Junta’s Coup Was Declaration of War Against the Myanmar People
Coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing inspects troops during the Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw in March 2021.
The Irrawaddy speaks to David Scott Mathieson, an independent researcher on conflict and peace in Myanmar, about the junta’s decision to stage its coup and how the Myanmar people are resisting the military’s takeover by both non-violent protest and armed resistance. He talks also about the junta’s attempts at divide and rule among the ethnic armed groups and whether the Myanmar military is losing the battle against the People’s Defense Forces, as well as discussing China’s role in the crisis and whether the Myanmar people can expect any substantial help from the international community.
What are your thoughts on the situation in Myanmar since the coup?
I think the current situation is the most desperate since Myanmar became independent after the Second World War. Basically, the February coup was a declaration of war by the military against the Myanmar people. Since then, we have seen fighting throughout the country, especially in Sagaing and Magwe regions and Chin State, the sort of conflict that we haven’t seen before. And then there is the violence in Yangon, Mandalay and Ayeyarwady regions, as well as lots of heavy fighting in Karen and Shan states. Myanmar is a country that the military is trying to destroy so that they can control it. That’s the way I see it. The Myanmar military want a situation where they can say that they are the only ones who can keep the country together. The military say they are trying to prevent the Union from disintegrating, but they are the ones who are destroying the Union. They are the main culprit for what is happening. So they shouldn’t be surprised that a parallel government, the National Unity Government (NUG), has emerged along with the armed resistance groups, the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), even if not many people are actually under the control of the NUG. It is no surprise that the PDF’s are fighting back because they are fighting injustice.
In December, the Myanmar people held a silent strike in protest at the junta. Is there space for a non-violent resistance movement in Myanmar?
I think since the coup what we’re seeing in Myanmar are multiple forms of resistances. Not everyone is going to the jungle to pick up a gun. Not everyone is resisting through violence. People are reacting to the coup in many different ways. The Civil Disobedience Movement and the silent strike are very powerful ways of protesting the regime because they send a very clear message to the military that the people have not forgiven the army for staging the coup. There are other people who will resist by writing poems, or who are still working for businesses or even the government, while doing everything they can to sabotage the junta. It’s not just about picking up guns and fighting, there are lots of different ways to resist the coup and that is OK. People should not be branded as collaborators or anything like that without proof, just because they are not fighting with a gun.
The military regime is trying to negotiate with some ethnic armed groups in the north. They met with some last month in Mong-La in Shan State. But the regime is also attacking some ethnic armed groups in the south, in Karen and Kayah states. What do you think the junta is trying to do?
On the one hand, I think it demonstrates that the junta can’t be trusted. And that anything they say is a lie. They’ve done this so many times before. The northern ethnic armed groups will not be fooled by this. It’s like you talk peace with us, while you attack others? Everyone knows that you can’t trust the Myanmar military. I think this is a very cynical move to try to take some of the northern groups out of the equation, maybe by offering lots of concessions. But a lot of those northern group have not been fighting the military since the coup. They’ve been fighting each other. I think the regime is acting out of desperation because they don’t want those groups to take a side. They don’t have to join the NUG to do that. If they stop fighting each other and put pressure on Myanmar military, that could cause a lot of damage. We’ve seen that with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in Kokang. They’ve been fighting the military quite a lot in the past couple of months. I think this is the Myanmar military once again trying to divide and rule. To me, it’s an act of desperation. I think it shows that the military are very weak and desperate to make some kind of progress.
