Situation in Myanmar is heating up. Indonesia’s neighbor has been in a civil war since the military junta led by Min Aung Hlaing coup the civilian government in February 2021.
Until now, resistance from anti-junta militias continues. Many people have decided to criticize or fight against the ruling military junta.
Most recently, this war has finally dragged the Buddhist religious group. On Tuesday (23/1/2024), hundreds of people stood in Pyin Oo Lwin’s small square, a popular hillside town in Myanmar, to listen to a popular monk give surprising advice.
“Min Aung Hlaing needs to step down and let his deputy General Soe Win take over,” said the far-right monk Pauk Ko Taw, as quoted by the BBC.
Pauk himself is still loyal to the military junta. However, a series of heavy defeats suffered by the army at the hands of ethnic militias in recent weeks have pushed Min Aung Hlaing’s supporters to reconsider.
“Look at Soe Win’s face. That’s the face of a true soldier. Min Aung Hlaing can’t match it. He should switch to a civilian role,” added Pauk.
It is unclear what kind of support Pauk Ko Taw has in the military. But his comments are in line with other junta supporters, who are increasingly frustrated with the military leaders’ inability to reverse the situation against their opponents.
On the other hand, the selection of Pyin Oo Lwin as the venue for his speech also added weight to Ming’s demand for resignation. The city was once a former British colony and is now the location of the elite Defense Services Academy, where army leaders are trained.
The relationship between the military and the clergy is not new. Burmese monks have a long tradition of political activism, often anti-authoritarian, from the anti-colonial movement in the 1930s to the rebellion against military rule in 1988 and 2007.
Many have opposed the 2021 coup, some of them taking off their robes and taking up arms against the coup. But some of them have worked with the generals, sharing the same belief that both Buddha and culture need to be protected from outside influence.
On the other hand, divisions have also emerged among state officials. Border Forces commander in the Kayin region, Colonel Saw Chit Thu, said that the Border Guard Forces (BGF) affiliated with the junta would no longer be responsible to the military.
The Karen ethnic figure also declared the neutrality of the BGF in armed resistance against the junta government.
“For 30 years the Karen people have been fighting and killing each other. If we continue to receive support from the junta, we must continue to carry out military duties under its guidance,” he said as quoted by Radio Free Asia.
“For us, salary is not the main thing, but living in peace,” he emphasized.
Saw Chit Thu’s announcement came after his forces withdrew about 300 BGF soldiers from a military base used jointly with junta forces near the border with Thailand.
The colonel oversees 13 battalions with more than 7,200 troops in Kayin and neighboring Mon states, has authority over the border with Thailand and the China-backed Yatai Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone.
