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‘The military is a terrorist group, so the ceasefire is null and void’ – former KNU vice chair


In an interview with Myanmar Now, Naw Zipporah Sein calls on every armed group to join the fight against the junta.

The KNU Concerned Group, a political organisation largely made up of former senior leaders from the Karen National Union, said on Thursday that the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) became null and void after the military seized power in February.

The NCA, signed by several ethnic armed groups with the Myanmar military in recent years, has forced those groups to operate under the military-drafted 2008 constitution and give up the armed struggle that could help them achieve their aims, the group said in a statement.

The group, which focuses on rights, advocacy and monitoring of the peace process, also announced its support for the underground National Unity Government (NUG) and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and said both entities shared its goal of ending military dictatorship.

Naw Zipporah Sein, the group’s leader, is also the KNU’s former vice chair. In an interview with Myanmar Now she called on armed groups that are not currently fighting the military to join the struggle to overthrow the junta.

Myanmar Now: Why did the KNU Concerned Group release this statement?

Naw Zipporah Sein: Firstly, if we look at the current political situation we can now assume that the NCA, which the ethnic revolutionary forces signed, is now void, since the military staged a coup and seized power from the government that the people elected.

Secondly, the fact that the military council keeps slaughtering, oppressing and imprisoning protesters, political party members, journalists and political activists highlights that they are not taking the path to peace. That is why it can be considered that the NCA is no longer in effect.

Another thing is, the NCA itself is not getting the ethnic groups to their political goal, as the military council has the intention of making the ethnic armed forces give up the path of armed warfare. The NCA was drafted under the 2008 constitution.

Attacks by the military council in ethnic territories have become much more frequent after the coup. You can see that the military’s actions in our KNU controlled areas have drastically increased recently.

What do you say about certain ethnic leaders, including the KNU’s president, who have declared they still believe in the NCA?

It’s easier to say that one agrees with the NCA but in reality, the armed organisations including the ethnic revolutionary forces agreed to sign the NCA because they decided to solve matters through political diplomacy. Both the military and the elected government signed that agreement. But we don’t have the elected government anymore and the military has turned into a dictatorship.

The NUG has also declared the military council as a terrorist organisation, so we don’t have any legitimate organisation left in the NCA anymore. In other words, because the military is now a terrorist organisation, the NCA can be assumed null and void.

The statement also says that you will support the CRPH and the NUG. Can you elaborate on that?

The CRPH is made up of elected MPs and the NUG repealed the 2008 constitution and declared the military council an unlawful group due to the atrocities it committed against civilians. You can clearly see the determination of the NUG and the CRPH to eradicate the dictatorship and to build a federal state.

Therefore, because their goals align with the political goals of the ethnic armed revolutionary forces – which are equity for all ethnicities, autonomy and to build a federal state – we welcome and support the NUG and the CRPH. We are going to help them in any way that we can, be it militarily, politically or administratively.

Will your group collaborate with them or support them?

When the situation is in our favour, yes.

The politics of our group is one that is set by the KNU. Our policies are based on the KNU’s revolutionary path. The KNU’s policies include the responsibility to eliminate the military dictatorship.

We have been trying to end this war for so long now. Now that the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and the NUG are joining the fight against the dictatorship, we need to support them as much as we can. We will also be collaborating with them as much as possible.

You have urged ethnic armed forces to fight alongside the PDF against the dictatorship. What roles are ethnic armed forces playing now?

The one thing all of us ethnic revolutionary forces have in common is that we oppose the military dictatorship. We have all agreed to fight against it. That’s the one thing we stood for throughout our shared history and continue to stand for in our path to federal union.

The Spring Revolution is the popular uprising initiated by the people against the dictatorship. We would also like to urge everyone to join the PDFs in their fight against the dictatorship.

What would you like to say to the ethnic organisations that still are not actively fighting against the dictatorship?

Now is the time for us all to join the fight together. I urge every group to fight together, whether they’ve joined or haven’t joined yet. We can see that there are still some ethnic organisations that are not actively taking part in the revolution. And then there are some ethnic leaders and political parties collaborating with the military. I just want to say that we need to be united as a whole now.

It’s everyone’s responsibility to overthrow the dictatorship. The public and every ethnic group has the responsibility to do so. There will be a political change after we overcome this corrupt, detrimental system. There will be equal rights and people can live in peace only then. The people and all ethnic groups should not accept the military dictatorship and the coup council. I would like to urge everyone to join in this movement of the people.

What conditions are required to be able to eliminate the military dictatorship?

We can only win if we fight together. There is a way to succeed. A true revolution is a revolution that is successful. This is true for both the revolution of the ethnic groups and the Spring Revolution itself. This is the real revolution, which we will win if we dedicate everything we have to it without losing hope.

What would you like to say to the people facing the dictatorship’s oppressions?

We need to support each other no matter what happens. We need to look after each other. We don’t want the people to live under a military dictatorship for another 30 or 70 years. Therefore, no matter how bad it gets, we can achieve the change we want if we fight in solidarity.

source myanmar-now

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