‘A new government should be able to end any riot’

Hla Toe, vice chairman of Kaman National Progressive Party. (Photo: Myanmar Now)

Hla Toe, vice chairman of the Kaman National Progressive Party, is contesting for a Lower House seat in Yangon’s Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township, in the Nov. 8 elections.

The Kaman are a recognized Muslim minority who live mostly in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Despite their legal status, they have become ensnared in the inter-communal conflict between Buddhist Rakhine and stateless Rohingya Muslims in the north of the state.

In an interview with Myanmar Now reporter Ei Cherry Aung, the 56-year-old former teacher talked about the Kaman’s problems, his party’s campaign and the country’s political situation.

Question: In which constituencies will your party contest?

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Answer: We have total of four men who are candidates - two candidates will run in Rakhine State and two in Yangon Region.

Q: Why didn’t you field any women candidates?

A: There are three women among our 15 central executive committee members. Although we suggested they contest in the upcoming elections they could not do so for several reasons.

Q: You have most support among the Kaman in Rakhine State but you are also contesting in Yangon. Why?

A: I did not win in Rakhine State during the 2010 general elections because the number of Kaman people is smaller than the Rakhine population. And there is some sort of racial discrimination in Rakhine (against Muslims), but this cannot be found in Yangon. As I am a resident of Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township I decided I to contest here.
When I become an MP, I will focus on the welfare of the Kaman ethnics, along with other people in Rakhine State and the whole country.

Q: Why haven’t you started campaigning from Sept. 8, when the campaign period began?

A: We are scheduled to start our campaign in the first week of October. Our party has limited human and financial resources, we cannot compete with prominent parties on this front. We will conduct our campaign once a week starting in October.

Q: What is your strategy for promoting your party in such a short time span?

A: Our campaign promises include bringing the public’s voices to parliament and asking for budgets for road construction, electricity supply and water distribution.

Q: In which constituencies do you expect to win?

A: We have no high hopes… We can be satisfied if one or two of our candidates win a seat in the elections, especially in Yangon. But it will be difficult to win in Rakhine State. We can see some racial discrimination in that state.

Q: What is your party’s plan if you do not win in this election?

A: We will keep making demands for the needs of the Kaman people, especially in the infrastructure sector. As we have founded a party, we can meet the president or the ministers to explain our needs. If we have no party, it would be very hard to do so.

Q: Do you think the upcoming elections will be free and fair?

A: It is too early to make a judgment. It can only be decided on polling day when international observers come to witness the process.

Q: Do you think the 2015 elections can bring significant change to Myanmar?

A: If the ruling party wins again in the elections, no real change can be expected. Change is likely only when the opposition parties and ethnic parties win a majority vote. A coalition government could create checks and balances among the parties. If the two major parties (NLD and USDP) dominate in the parliament, the ethnic minority parties could only make some criticism.

The next president should be elected from among civilians, regardless of any party’s majority. The military has ruled the country for many decades and does so now after taking off their uniforms. The incumbent President Thein Sein is also a former general. We hope for a president who can genuinely represents the public. Military personnel are only familiar with getting strict orders, they cannot understand the feelings and problems of the public like a civilian president could.

Q: Do you think the current government brought significant changes to Myanmar?

A: They could make certain changes. For example, many people are now using mobile phones, which cost about US$5,000 in the past. Car prices have declined. Peace talks could be held. But they could not control and prevent inter-communal riots in Rakhine State and other parts of Myanmar. Many people, especially the Kaman people, in Sittwe, Thandwe, Kyauk Phyu and Ramree (townships) suffered from the impacts of the (Rakhine) crisis in 2012.

Actually, the government needs to take immediate action against rioters when these problems happen. When such conflicts occur the property of Kaman people was sometimes destroyed. Rule of law is still weak in Myanmar. Therefore, the next president should focus on this. As new government should be able to end any riot.

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One person dead in crackdown to help captured informant

The fatal shooting came as locals in Sagaing region were punishing a man believed to be informing on protesters

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 17, 2021

Kyaw Min Tun, 41, was killed on March 16 after police opened fire on protesters in a bid to rescue a suspected informant. (Supplied)

An anti-coup protester was killed in Kawlin, Sagaing region, on Tuesday after police fired on a group of people who had detained a man suspected of acting as a regime informant.

Kyaw Min Tun, 41, was shot and killed after about 50 police arrived to rescue the suspected informant.

“The snitch was taking photos and calling the military to give them information. A woman overheard his phone call,” a Kawlin resident told Myanmar Now.

“Everyone surrounded and captured him. While they were shaving his head, the police showed up and started shooting at the crowd. A person was shot and killed,” the local added.

The person alleged to be an informant was identified as Chit Ngwe, a member of the Kawlin District Military Council. He was reportedly making a phone call at the time of his capture.

Witnesses said that police offered no warning before they started shooting.

Kyaw Min Tun was shot in the side and died immediately, witnesses said. The native of Min Ywa, a village in Kawlin township, had arrived in Kawlin in the morning to join an anti-coup march.

A young protester was also arrested during the incident, local residents said.

When local people started showing up in front of the Kawlin police station to demand the release of the arrested protester, a combined force of soldiers and police cracked down again.

Two civilians were injured in the process, residents said.

Myanmar Now

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Myanmar military, not EAOs, only terrorist organisation in Myanmar, CRPH says

The committee of elected lawmakers removes the ‘terrorist’ and ‘unlawful’ designations once used against ethnic armed organisations

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 17, 2021

A committee representing elected lawmakers-- who have been unable to take their seats in parliament following the February 1 coup in Myanmar-- announced the removal of all ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) from the country’s list of terrorist groups and unlawful associations on Wednesday.

The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) issued a statement condemning all arrests and detentions under Section 17(1) of Myanmar’s Unlawful Associations Act, which prescribes up to three years in prison for affiliation with an “unlawful association.” The CRPH said that it considers the Section 17(1) arrests and charges leveraged against EAOs fighting for national equality and self-determination illegitimate.

The CRPH “expresse[d] its profound gratitude” to EAOs that have provided “care and protection” to civil servants participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in opposition to the military junta. The committee recognised and congratulated these EAOs for their “strong commitment to the building of [a] federal democratic union.”

In the wake of violent crackdowns by the junta’s armed forces on anti-coup protesters nationwide, the CRPH labelled the Myanmar army a terrorist organisation on March 1.

Of the more than 20 ethnic armed groups in Myanmar, 10, including the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the previous National League for Democracy government and the military.

Affiliation with EAOs not signatory to the NCA, such as those in the Northern Alliance, has led to charges under Section 17(1). These cases have been disproportionately brought against civilians belonging to ethnic nationalities.

The military coup council announced on March 11 that it would remove the Arakan Army, a Northern Alliance member with which it had been engaging in intensifying clashes for nearly two years in Rakhine State, from its list of terrorist groups.

No other EAOs were removed from the list.

The military continues to engage in ongoing clashes with EAOs in Kachin and northern Shan State, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), another Northern Alliance member. In Karen State and Bago Region, the junta’s armed forces have been fighting with NCA signatory the KNU.

While the KIA has not commented directly on the coup, in a February 10 statement it said it would protect the people’s anti-military movement if the armed forces violently suppressed it.

The KNU has also said it would protect protesters, and has provided asylum for police officers who joined the CDM.

The RCSS/SSA issued a statement condemning the military coup, and has offered to protect civil servants participating in the CDM.

The 10 NCA-signatory EAOs announced on February 20 that they would suspend the peace process, and on March 11 they held an online meeting to discuss ways to stop the killing of civilians by the military council.

On March 5, the CRPH called for the military-drafted 2008 Constitution to be abolished and a federal, democratic Constitution to be established. Ten days later, the CRPH issued a law protecting the public’s right to defend themselves from the military’s violent crackdown on protesters with the aim of establishing a federal army.

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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At least six killed after factory owner calls in military in Hlaing Tharyar

Police publicly executed a woman who was the leader of the workers

Myanmar Now

Published on Mar 17, 2021

The site of a protest in Hlaing Tharyar that saw an intense face off between the protesters and the junta’s armed forces on March 14 (Supplied)

At least six people were killed on Tuesday following a wage dispute at a Chinese-owned shoe factory in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar Township after the owner called in the junta’s armed forces.

The workers had gone to the Xing Jia factory in Industrial Zone (1) to collect their wages, but conflict arose when they were not given the full payment they were owed, according to a Hlaing Tharyar resident from Daing Su ward who was familiar with the incident.

The owner, a Chinese national, then called the military and police, according to local sources.

“The soldiers and police came into the factory and surrounded it. The police slapped a girl who was the leader of the workers. When she hit back, they shot her,” the Hlaing Tharyar local told Myanmar Now.

The troops and police then arrested around 70 workers and loaded them onto two prisoner transport trucks. When people gathered to demand their release, the armed forces opened fire into the crowd, killing five more people, all men.

“The confrontation at the factory happened in the morning. When we gathered and went to demand the release of the arrested workers, it was about 2:30 in the afternoon,” the Hlaing Tharyar local said.

“They used live ammunition to shoot us. We all had to run, but five were killed. We couldn’t bring their bodies back, so we had to drag them away and put them in ditches.”

They were able to recover the body of one fallen worker at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and some of the remaining bodies by 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

“We had to hide all night. There were six dead, we got four bodies back. They’re being kept at a Buddhist hall in the ward. We can’t take back two of the bodies, that of the girl shot in the factory and another man,” the local said.

At the time of reporting, he said he was on the run, along with 17 others, after being reported by another local for leading the protest. That individual is now also reportedly in hiding.

Injured protesters are being treated at Pun Hlaing hospital.

Myanmar Now is still gathering further information about the incident, and other reports of new fatal crackdowns in Hlaing Tharyar.

An official at the Hlaing Tharyar hospital said that no bodies or injured persons had been sent there on March 16 or 17.

“No one came in last night. The hospital is not far from places like Aung Zeya bridge or Mee Kwat market, so we’d know if there were something happening. The streets were relatively calm in the morning today,” another doctor from the same hospital said.

A local aid group reported that shots had been fired in Yay Oak Kan ward in Hlaing Tharyar, but further details were not known at the time of reporting.