• Burmese
Saturday, July 12, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
25 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Ethnic Ta’ang Rights Groups Accuse Shan Armed Group of Abuse

Lawi Weng by Lawi Weng
September 29, 2016
in Burma
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
A Ta’ang monk visits a local school in Kutkai Township this year / Mai Ak Bamh / Facebook

A Ta’ang monk visits a local school in Kutkai Township this year / Mai Ak Bamh / Facebook

3.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Mai Aung Kham, an ethnic Ta’ang—also known as Palaung—from northern Shan State, says he is on the run.

He told reporters on Wednesday at a Rangoon press conference that he has been called to serve in the military wing of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), an ethnic Shan resistance organization.

Mai Aung Kham, who is the Mong Kung Township chairman of the Ta’ang National Party (TNP), said he was recruited in his native Mong Kung Township, but once he fled, his uncle was detained in his stead.

RelatedPosts

Tensions Flare Between Myanmar Ethnic Armed Groups in Shan State Town  

Tensions Flare Between Myanmar Ethnic Armed Groups in Shan State Town  

April 29, 2024
9.9k
Myanmar Junta Spokesman Tries to Spark Shan Ethnic Hatred

Myanmar Junta Spokesman Tries to Spark Shan Ethnic Hatred

November 22, 2023
2.8k
Ta-ang Girls Return From Yangon Nunnery Showing Signs of Torture 

Ta-ang Girls Return From Yangon Nunnery Showing Signs of Torture 

February 23, 2023
4.7k

“They ordered me to come back. If not, my uncle has to do military service instead of me,” he explained at a press conference in Rangoon on Wednesday.

Mai Aung Kham has been detained by the RCSS three times already, he told reporters at the event, which was organized jointly by the Ta’ang Student and Youth Organization (TSYO) and the Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO). The first two incidents he felt were due to his affiliation with the TNP, the local ethnic Ta’ang political party in the town.

“They [Ta’ang] held a press conference in Yangon to make the RCSS look bad.” Col. Sai Hla, a spokesperson from RCSS, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. “It was very one-sided and there was no concrete evidence to support their accusations.”

The RCSS recruited local people in this way in the past, he said, but not anymore. “If our local troops detained [Ta’ang] people, the people could bring evidence to our headquarters and we would release them.”

Mai Aung Kham’s allegations extend further—that the RCSS has restricted cultural activities related to the ethnic Ta’ang community. Ashin Theik Kha Nyar Na, from the Ta’ang Monks Union, alleged at the press conference that the RCSS had restricted the teaching of Ta’ang literature in Mong Kung.

More than 20 schools in Mong Kung have been closed since armed conflict between the RCSS and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) broke out in November 2015, leaving communities to respond to educational needs.

“From the past, and even now, our Ta’ang people have not gotten an education. Our ethnic Ta’ang will disappear in the future if they do not have education,” said Ashin Theik Kha Nyar Na, who said that an estimated 100 Ta’ang villages in Mong Kung did not have schools to start with.

Ta’ang civil society groups say they set up community-based education centers over the past two years, to total 55 schools. But Ashin Theik Kha Nyar Na said that they must operate under threat of the RCSS.

“They threaten our school teachers to ‘go back where they come from.’ If not, they say will arrest the teachers, then they will take them to their headquarters,” he said.

With regard to the RCSS restricting education, Col. Sai Hla said, “We were happy to work with them [Ta’ang monks], but they did not cooperate with us.”

“They [Ta’ang monks] came to our area to campaign politically, not only to teach, he added.

Ashin Theik Kha Nyar Na was among Ta’ang community leaders who met with RCSS leadership in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Sept. 12. In that meeting, they requested support in furthering the education of Ta’ang literature in Shan State, voicing concern over the closing of 60 schools statewide.

“[Lt-Gen Yawd Serk] told us that it was not a problem to open schools, and to just go to ask permission from his liaison office in Taunggyi [the Shan State capital],” said the monk, referring to the RCSS head.

Ta’ang community leaders now say that they followed the procedure and requested permission in the RCSS’s Taunggyi office, but did not receive a reply, Ashin Theik Kha Nyar Na added.

The RCSS was one of a minority of armed groups to sign the government’s nationwide ceasefire agreement in 2015; the TNLA was not a signatory. The rights groups organizing Wednesday’s conference say that the RCSS is violating the agreement and has an obligation to protect civilians—instead, they allege, they are abusing them.

The TSYO and TWO said that in order for the two ethnic groups to be able to coexist, the RCSS should withdraw troops from its northern Shan State bases, hold peace talks with the TNLA and cease alleged abuses against civilians.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Ta’ang
Lawi Weng

Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Tensions Flare Between Myanmar Ethnic Armed Groups in Shan State Town  
Ethnic Issues

Tensions Flare Between Myanmar Ethnic Armed Groups in Shan State Town  

by The Irrawaddy
April 29, 2024
9.9k

MNDAA arrests seven TNLA soldiers in struggle over administration of Kutkai after liberation from junta control.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Spokesman Tries to Spark Shan Ethnic Hatred
Burma

Myanmar Junta Spokesman Tries to Spark Shan Ethnic Hatred

by The Irrawaddy
November 22, 2023
2.8k

Regime spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun says the Brotherhood Alliance is fighting to seize ethnic Shan land, not to...

Read moreDetails
Ta-ang Girls Return From Yangon Nunnery Showing Signs of Torture 
Burma

Ta-ang Girls Return From Yangon Nunnery Showing Signs of Torture 

by The Irrawaddy
February 23, 2023
4.7k

Novices say that instead of being educated they were forced into hard labor, beaten and tied up with cable.

Read moreDetails
RCSS troops in their headquarters in Loi Tai Leng, Shan State. / The Irrawaddy
Burma

Human Rights Group Claims RCSS Violations Against Ta’ang

by Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint
July 15, 2019
7.8k

The Ta’ang Human Rights Network said in a press release it has documented more then 170 victims of human rights...

Read moreDetails
Ta’ang locals in Kyaukme Township, northern Shan State. / Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy
Ethnic Issues

Ta’ang Rape Victim Claims Attackers Army Soldiers

by Lawi Weng
May 17, 2019
6.6k

The woman was working on her tea farm when two armed men with guns approached her and raped her at...

Read moreDetails
An ethnic Ta'ang family is seen in northern Shan State. / Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy
Burma

Ta’ang Community Accuses RCSS of Killing 2 Civilians

by Lawi Weng
July 9, 2019
5.9k

Community leaders and the relatives of a missing father and son say the two were killed by the Restoration Council...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Workers are transported via truck to the site of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project on May 8, 2015. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

Investment Law Approved in Lower House

U Aung Htike is seen at a 2015 exhibition in Yangon by the artist Htein Lin. Titled ‘A Show of Hands,’ it highlighted the experiences of political prisoners. / Minka Nijhuis

Eulogy for an Everyday Hero, U Aung Htike

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

3 days ago
1k
Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

3 days ago
1k

Most Read

  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KIA Denies Rumor Chief Under House Arrest in China

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.