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BKKPOST:Mar27 Burma: Tadmadaw



/* Written  9:58 am  Mar 30, 1994 by kamol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:soc.culture.th */
/* ---------- "BKKPOST:Mar27 Burma: Tadmadaw" ---------- */

Sunday Perspective: 
To some observers, the Burmese armed forces, or Tatmadaw, is 
nothing more than the "stick" of the ruling government -- in this 
case, the Slorc. However, according to AUNG ZAW, the present 
Tatmadaw may have among its ranks forces sympathetic to the 
pro-democracy movement.
 
Tatmadaw: People's army or private army?
 
 
TODAY Rangoon's U Wisaya Road will be filled with finely-pointed 
bayonets, martial music and songs and thousands of marching 
soldiers to mark Armed Forces Day. Their families will welcome 
them with flowers and garlands.
On March 27, 1945, General Aung San, Burma's independence hero and 
founder of Burma's Tatmadaw, or armed forces, declared the 
"Japanese Revolution" to push the Japanese Imperial Army out of 
Burma at the end of World War II.
This military parade is an exception, of course, to the State Law 
and Order Restoration Council's (Slorc) present decree which 
strictly bans any kind of public demonstration.
"People dare to throw stones at my house because my father is just 
an engineer, but if my father had stars on his shoulder, they 
would not dare do that. That's why my older brother joined the 
army," Yan King, a 27-year-old former university student, told his 
friends in Bangkok recently just before he left for Japan.
He himself tried twice to pass the entrance exam for military 
officer school but failed. "It is important to have good 
connections, relatives or families among the Tatmadaw, so that you 
can pass the exam," he said.
In Rangoon today, a popular saying among the youth in the streets 
is, "Join the army if you want to get rich and have a privileged 
life."
The Tatmadaw is arguably the largest institution in Burmese 
society. Since the brutal crackdown on the 1988 pro-democracy 
uprising, the Tatmadaw has increased in size to over 300,000 
troops, with new tanks, jet fighters and patrol boats from China.
Recruiting is easy: Burma has scores of unemployed. Criminals who 
wish to enlist in the army are pardoned automatically. Some join 
the army merely because they are crazy about uniforms and the 
Rambo mentality.
Maung Thaw Ka, an author, satirist and former naval officer who 
was tortured to death in prison in 1991, wrote in an article in 
1987: "I joined the navy because their uniform is the most 
beautiful, colourful and smart."
There are definitely many good opportunities for those who join 
the Tatmadaw. Chairman Gen Ne Win, in an effort to curb resentment 
among the Tatmadaw, has offered many special privileges. For 
instance, when military officers retire, they are transferred to 
civil administration services, government-owned factories and 
embassies and are given the highest positions. As long as they 
remain loyal, their future is certain.
Ne Win claimed during the 1988 upheaval, "I will only govern trees 
and soldiers." The great dictator only trusts his uniformed men.
In fact, since taking power in 1962, Ne Win has brought 
far-reaching change to the Tatmadaw. Ne Win's recruitment policy 
is clever -- he picked only yes men and Rambo-like soldiers -- San 
Yu, for instance, who was Ne Win's puppet president of Burma until 
1988. Then came Sein Lwin, who was president of Burma from July 16 
until August 12 that year.
Sein Lwin arranged numerous military operations against student 
uprisings and ethnic groups. Many refer to him as "The 
Executioner."
Many of the elite military and intelligence officers who have left 
the Burmese Army since civil war broke out in 1948 either joined 
the Communist Party of Burma, ethnic armed groups or U Nu's 
resistance on the border. The handful of military officers who 
remained in the army have either been sacked or forced to resign. 
The only one left is Ne Win.
During the Ne Win era, all soldiers were taught a Burmese history 
consisting of, "The ethnic rebels are robbers and bandits ... The 
pro-democracy movement was created by communists and rightists ... 
The Tatmadaw is your father and mother", an exercise in 
xenophobia.
Slorc does the same and far worse. It uses the state-controlled 
media to indoctrinate the masses. TV and radio programmes 
broadcast government slogans and military songs morning, noon and 
night.
Many observers believe that the Tatmadaw became Ne Win's stick 
when troops fired on students and demolished the historic Student 
Union Building in July, 1962, just four months after he took 
power. The crushing of the 1974 public movement also resulted in 
the killing of workers and students.
The Tatmadaw's stance is that it is firmly on the side of Ne Win. 
By the time of the historic 1988 uprising, the Tatmadaw's methods 
had become more brutal, not only in the cities, in which abuses 
occurred in ethnic population areas, but in the border areas and 
villages as well.
The Tatmadaw forcibly took thousands of civilians to the front 
lines to act as porters. They abducted pregnant women. Villages 
were burned down and women were raped. They went so far as to 
execute many innocent villagers after accusing them of being 
informers for ethnic armed groups.
It is ironic that a Slorc-controlled newspaper prints nearly every 
day on its front page, "The Tatmadaw has been sacrificing much of 
its blood and sweat ..." One wonders how soldiers were sacrificing 
sweat and blood while they were raping women, burning and looting 
villages. It is not surprising that the Tatmadaw have come to be 
known sarcastically throughout Burma as "pyithu chin bat," a type 
of pickled vegetable, which is somewhat sour and distasteful and 
stinks to high heaven.
Considering its history, the Tatmadaw must be regarded as little 
more than robbers, rapists and murderers. The only distinction is 
that Tatmadaw men are dressed in uniforms so that people will 
think they are soldiers.
If indeed that is the reason, is this the way to legalise a group 
of armed men -- to give them the image of being the military? In 
truth, they are like licensed killers. They are abusing state 
power, are corrupt and are enemies of the people.
The Tatmadaw ignored the 1990 election results and locked up all 
dissidents. It took over the government's role and tried to 
convince the Burmese that it is the only institution that can be 
relied on, that it is the "boss" of Burma.
The Tatmadaw's men are ubiquitous in Burma. Everyone saw at its 
present national convention that the Tatmadaw desires a leading 
role in Burmese politics. The military leaders, moreover, are busy 
with their daily schedule: inspecting hospitals, schools, 
monasteries, pagodas, villages, road construction projects and 
sports events, issuing orders, making speeches, cutting ribbons 
and attending other ceremonies.
In this, one of Slorc's most powerful and active men, Lt-Gen Khin 
Nyunt has been given the secret name "Nan Khin Nyunt" -- Nan in 
Burmese is "to kiss" -- as wherever he goes, he kisses babies. It 
would not be surprising if Khin Nyunt became Chairman U Khin Nyunt 
of the Union of Myanmar (Burma), as did his godfather, Ne Win. The 
question is: Are Slorc's members doing their jobs? Are they in the 
right places?
Sadly, the Burmese Tatmadaw of today is not what Gen Aung San 
wanted, nor what the Burmese people need. The Tatmadaw was proud 
of fighting the fascist Japanese in 1945, but, ironically, this 
fascist manner has resurfaced in the present Tatmadaw.
The armed forces lacks meaningfulness. Is it protecting people or 
harming them? Who is it serving? What is its job?
Certainly, reform is seriously needed in the Tatmadaw. Splits 
within the army provide hope for Burmese people at home and 
abroad. Some observers note that the military is divided into at 
least three factions, with some high-ranking officers at 
loggerheads. The uncertainty, however, is which group will gain 
the favour of Burma's pro-democracy movement.
Actually, not all soldiers are bad. Within the Tatmadaw there are 
groups of soldiers who are liberal and sympathetic to the 
democracy movement. Some officers and soldiers understand the 
dignity and glory of the military and what they are fighting for. 
Young military officers, in particular, may begin to realise that 
the Tatmadaw is just propping up Ne Win's third generation for its 
own sake, and may wish to regain the trust and respect of the 
people.
During the 1988 uprising, soldiers from the navy and air force 
joined the protest against Ne Win's rule. Some from the army, 
likewise, refused to shoot peaceful demonstrators. Recently, a 
soldier wrote a letter to a dissident journal accusing the 
military attache and his family at the Burmese embassy in the US 
of being corrupt.
A s the internal conflicts intensify, the dogs of war may 
eventually have a go at each other, but Burma nonetheless needs 
democracy-minded soldiers who can distinguish between good and 
bad.
"Find the closest enemy and fight," Gen Aung San said in a speech 
at a military parade in March 1945. This message was directed at 
those fighting against the Japanese. Even as Japanese officers 
were being presented during the parade, Aung San used secret 
messages to communicate to his soldiers -- and a few days later, 
the "Japanese revolution" broke out.
Aung San's message may be meaningful again for soldiers today who 
believe in change. They may try to find the real enemies of the 
Tatmadaw, who jeopardise its image from inside. If they actually 
realise that, there will be change in the Tatmadaw.