Few Facts Inside Kachin State George Zunwa / March 16, 2007
Traveling from Laiza, the headquarters of Kachin Independence Organization, at Sino-Myanmar border to the Kachin State capital Myitkyina may be an interesting experience. A nice road, constructed by KIO and Jadeland Company, is all the way fantastic in its international standard. A good road attracts businessmen to run minibuses, vans and other sort of vehicles almost twenty-four hours as well as good enough to transport military artilleries for the government.
From Gang Dau Yang onwards, newly built electric cables and towers over the road which connected to the capital. Myitkyina only to be gleaming at night by the electricity flows from 8 Megawatts Mali Stream hydro-power generator which was built by KIO after ceasefire agreement with the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the ruling military government. The military persons working at the power station take advantages; it becomes a very good chance to trap money (about US $800 – 1,200) for fixing an electric-metre box for each household that takes more than ten years to come out from consumers arbitrarily.
There is a Myanmar military post, No. 321 infantry battalion, located at about 20 kilometres from Laiza, where people have to get down and walk on foot. The post is fenced with woven iron-wires, fixed with bamboo spears and mines hung along the fence. The soldiers kept their arms secretly. Sometimes, block of woods hurdle to stop people and vehicles. They captured motorbikes, Chinese-made double stroke trucks, and other vehicles deliberately.
People whosoever pass the post has to inform the military soldiers where they are going and what they are going to do; this makes a very strong irritation. If we continuously go forth, there are two more stops where military as well as traffic police in uniform collect money for using the road – not the KIO and Jadeland Myanmar Company, who constructed the road.
The beauty, esthetic value and rights of civilians are destroyed by the military people all over the Kachin State. People have to survive under terrible circumstances with fears and lachrymose moan until their skin are as hot as an oven. Minority people in Kachin State are being tortured, raped and spoiled with drugs very systematically. Myanmar military people scatter morphine and other drugs in Myitkyina University, entire Kachin and Northern Shan State clandestinely by using its military intelligent then try to persuade drug traffickers and demands heavy sum of money (about US $ 3,300) to set free from jailing.
Drafting the constitution unilaterally by convening National Convention and the increasing number of military camps in ethnic States has shown that the military government has is dishonest on developing the Kachin State. The military government is so brutal and captures lands of civilians and farmers have no land to farm. No wonder the military government control the Northern Command, General Ohn Myint as an actor of brutal game to squeeze Kachin ceasefire groups by blocking economic track, development works including NGOs like Metta Development Foundation in which government hindrances to renew registration, driving out labors working in constructing roads, hydro-electric plants, bridges and the works become standstill as such. Force to grow physic nuts, a highly toxic plant, which contains casin, and cursin to poor farmers. The strategy is believed to kill people of Myanmar by biological weapons.
Selling Kachin soils without agreement of the local people to foreign capitalists is another system of reducing Kachin people to tote up Late Prime Minister U Nu’s step of selling the 50 miles square area of Hpyimaw, Gawlam and Kanghpang to China in 1956. Occasionally spreading biological agents, snatching KIO own vehicles, kidnapping relatives of KIO personnel, threatening with arms, forcing people to work for military benefits, stealing animals of civilians are other tactical impurity.
Children can no longer study in institutions as regular students and took private tuitions by paying large amount of money (about US $ 1,000 per year) for appearing their exams. Military government gives bachelor degree in twelve years of study and master degree in fourteen years, which needs at least 16 years and 18 years respectively; this gradually and systematically kills young generation in education.
People’s health becomes a serious peril as the increase number of HIV/AIDS positive person. The population of people living with HIV is two out of hundred (i.e. 2%) in Kachin State. Gang rape insulted by the military soldiers to Kachin females is not a new shock dilemma; for instance, four school teenagers in Putao region of extreme north of Kachin State raped by seven military soldiers on 2 February 2007. There are innumerable cases abused by military dictators as we have seen some of the facts in “System of Impurity”, published by The Women’s League of Burma and “Licence to Rape”, published by Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN). Press released in 2006 by the Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported a few facts amongst many insults committed by the military ruler. The military government captured religious lands and buildings all over Kachin State. For instance, the Prayer Mountain near Daw Hpun Yang, on the way from Myitkyina to Bhamo, where Russian-made 180 mm launchers installed for threatening KIO’s headquarter, Laiza.
Myanmar (Burma) is no longer small in its weaponry since Russian and China involves in building up nuclear program behind Nay-pyi-daw. Since then, Russian and Myanmar military government start exploring Uranium in Pha Kant Jade Mine. It is reported recently that entire people living in Hmyat Pyu village of Hpa Kant area are forced to leave within three months.
It is curious to learn when China and Russia used their veto power in the UN Security Council on 12 January 2007 to stop a resolution calling for Burma’s military junta to release all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, cease attacks on ethnic groups, and speed transition to democracy. China and Russia argued that they shared concerns about conditions in Myanmar but considered them internal matters that did not constitute threats to international peace and security, and therefore the Security Council should not deal with the issue.
Lament sagas of the people insluted by the military government are myriad and the International Society should concern and feel the same spasm of the people.
The opinions express here are author’s own and does not reflect The Kachin Post Editorial policy. George Zunwa is a research scholar and he has written several articles, scientific papers in both Kachin and English.
