hopefully, she may by now be full of remorse for what she has done.
Conclusion
If Aung San Suu Kyi is ready to publicly admit her wrong and apologize to all the oppressed peoples of Myanmar as well as to the world community, she may be forgiven for her mistakes. Plus, if she is ready to vow publicly that she will as of now truly stand with all the oppressed peoples of Myanmar and fight decisively against the oppressive regime, she could be accepted and supported again by all the oppressed peoples of Myanmar and the global community as well. Otherwise, her leadership role in Myanmar’s politics will be ended here and now.
Since the military coup on February the 1st, 2021, her NLD members and followers have been walking on a completely new path by fully joining hands with all the ethnic non-Burman forces in order to overthrow the brutal military dictatorship once and for all. The Myanmar political order has changed completely since her detention on the day of the coup. Will she now be ready to follow her followers who have chosen and taken the new path? Will she be willing and able to lead the NLD/ CRPH/ NUG/ PDF? Can this time the ethnic non-Burman peoples really trust the ethnic Burman people and leaders? The time has come for the ethnic Burman majority people and their leaders to show their genuine goodwill and trustworthiness to the ethnic non-Burman groups. Now is the best time ever for both the ethnic Burman and non-Burman peoples to fight together to overthrow the brutal Burman-dominated military dictatorship.
