BPLA ENTERING ANYAR: Will Maung Saungkha energize the Bamar revolutionary groups or create more frictions?

Quite recently the Bamar People’s Liberation Army (BPLA) leader Maung Saungkha made an announcement that his troops will enter Myanmar central region or Anyar and cooperate with the parallel National Unity Government/People’s Defense Force (NUG/PDF) and assorted local anti-junta groups in its fight against the Myanmar military junta or State Administration Council (SAC).

The BPLA on October 27, the 1st anniversary of Operation 1027, headed by the Three Brotherhood Alliance (3BHA) announced that it will be stationed in the central region of Myanmar or Anyar and will bring a military partner. So far it has been operating in Karen State and northern Shan State, together with the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA) and 3BHA receptively.

“One thing I want to inform the people is that the BPLA will soon be able to settle in the Anyar area and start operations. We believe and hope that the people of Anyar will welcome us,” informed Maung Saungkha through his social network page.

“When we settled in the upper region, we will try to establish good relations both with the Ministry of Defense (MOD)/PDF battalions and with other forces that are not subordinate to the MOD and try to achieve revolutionary victory as soon as possible. BPLA will implement step by step to represent the Bamar ethnic group and to gain the recognition of the Bamar people. One sure thing is BPLA is not an army under NUG/MOD. However, I promise that I will steadfastly try to work together with all the Anyar local forces in the interest of unity,” according to Maung Saungkha in his recent Facebook posting.

BPLA’s information officer Ko Lin Lin recently told The Irrawaddy that the reason why they will be stationed in Anyar region is that, as an army representing the Bamar people, the main goal is to be able to organize and fight effectively against the military junta in Anyar region, where the majority of the Bamar live.

“This settlement (plan) is not a new idea. It took more than 3 years of preparation from various military regions to be able to do this,” he said.

Ko Lin Lin also said, “When BPLA conducts military operations in the Anyar region, it will only emphasize on the unity of the United Front. At present, we are mobilizing small forces that are not under the MOD. After that careful military training will be given and will be followed by military operations. We would also like to invite young people who are willing to fight the war like war in Anyar to join BPLA.”

But in which region will BPLA operate, and what kind of deal has been reached or if anything has been done to reach any agreement with any of the force were not mentioned.

According to Ko Lin Lin, the BPLA, which is several thousand strong and has fought in Karen State and northern Shan State, it now plans to build a military region in central Myanmar of Sagaing, Mandalay and Magway divisions to conduct military operations.

Welcoming with skepticism

Most of the people accept and welcome the fact that the BPLA and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) plan to conduct operations, but also worried of possible frictions as there are many armed forces in Anyar region.

The PLA, like the BPLA has been fighting along side the 3BHA in northern Shan State. It is the armed wing of Communist Party of Burma (CPB) which has been near to extinction when it started to reactivate again on March 15, 2021 after its fighters crossed from China into Kachin State. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) provided them with weapons to combat the ruling junta. The PLA asserts to have approximately 1,000 active troops as of December 2023, according to Geopolitical Monitor backgrounder report of February 27, 2024.

Ko Soe Win Swe, who is in charge of the Sagaing Forum, said, “We are a region that has been resisting (the junta) with Tumi gunpowder guns and improvised explosive device, when there was nothing (no war weapon) in Anyar. Now, if the revolutionary forces from other regions join us and attack, it can be said that it will become a stronger seen from resistance revolutionary aspect. However, if there will be a political agenda along with the military, without preliminary negotiations and holding discussions, I’m worried that there will be a little confusion,” he said, according to The Irrawaddy.

Similarly, 96 Soldiers PDF Ko Zeya Lwin, who is in charge of the Anyar Division, said that if everyone can cooperate in the Anyar region, there will be fewer difficulties and more military advantages.

In the same vein, Bo Nagar of Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA) who once worked with the MOD/PDF but later withdrew due to various problems, openly welcomed Maung Saungkha’s BPLA with open arms and looked forward to work with it. Ironically, Maung Saungkha, unlike Bo Nagar, is on cordial good terms with the NUG Defense Minister U Ye Mon.

However, in a video podcast commentary titled: “Is it fair to pressure Maung Saungkha?” in TM Media, Ko Thein Myat made a plea not to demand BPLA to come under the NUG and respect his independence as a military outfit and political outlook, on October 31, 2024.

In the commentaries that appeared thereafter on the Facebook, there were pros and cons that the BPLA should come under either under the Central Command and Coordination Committee (C3C) or Joint Command and Coordination (J2C) of the NUG and its Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs).

According to a Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) report of February 16, 2024, the NUG states that around 300 PDF units have been established nationwide. Besides the PDF, there is the Local Defense Force (LDF) and People’s Defense Team (PDT), also known as pa ka pha in Burmese. These are localized anti-military units formed for local defense and security purposes. Some of these groups are trying to convert into PDF units. Yee Mon, the NUG Minister of Defense, said that there were around 400 LDF. They were formed prior to the PDF in March 2021 to protect anti-coup protesters from the military crackdown.

In a different tone RFA Burmese Section recent video podcast discussion on the BPLA entering issue as largely positive, where all panelists were of the same opinion. They are political analyst U Than Soe Naing, political analyst U Kyee Myint who is also a political analyst and a lawyer and Ma Phoo Pwint Wai who is a revolutionary from Pyit Taing Htaung Lay Myar group.

Position Paper

The BPLA was formed on April 17, 2021 by Maung Saungkha in Karen State. Its Position Paper released on January 4, 2024 under the headings of politics, security, transitional justice, social justice are expressed as the following:

Politics

1. Protection and promotion of human dignity liberty and security.
2. Fighting all dictatorial systems and liberating all people from oppressed lives.
3. Anti-chauvinism, anti-narrow-minded nationalism, and achieving equality and self-determination.
4. Establishment of a new federal union that guarantees human rights and social justice.
5. In the construction of a new federal union, the construction of the Bamar federal unit or Bamar country or Bamar State.

Security

1. To be able to establish a Union Army that adhere to civilian (government) influence and can stand firm the control and monitoring of law and civil society.
2. The emergence of an army that respects all genders, cultures and multi-ethnic peoples.
3. The emergence of a federal security system based on human security values.

Transitional Justice

1. Elimination the practice of impunity from transitional justice for the human rights abusers.
2. Guaranteeing the rights of labor, farmer and manual laborer without capital
   (including) miscellaneous rights to bring about class equality.

Social Justice

1. The emergence of an economic system that will not allow a group of people to have the right to monopolize the country’s wealth.
2. To be able to manage free healthcare, education, the right to live in a decent and safe dwelling for everyone, free basic food provision and basic social security.
3. A political system, policy formulation and implementation that can protect the environment and climate change.
4. Building a prosperous society where all genders are valued and can live together as equals without exclusion and oppression.
   (NOTE: Unofficial translation from Burmese language by the writer.)

Its theoretical political strategy includes the emergence of Bamar State, formation of new constituent units or political mapping, minority rights, formation of Upper House or Chamber of Nationalities in the bicameral Union Parliament.

Moreover, the Position Paper includes interpretation of democracy, forging political alliance, military policy and transitional period topics.

Analysis

Since Anyar is the main Bamar majority stronghold where the Myanmar military junta recruited most of its troopers traditionally, it is politically most important for the junta and as well the anti-junta forces to control the area and the population.

In the aftermath of the February 2021 military coup, the Anyar population has turned against the military junta and opted against it, transforming the resistance into armed revolution due to the barbaric oppression and tyrannical rule of the junta. In turn more repression breed more hatred against it and to date, no dialogue is possible between the warring parties.

Against this background, while the junta is doing everything to curb the rebellion in Anyar through aerial bombing, mass killings and forced disappearance, the anti-junta Bamar revolutionary forces are also trying to change the balance of power militarily to their advantage.

Thus the well trained, battle hardened and politically correct BPLA may be able to energize the fighters already on the ground. This is, at least, what the people are hoping and waiting for.

The RFA panelists aired recently are so enthusiastic that they were convinced that the revolutionary tide will turn into the anti-junta Bamar revolutionary groups’ favor operating within the bounds of Anyar. The panelists were convinced BPLA entering Anyar or Dry Zone will energize the Spring Revolution and lead to the uprooting of the military dictatorship system. KIA has almost cleansed the junta military positions in Kachin State and is coming down to Sagaing, so do the BPLA and PLA. The Arakan Army (AA) would probably come in to help and also penetrate into the Irrawaddy delta and the whole Anyar people are rising up together and backing the anti-junta groups. Victory may be at hand against all odds is the speculation from the discussion forum.

Seen from the latest development in Kachin, Arakan, Karenni, and northern Shan states where the junta is in clearly in the defensive and losing ground, the possibility to link Anyar resistance with Kachin and Arakan states to counter China’s blockage of the 3BHA is becoming a reality.

The only thing now that urgently matters is that for the forces in Anyar to form a united front militarily first and eventually try to reach a political united front at a later stage.

It remains to be seen if the BPLA, together with the PLA will fulfill the role of energizing the whole Anyar Bamar forces, act as a glue in relation to the NUG/PDF and assorted local resistance groups, and become an agent of change or not for the whole country.