The ongoing civil war in Myanmar may negatively influence various bilateral trades with India and especially the ambitious Kaladan project aiming to connect the landlocked north-eastern region the Bay of Bengal through Arakan’s Sittwe port may face an uncertain future. The intense gun fighting between the military personnel and anti-junta rebels has resulted in the fall of many army battalions spreading in different towns. Lately, the Arakan Army (AA) has declared that their fighters had captured the Paletwa town of Chin State. Paletwa is an important port town on the bank of river Kaladan and it’s associated with India’s ambitious initiative named Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in Myanmar. The dream project of New Delhi was to connect Sittwe with the north-eastern region through the water and land routes. Now with the full control of Paletwa, the AA fighters can jeopardise its future.
The southeast Asian nation with 55 million population remains in the media after the infamous coup on 1 February 2021, where the current batch of military dictators ousted the democratically elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw. The military regime under Min Aung Hlaing has already earned a notorious credential with brutal crackdowns against the pro-democracy activists across the country. The security personnel are being responded by various public armed forces in different shapes & sizes resulting in the death of thousands of Myanmar nationals, imprisonment of another thousands and displacement of millions of innocent families for escaping the violence erupted in various localities. Even the media personnel were not spared by the junta forces as more than 170 journalists were arrested and 52 are still behind the bars.
Till the end of 2023, at least 29,440 armed clashes and attacks against civilians took place in Myanmar since the military coup and the junta forces engaged in 86 mass killing incidents last year (which is up from 44 in 2022) causing the death of 1,342 civilians. The number of displaced people has reached over 2.6 million and it may grow more after the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched its combined offensive against the military regime on 27 October. The resistance forces are now gaining more areas under their control, the frustrated junta’s retaliation may also grow. The alliance of three ethnic armed groups (AA, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army) has already taken over 400 junta bases (spread over 30 towns in five States and regions) since it launched ‘Operation 1027’ last year. The junta had also broken a recent China-brokered temporary ceasefire after multiple rounds of talks in Kunming with the brotherhood alliance by launching air & artillery strikes on civilian population. Even the junta soldiers bombed a museum (also a proposed UNESCO world heritage site) in the Arakan region. With the imminent victories by the anti—junta armed forces, the soldiers have been lashing out in retaliation with large numbers of indiscriminate airstrikes, massacres and other atrocities inflicted upon the people.
Anti-junta activists asserted that Myanmar people have had enough of this illegitimate military junta, and have made immense sacrifices in the nearly three years since the failed coup with an aim to dismantle the corrupt & repressive junta and build a new federal democracy. Going into 2024, there is a sense of optimism among the Myanmar public catalyzed by the successes of Operation 1027 and complementary activities, stated the forum adding that taking concrete steps towards the goal, the pro-democracy Myanmar nationals are establishing local governance systems through a bottom-up, grassroots approach to replace the military tyranny.
Massive gains in terms of territories by the revolutionary groups are being termed as political success with the cooperation among the ethnic resistance organizations, people’s defense forces and the national unity government that emerged in the last three years. But the international community is yet to address the recent troubles in the country and acknowledge the democratic will of Myanmar people. New Delhi should also bother about the recent development in Myanmar and formulate policies to deal with the situation there for benefits of the billion plus nation.
When Myanmar situation deteriorates ….
