Myanmar Spring Chronicle – March 08 Scenes
Time to review the path and ways of the spring revolution
The generally called spring revolution is meant to be the overthrow of the military dictatorship, the demolition of the military dictator, the removal of the military from Myanmar politics, or the complete removal of the Myanmar military, replacing it with a Federal Army with the full essence of federalism in the future.
It can’t be said exactly whether everyone and every organization involved in the spring revolution aims for that goal, but generally, they are heading in that direction. It may be about their ethnic affairs, the self-determination of their state and their ethnic groups, or their organization’s standing. Another reason is that there may be regionally formed military and political leaders and their armed groups that want to retaliate and fight against the military that bullied and destroyed their region. Although it is understandable that they are all generically called revolutionary armed forces from an organizational point of view, it is necessary to be able to properly evaluate Myanmar’s political and military potential, as well as to realistically analyze and understand the current situation, direction, aims and objectives.
Myanmar’s political crisis is not a political problem based on a single problem or tier, but a complex, inter-related problem. It will be necessary to view this as a decades-long political crisis that consists of various interests and various points of view, such as dictatorship and democracy, a political system dominated by the Myanmar majority and minority, equality of ethnic rights, a force that wants to build a diverse society with nationalism and a variety of people, leftism that class struggle is more important than other issues, the doctrine of personal worship, which is a remnant of the feudal system, militarism, ideology of warlords, and dominion.
We need to be able to see and accept what is the root cause, what is a decades-long problem, and what other things are related to what matters. It is not the right position to draw the conclusion that the current obvious struggle for power is the source of all problems and treat other problems that have been around for decades with the attitude of not wanting to discuss or make a commitment as if they are subordinate problems or not the main problem. It won’t solve the issue, and we won’t be able to fight the military dictatorship as a single, equal army, but it will shift the issue’s position, not bring it to the point where it can be resolved.
It is true that domestic forces and people involved understand the political problem of Myanmar better than foreign governments, organizations and researchers. As international governments and organizations, they understand the Myanmar issue from their positions, values, standards, interests, etc. from one or another point of view. Organizations in the field of Myanmar affairs, representatives, and individuals who have gained the trust of the public can better understand the background, depth and the points of concern of the problem. However, the problem can only be understood and solved realistically if we can remove the feelings associated with interest and the past background event. If not, there is a possibility that we will not be able to solve the problem as much as we think, when we cling to the shadow of past events, our organization’s priorities, and our feelings.
In summary, the current political problem in Myanmar is not only a political problem between the military or forces representing the military and the NLD party, but between the democratic forces and those who hold a dictatorial, military dictatorship, and state-centered federalism, as well as those who want to build a true federal union with equal rights. If interests are put aside and a practical analysis is conducted, the answer can be found that the conflict is between racist hatred and the federal concept of equal rights.
During the 2-year period of trying to solve the problems that had existed for decades after the military coup, I think that success can only be achieved by reviewing what is needed in the past 2 years, preparing what should be prepared boldly, and moving forward.
