Letter from Laiza: High Spirits at the Kachin Rebel Headquarters

By RYAN LIBRE
Tuesday, June 21, 2011


In Laiza spirits are high. There is a vibrancy in the air and the leadership of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), talk of their options with optimism. Many civilians have huddled into churches and makeshift refugee camps just meters from the Chinese border. They have chosen this spot because they don’t trust the central government not to order an attack on civilians, but know that Naypyidaw is concerned about shelling China by accident. Those left in the city don’t look scared.

The Kachin are in the honeymoon stage of war. If this turns into a full-scale prolonged war, this honeymoon will fade as the realities of war and refugees grow. However, the celebratory atmosphere in Laiza is not without warrant. I have personally seen many factors, some of which are still unknown even to specialists on the topic, that give the Kachin reason to be optimistic about their position and enable them to bargain with the central government with authority. The Burmese army has no chance of quickly wiping out the KIA as they did the Kokang in 2009.

The Kachin are known to be fierce fighters, but they are not warmongers. Even now, in the excitement of renewed fighting, one of the most frequently spoken words I hear during the long civil debates among the leaders and elders is “simsa”, which means peace in their native Jinghpaw language. The Kachin are the most peace-loving, kind and tolerant people I have ever come across.

However, the Kachin cannot live peacefully without their own army under the current government. As one civilian member of the KIO’s central committee told me, “There are so many gross abuses of power now, I can’t image what would happen if we had no arms to create a balance.”

Naypyidaw demanded that the KIO/KIA accept the Border Guard Force (BGF) plan without addressing any of the reasons the Kachin feel they need to protect themselves. In the many talks the two sides held to discuss the BGF issue, the central government never truly negotiated. It thought it had enough weapons and power to bully the KIA to accept, but in the end was unable to get its own way, which brings us to the inevitable fighting this week.

The commander of the Burmese army’s Northern Regional Command, Brig-Gen Zeyar Aung, wrote a letter to the KIO under the heading, “In response to your request [for a cease-fire],” even though the KIO had never asked for a cease-fire. Before the Kachin leaders could even begin to draft a reply, they had to decide what this example of Orwellian doublespeak was actually supposed to mean. Reading between the lines, they decided that the message from the northern commander was this: “There is no meaningful dialogue to be had with us.” After much deliberation and many drafts, the KIO replied, in part, that if the government wanted the fighting to stop, there was no need for a cease-fire. Simply stop your troops from entering our area and the fighting will cease by itself, they said.

This is proof that the central government is incapable of, and seemingly not even interested in, working toward a lasting solution to the deep-seated problems that have been with this unequal union from the very beginning. The KIO has asked China to step in and mediate the situation. But at this stage, they seem more convinced than ever that the “road map to disciplined democracy” was created to give directions to a dead end and waste time so that the central government could continue to rape the land and amass wealth and weapons.

Even though they appear to have lost all faith in Naypyidaw, the KIO/KIA still believe that peace will return to their homeland. The US, EU and UN can all do more to bring lasting peace to the Kachin and Burma. However, even combined, they have less influence over Burma than China does. What China will do is still not clear.

What the Kachin see as a solution is clear. As Gen Gam Shawng, the KIA chief of staff, told me: “If we get real state rights and a federal union, we will lay down our arms. It will be a clean and lasting diplomatic solution.”

It is equally clear to the Kachin that the Lady in Rangoon, rather than the generals in Naypyidaw, represents their best hope of achieving the permanent peace they seek. This is probably why, at a time when Laiza had been emptied of much of its population, many of those who remained, including KIO/KIA leaders such as Gen Gam Shawng and Gen Gun Maw, took precious time away from their duties to pay their respects to Aung San Suu Kyi on her 66th birthday last Sunday.

Some 150 people attended a birthday event organized by a group known as the Democratic Force, consisting mostly of students from the ‘88 generation. The majority were Kachin, although there were also many other ethnic groups and Burmese at the party. After the ceremony was finished, people lined up to sign a two-meter tall birthday card for Suu Kyi. Gen Gam Shawng was the first to add his name.

It is impossible to understand how the Kachin see Suu Kyi without looking at the relationship her father, Gen Aung San, had with them. It was Aung San who convinced the Kachin to join the union. They trusted his promise of a union based on equality, a promise that was betrayed by his successors. This history has forever changed Kachin State and its people, making it difficult for some Kachin to put complete trust in Suu Kyi’s promises.

The fact that many now see her as a person worthy of real admiration is perhaps a signal that the KIO/KIA is willing to let go of the past and work together for the future.