Myanmar: Printing the Revolution, Part One

Robert Evans and James Stout start their four part series on the Gen Z militias of Myanmar.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey everyone, I'm Robert Evans and this is Me and
Mar printing the Revolutions It could happen here special mini series,
an in depth documentary investigation with me and journalist James Stout.
Over the next four days, you're going to learn about
the gin Z militias of the Me and Mar Civil War,
three D printed weapons, and a bunch of other really

(00:25):
fascinating stuff. Besides, So, without any further ado, here's James.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Ever since the first person built the first fence, took
land from everybody and annex it to themselves, property rights
and violence have gone hand in hand. With property grew
the state, and with a state came the police. Today,
most of us grew up under the control of states,
and they're so ubiquitous that their violence is often overlooked
until a particularly egregious incident occurs. But all states, even

(00:55):
the most benign, rest on a monopoly on violence. Stay
it to the entity that imposed laws on a given area,
and if you break those laws, the state can beat
you up, lock you up, or shoot you up. When
the state loses the monopoly on violence, it ceases to
be able to enforce its laws, charge its taxes, and
enforce its will on the people it rules. We've seen

(01:16):
this all over the world, from the Democratic Republic of
Congo took briefly downtown Seattle. Our state in the USA
speaks a language of rights and liberties. When we want
to appeal to the state, we tend to use that language.
Even though our state, as we saw in twenty twenty's
backed by plenty of violence as much as any other,

(01:36):
it goes a long way to camouflage that violence. Some states,
for a bit more mask off. They speak to their
citizens more or less exclusively through violence, and when citizens
need to respond to that state, they respond to the
language it uses to speak to them. That's how a
teenager from Yangon miel Maar ended up on Reddit in
summer of twenty twenty one asking strangers how to use

(01:57):
a three D printer and computer to make a rifle.
Me and Ma isn't a country that is on the
radar for most of the US. If it is at all,
it's probably because the State councilor and Foreign Minister ensign Succi.
She managed perhaps the history's fastest pivot from Nobel Peace
Prize winner to head of a government accused of genocide.
But Tsuki is in jail now and the Rohingia, the

(02:20):
Muslim ethnic group that the military attempted to eliminate from
the east of the country under her rule, are just
one of many ethnic and political groups. They're in open
armed conflict with the military, who now hold control of
the government of me and mar known locally as a
tatmodor the military sees power. In early twenty twenty one,
you might have seen a video of a woman doing
an aerobics workout as the vehicles rolled in behind her

(02:43):
to seize power. Ever since that day they've been committing
crimes against humanity all over the country. Me and Marh
has a longer history of dictatorship than democracy. The British
East India Company occupied the area that now represents the
country in the nineteenth century. As always, they talked about
civiling missions and freedoms, but in practice the occupation was

(03:03):
extractive and only benefited the Anglo Burmese and a few
Indian civil servants they brought with them often. But this
month led to resistance that manifested itself in hunger strikes
and everyday acts of disobedience, small ways of saying no.
In a few instances, it became open and unbrest build
into the streets. The country became a major battleground during

(03:25):
the Second World War, with Japan evading and seizing the
country before Allied forces took it back in a fierce
campaign in nineteen forty four. As many as one hundred
and fifty thousand Japanese troops died. Burmese people fought on
both sides. Ag San Agsang Suchi's father demanded that Britain
grant him and his fellow Burmese people independence if they
fought for the Allies. The British refused. Nstan then went

(03:49):
first to China and eventually Japan for support, and eventually
he fought against the British with his Burmer Independence Army.
But after two years of occupation, Agstan and his comrade
to change sides broad alliance called the Anti Fascist Organization.
They turned on the Japanese and they once again took
up arms to liberate their country. On the fourth of
January nineteen forty seven, Burma became an independent republic. The

(04:12):
new republic's territory combined three British territories and over one
hundred distinct ethnic groups. For the next fourteen years, these
groups struggled to find a democratic Burma and an identity
for themselves within it. Mostly they failed. The period was
characterized by the Chinese Civil War, spilling it to Burma,
ethnic armed insurgencies and repeated demands for a federal republic

(04:36):
with a weak central government. In nineteen sixty two, the
military a rate at new demands for a federal republic
stage to coup. Burmer spent the next twenty two years
under the military rule of a council, pursuing what they
called the Burmese Way to socialism. Burmer's planned economy left
it largely isolated from the rest of the world. At home,

(04:59):
the press was censored, and a type of nationalism that
combined nominal socialism and Burman ethnic identity became the official
state ideology. During this period, Burma became one of the
world's poorest countries. Sporadic protests were met with overwhelming force,
and the eighth of August nineteen eighty eight, an uprising began.
It started among his students in Yangon, but it took

(05:21):
realt quickly around the country. The so called eight eight
eight eight Uprising because of the date, began with a
general strike and huge non violent protests. These were met
with gunfire. Protesters fought back with molotov cocktails and rocks.
The military fired into hospitals, and by September eighteenth, they'd
launched a coup to take the country from a one

(05:43):
party state back to a military dictatorship. It was thuring
these protests Angsan Suki, the daughter of Independence. Here at
Angsan emerged as a national figurehead, especially in the west.
Amitov Ghusch, the Indian writer, wrote the following about eight
eight eight eight across Burma, people poured out in thousands

(06:05):
to join the protests, not just students, but also teachers, monks, children,
professionals and trade unionists of every shade. It was on
this day too, that the Hunter made its first determined
attempt at repression. Soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators and
hundreds of unarmed marchers were killed. The killings continued for
a week, but still the demonstrators continued to flood the streets.

(06:27):
After the uprising had been suppressed, multi party elections were
later held, while the new National League for Democracy party
of Ansong su Qi won the most votes. The Hunter
refused to seed power. Protests continued off and on for
decades with the two thousand and seven Saffron Revolution, in
which the government violently cracked down on monks, resulting in

(06:48):
the most international condemnation. Following the Saffron Revolution, the government's
isolationism hindering aid After extensive cyclone damage in two thousand
and eight, the military government finally implemented the roadmap to
discipline flourishing democracy that had developed in nineteen ninety three.
If you're wondering about the name of the country, this
officially changed in nineteen eighty nine as well. I Like

(07:08):
much of the nation's history, a grand proclamation from the
government didn't mean much on the ground. Both words derived
from Buranma, a name that the majority ethnic group who
we're calling Berman here used for themselves. Many opposition groups
still use Burma instead of Meemma. It's another small way
of saying no to the military's attempt to control every
aspect of their lives.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
Finally, on the eighteenth of September, the army took to
the streets and the coup, led by their Chief of Staff,
General Saumon the next day, the killings began again. The

(07:56):
army later described these people as looters.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
It was not until twenty eleven that the military junta
finally stepped down and passed on power to the Union's
Solidarity and Development Party in an election that was widely
seen as fraudulent. A year later, Ong San sou Chi
was released, and by twenty fifteen her National League for
Democracy won an absolute majority. While she was barred from
holding the presidential office, she took on the role of

(08:28):
State councilor, and Mianmar entered a period of liberalization, which,
although never the federal democracy promised when the country gained
its independence in nineteen forty seven, allowed for significant freedoms
of communication and speech, especially for the Burman majority ethnic group.
Not everyone was reconciled to the change. Many of Myanmars
one hundred and thirty five ethnic groups feel marginalized by

(08:50):
the state, which tends to be dominated by the Burman ethnicity.
Some of these groups have armed insurgeent wings, often more
than one per ethnic group, as they disagree on politics
or religion. These groups have fought various Burmese governments since
the nineteen forties, but many of them reached a ceasefire
with the government as the country passed from military to
civilian rule. One group however, saw a huge uptick in violence.

(09:12):
The Rohinga ethnic group have been persecuted by Buddhist nationals
since the nineteen seventies, but the campaign against them increased
in violence and scale in twenty sixteen, when the Tatmdaw
began a huge crackdown against Rohinga people in Rakin's State.
The persecution began in response to attacks by the Arkan
Rohinga Salvation Army on Burmese border outposts, but the campaign

(09:34):
that followed had nothing to do with the small insurgent
group and a lot to do with the desire of
the Toatmadaw to destroy or drive out all Rohinga people,
who they claim are undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and not
citizens of Myanmar. While the world praised Suki, her government
looked the other way as the military carried out a
genocide that displaced over a million people and killed tens

(09:55):
of thousands. It was in the context of growing international
condemnation of the j Aside that Mianmar went to the
polls in November of twenty twenty. The November twenty twenty
election was only the nation's second since the official end
of military rule on Sansu Chi's National League for Democracy
won a resounding victory. The military backed Union Solidarity and

(10:16):
Development Party holds twenty five percent of seats under a
constitution that SUCHI wanted to change. It didn't take defeat well.
The election was neither perfectly free nor fair. The Rohinga
have been almost wholly disenfranchised. The government claims they are
illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and thus unable to vote. Areas
with ethnic armed organizations which opposed the government often had

(10:37):
poles canceled and internet cut off. According to Human Rights Watch.
The Carter Center estimates that one point four million citizens
couldn't vote. The one opposition party that was certainly not
shortchanged was the military's. However, it was the Union Solidarity
and Development Party USDP, which had been calling for election
delays due to COVID before poles opened. Once the elections

(10:59):
concl luted, they immediately began questioning the results. They continued
to attempt to undermine the vote for months before they
resorted to force on the first to February twenty twenty one,
the day before the newly elected legislators were due to
be sworn in, the world largely ignored the situation. Apart
from the one viral video where a masked fitness instructor
dances in the foreground as APCs roll through a roadblock

(11:22):
and into the parliament complex behind her. Ensangsuchi was arrested,
charged with breaching COVID nineteen restrictions and illegally importing a
walkie talkie, and General min Ang Hlang was installed at
the head of a military junta. If this sounds a
little like a stop to Steel fantasy, that's because it
is eerily similar to one. Myanmar's democracy is not what

(11:43):
academics call a consolidated one, which is to say that
democracy has never been the only game in town there,
but the United States seems to be rapidly deconsolidating its
own democracy. The allegations of election fraud and mianmarb were
no more credible than those in Arizona. However, the military's
tradition of political engagement there removed many of the barriers
in between electoral defeat and the death of a short

(12:05):
lived democracy. Within twenty four hours of the coup, the
people of Myanmar had fought back. Healthcare workers and civil
servants were on strike by February third, and a boycott
of junta owned businesses had begun. Protests began with a
handful of people. The memories of massacres of pro democracy
protesters in the nineteen eighties kept many away, but a
younger generation who had grown up with relative liberty, internet

(12:27):
access and basic freedoms had not seen blood in the
streets like their parents. They had seen activists in Hong Kong,
the USA, and Ukraine take on violent state apparatuses, and
they'd often seen them win.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
By the sixth of February, twenty thousand people in the
streets of Yangon, the largest city, and the Internet was
shut down. Nationwide. Protests began peacefully with memorable signs like
my ex is bad, but the military is worse, and
we are protesting peacefully, but with the WAP capitalized, so
it said whap. These signs were designed by a generation

(13:11):
of kids who grew up with access to the Internet
to attract international attention. Despite the ban. They used VPNs
to show imaguy to their struggle. One sign read if
messed with the wrong generation now will never be allowed
to ruin our own lives. The Tatmador showed its cards
pretty quickly. Police began the suppression with sling shots and clubs,

(13:33):
then tear gas and flash brang and quickly they moved
to rifles and rocket the pel grenades. By the ninth
of February, Maathway thway Heine, a twenty year old woman,
have been shot in the street. Soon those young protesters

(14:19):
have switched science for shields by mid March and armed
fort this day. One hundred and fortyen civilians were killed
in a single day, including sixty five in Yangon who
were kettled by police, surrounded and then shot Quickly, shield
walls were set up, medics identified themselves in the protest movement,
and hard hats and goggles were distributed, but this didn't

(14:40):
tip the balance of power in their favor. So Orlin,
a former student union leader, was there from the start.
In a text message, he told me I did not
miss a single day as a member of the Kaya
State National Strike Committee. I later became more involved in
anti authoritarian protests. In the early protests, to see him

(15:00):
in photos walking at the front of the group carrying
flags and banners with his student ID card on a
lanyard around his neck. But by March he's wearing a
black shirt, goggles and a hard construction hat. Meanwhile, the
National League for Democracy politicians who had escaped attention joined
other parties and set up a National Unity Government in April.
The National Unity Government contained members of the National League

(15:24):
for Democracy, but significantly, a Rahingio activist was appointed and
advised in the Ministry of Human Rights and the National
Unity Government has announced it would for the first time
accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court with respect
to all international crimes committed in Meh and Mah since
two thousand and two. This would include the Rhinga genocide.

(15:45):
By May, both the National Unity Government and Swollen had
realized that no amount of nonviolent protests was going to
dislodge regime. There was happy to gun down kids in
the street, so on the fifth of May he left
for the jungle. That same day, the National Unity Government
announced the formation of the People's Defense Force or PDF.
Within a month, eight hundred soldiers had affected to these

(16:07):
pro democracy guerrilla units. Many bought their guns with them,
but Twa didn't join the PDF. Instead, he joined one
of me and R's many ethnic armed organizations groups opposed
to a central state and its domination by the Burman ethnicity.
To understand these groups you need to understand that MEMR
is composed of dozens, not hundreds, of ethnic groups, but

(16:28):
that the Burman, who make up about two thirds of
the population, have always controlled the state and used it
as a tool in furthering their interest. Some of these groups,
like the Koran National Liberation Army and the Kachin Independence Army,
have been fighting for decades since the country emerged from
British colonial rule at the end of World War Two.
All of these groups draw on a combination of ethnic
and political grievances. Many of them administer semi autonomous territories,

(16:53):
like the Koren State.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
In twenty thirteen, thirteen ethnic Armed Organizations or EAOs came
together to form the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordinating Team in CCT
and signed an eleven point Common Position of Ethnic Resistance
Organizations on National Ceasefire, or the LEISA Agreement. Most of
them seemed to agree that they would accept a federal
system rather than complete autonomy. In twenty fifteen, a ceasefire

(17:28):
was signed, but conflict between ethnic armed organizations and between
EAOs and the government continued. Since the coup began, EO
membership has skyrocketed, and in October the National Unity government
announced alliances with several groups under a central chain of command.
Some political organizations who played a part in the nineteen
eighty eight uprising, like the Al Burma Students Democratic Front,

(17:51):
have been revived as armed groups. The ABSDF recently attacked
Tottmadaw ships using an RPG A tax on military bases
have also stepped up. PDF units have ambushed and killed
policemen and raided police and military outposts. Each time they do,
they steal valuable weapons and ammunition. The top Madaw has
responded with shellings and airstrikes against residential areas, executions, mass

(18:14):
physical retribution, and the murdering of civilians and aid workers
and burning of their bodies. As a result of all this,
ethnic armed organizations have joined forces with anti authoritarian Burman
people under the auspices of the People's Defense Forces, which
are under the command of the exiled National Unity Government.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
We have never experienced such kind of brutalities from the
military as well as as strong resistance from the people.
They try to make sure the whole country submit to them,
but we still refuse to allow them to be our rulers.

Speaker 5 (19:00):
This defiance has led to the formation of the People's
Defense Forces or PDF, a coalition of thousands of resistance
fighters were carrying out surprise attacks on hunter checkpoints, bombing
army convoys, and supporting ethnic armies in their fight against
the regime. Twelve months ago, these men and women were

(19:21):
students and office workers protesting the coup. Today they're training
to overthrow the military.

Speaker 4 (19:29):
The Innesoja is the tough choints, but the young people
they are ready to defend the communities. They have to,
of course, sacrifice their own daily life, ordinary life.

Speaker 1 (19:42):
Since March of twenty twenty, the influx of new recruits
has changed these groups. Generation Z militias like the Carini
gin Z Liberation Army have sprung up, founded by kids
who were holding memeable signs at protests just a few
months earlier. They care less about ethnic independence and more
about beating the junta. Many Burman kids join these groups.

(20:02):
These organizations of young fighters received training from the experienced
guerrillas hiding in the jungle, but they tended to adopt
a less top down military structure and armed themselves by
scavenging whatever weapons they could find, often twenty two caliber
rifles better suited to shooting squirrels than soldiers. It was
these kids who grew up online and knew that there
was nothing you couldn't learn about on Reddit who tipped

(20:24):
the balance of force away from the state. Unlike the
ethnic armed organizations and other more experienced guerrillas than me Anmar,
these kids have little military experience. Their organizations have few
rules and regulations. They're made up entirely of young people.
As a result, there are certain things that they're less
proficient at, but they're much better at things like grasping

(20:45):
the use of new technologies, which has led to me
Anmar being the first country in the world where three
D printed weapons have taken part in a revolution against
the government. We're going to hear more about that and
many other things as this series continues. It Could Happen
Here as a production of cool Zone Media.

Speaker 4 (21:06):
For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website
coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can
find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at
coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.