Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) has declared seven ancient cities in Mandalay Region as heritage sites in a bid to protect them from junta shelling and airstrikes.
The NUG’s Interim Board for Heritage Administration (IBFHA) on Jan. 15 named the protected sites as Mine Maw and Myinsaing in Kyaukse township, Mekkhaya in Sintgaing township, Watee in Natogyi township, Pinya and Inwa in Tada-U township, and Tagaung in Thabeikkyin township.
Ranging between 600 and 2,000 years old, the ancient cities are famous historic sites in Myanmar.
Mandalay Region borders Shan State, Sagaing Region and Magwe. Sagaing and Magwe are resistance hotbeds where regime troops are targeting civilian areas with artillery and air strikes. Meanwhile, towns in northern Shan State are being pummelled by air raids and shelling despite a ceasefire agreed last week.
In Mandalay Region, sporadic clashes have erupted as the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and allied local People’s Defense Force target Mandalay city, where the junta’s central military headquarters is based.
The IBFHA said conducting military operations, setting up camps, using heavy weapons, torching, destroying, looting, trading in, repairing, or aiming to change the shape of heritage sites was prohibited in the designated areas.
“Military tensions are likely to escalate in Mandalay Region. We made the announcement because there are several heritage sites in the region,” said Daw Nay Yi Lin, secretary of IBFHA.
The IBFHA has good reason to be concerned.
Junta troops recently targeted heritage sites while attacking the Arakan Army (AA) in Mrauk-U, the 600-year-old capital of the ancient Arakanese Kingdom in Rakhine State.
Mrauk-U was submitted for UNESCO Heritage Site listing in 2017.
Junta shelling destroyed the Mrauk-U Cultural Museum, a repository for Rakhine heritage, in the last week of December.
The AA responded by vowing effective action to prevent the junta from intentionally destroying Rakhine’s historical heritage and cultural artifacts.
Myanmar is an ethnically and culturally diverse country, exemplified by the rich histories of Mandalay, Sagaing, Magwe and Bago regions and Rakhine State.
The NUG is preparing to announce new heritage lists for regions and states where military tensions are escalating, the IBFHA told The Irrawaddy. The agency has already listed the UNESCO World Heritage Pyu Ancient Cities in Hanlin, Sagaing as off-limits for military operations.
“The listings make resistance forces aware and respectful of the heritage sites. However, after we listed the sites in Sagaing Region, junta soldiers torched [part of ancient] Hanlin city,” said the secretary.
The IBFHA said those who damaged or destroyed heritage would be prosecuted under the Protection and Preservation of Ancient Monuments Law, the Protection and Preservation of Cultural Heritage Regional Law, the Counter Terrorism Law, and related international laws.
