One spring morning in 2021, the sky fell: The military was staging another coup. That’s what every citizen felt, as they knew nothing would be the same in their lives or for their nation.
Twenty years earlier, on Sept. 11, 2001, when Islamic terrorists launched their deadly attacks on New York’s World Trade Center in what would become known as the 9/11 attacks, we all witnessed shocking live video of a jetliner flying into the North Tower, followed soon after by another flying into the South Tower. As the towers exploded in fireballs, with smoke pouring from within, followed by their horrifying collapse, it definitely seemed to all as if the sky was falling—especially for the onlookers in lower Manhattan.
On Feb. 1, 2021, when the military seized power in Myanmar, the sky—the whole sky—fell for the Myanmar people. The coup staged by military leader Min Aung Hlaing has inflicted huge damage on the country and devastated the entire population of 55 million.
Since Day One, nothing has been the same for Myanmar’s society, politics and economy. It changed everything—crushing the existing social order, shattering the economy, destroying the livelihoods of the people and forcing the country into a revolution. For the Myanmar people, the coup was “The Attack”, worse than any terrorist attack and different from the coups the country experienced in 1962 and 1988.
A day of hope turns into doomsday
Feb. 1, 2021 began as a day of promise for the country and its people; on that day their newly elected or reelected lawmakers were due to assemble in Parliament and a second five-year term was due to begin for the civilian government first formed in 2016—54 years after the first coup in 1962. Though the civilian government had in its first term faced both expected and unexpected political turbulence as it struggled to negotiate a system designed and manipulation by the military—the military-drafted constitution, the military’s quota of 25 percent of seats in Parliament, military-appointed ministerial positions in the government, the obstructions of a military-backed party, and the conservative military leaders themselves—the coming term, many believed, would further the country’s political transition toward democracy, autonomy for ethnic states and economic growth.
By the time the sun rose, however, the coup had crushed the expectations, held by the entire population, that their country was heading in the right direction thanks to the result of the votes they cast less than three months earlier. The coup leader, Min Aung Hlaing, tried to justify his takeover by claiming that the election was fraudulent—a claim rejected by the majority of Myanmar people as well as independent international electoral observers. The putsch was not the first; multiple generations have been affected by the military’s repeated deceptions—first in 1962, a second time in 1988 and again this time in 2021. Their anger at the military was tripled.
The latest takeover sparked an uprising, stirring what had been a stable Myanmar to get angry again. According to dictionary definitions, “angry” means: “having the feeling people get when something unfair, painful or bad happens,” or: “having a strong feeling against someone who has behaved badly, making you want to shout at them or hurt them.” Both definitions literally capture the feeling of the Myanmar people when the military staged the coup. That’s one of the elements that has brought Myanmar to revolution this time.
But the Spring Revolution ignited by the coup did not begin as a real revolution. At first, it was a nationwide uprising like the one in 1988. One definition of “revolution” is: “a change in the way a country is governed, usually to a different political system and often using violence or war.” That’s what happened a few months after the coup. Like every revolution throughout world history, Myanmar’s revolution had multiple causes.
Immediate elements for a revolution
A coup is a way to kill democracy, but Min Aung Hlaing’s coup killed much more than that.
It also killed every potential political process and all platforms that might lead to democracy and federalism.
What his coup killed:
- the 2020 election results (a landslide victory for the NLD).
- the elected civilian government and Parliament.
- the democratic transition started in 2011 by the coup maker’s ex-boss, General-turned-President Thein Sein.
- the national reconciliation process involving an elected government, other key stakeholders (including ethnic organizations) and the military, as well as public support for the process as an alternative to
- the ceasefire or peace process, which prompted many EAOs to join the new armed resistance after the coup.
- the opinion held by the public, including politicians, ethnic leaders and civil society groups (except military sympathizers), that the military leadership at that time was a key stakeholder in the democratization process.
With those political platforms destroyed, the people were deeply aware that this coup would end the “best and freest” period they had known, that it was different from the two dictatorships, both of which lasted for decades, that preceded it; that this coup would destroy everything: their lives, businesses, education, opportunities, hopes and dreams, now and in the future—in other words, forever.
All generations, from grandparents to their grandchildren, felt sad, hopeless and angry. These emotions feed into political discontent as an essential element for revolution.
A new level of butchery
In the beginning, the uprising was peaceful, organized, and even colorful and creative as demonstrators, mostly members of Generation Z, staged protests in various ways, including street performances. Their demands were simple—truth and democratic values, as expressed in their slogans: “Down with the military dictatorship!”, “Respect our votes!” “Free our leaders.” In addition to these demands, huge graffiti appeared on city walls, expressing their anger: “Fuck the coup!”
But the Myanmar military has never changed when it comes to its oppressive attitude and conservative mentality, which have been institutionalized over many decades since the first coup. If anything, it has only gotten worse. The way the regime troops responded to the peaceful demonstrations was much worse than any other crackdown, even in their brutal history.
They indulged in a new level of butchery this time. Soon after the coup in 2021, the junta troops started killing young peaceful protesters execution-style, aiming for their heads and hearts. Victims of the junta this time were from all generations. One of the youngest victims was 5-year-old Khin Myo Chit, who was killed in her home in Mandalay. Another was 19-year-old Kyal Sin, who was shot in the head while protesting on a street in Mandalay. My former fellow political prisoner Ko Soe Moe Hlaing (aka Mae Gyi)—by this time in his early 50s, he had taken part in the ’88 uprising, joined the ABSDF student army, and was jailed in the 1990s for 13 years—was tortured to death within two days of his arrest at home in Yangon in May 2021.
Within a few months, Min Aung Hlaing had turned Myanmar into a “killing field”. The streets were bloody; funerals were being held in every city; houses were deserted; prisons were packed; the nation was crying.
The mood of the people was as if murderers were at their door; all their dreams had been torn apart; nothing good was left and evil prevailed; the dark age had returned as they saw their country fall again into the abyss of military dictatorship, realizing their worst fears. This left the majority of Myanmar people feeling so desperate they’d rather fight back than submit to military rule. The hard lessons from their bitter experiences in the past strengthened their feelings.
Bitter lessons of the past fuel revolution
The hard lessons the Myanmar people learned under the previous coups and from earlier resistance movements also served as foundations for a revolutionary period. These feelings, determination and lessons were accumulated over 60 years of consecutive military dictatorships.
As discussed in Part 2 of this series, the Myanmar people learned from the ’88 Uprising and the following years under the then junta:
- Popular uprisings don’t work because the generals will simply oppress them. (Yes, once again.)
- Elections and even landslide victories don’t work because the generals will reject them. (They did it again!)
- Nonviolent methods don’t work because the generals respond with violence. (They are ferociously violent this time.)
- Pressure from the international community doesn’t work because the generals don’t play by its standards. (Exactly the same.)
Having learned those hard lessons, they are more politically aware that this military, with the same mentality of the generals, will repeat what it did in the past and will even choose a worse path, as they are doing now.
Given all these hard lessons from the past and present, combined with the specific elements of the present, the new level of butchery and their feelings of sadness, anger and fear, they had only one option left—a revolution.
The final battle—do or die!
Driven by this impetus, they started to fight the junta with their bare hands. Their revolution was a reaction against the junta’s injustice and cruelty. They started to wage their “war” with makeshift “weapons” like slingshots, catapults, air guns made from blue plastic pipes, slings and bamboo arrows. Many of them were killed, but they refused to cower. In short, the whole terrible situation drove young people in different regions and states to take up arms for “the final battle”, as they put it, which means “do or die”— a different level of fighting from the 1988 Uprising.
Not only young Bamar people from Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magwe, Tanintharyi and other regions but also ethnic youths from Chin, Karenni, Kachin, Karen and other states decided to fight back with whatever they had—even with rudimentary hunting rifles. They flocked to ethnic armed group-controlled areas to undergo military training. While some of them returned to their towns to join underground movements, most remained in the jungle to form their own anti-regime armed resistance forces across the country.
Meanwhile, the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG) by elected NLD lawmakers and their ethnic allies—not only as an umbrella organization for the anti-regime movement but also as a parallel government to challenge the junta’s legitimacy at home and abroad—has given people more faith in the revolution as they see the NUG as their legitimate government. The NUG has worked with some anti-regime EAOs and their collaboration has seen a mushrooming of People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) across the country.
This was a different level of resistance, and marked the beginning of a revolution against the military dictatorship, after the young resistance fighters (some of them were first-time voters) saw their votes and democratic rights discarded. This revolution initiated by a diverse new generation of young Bamar and ethnic fighters was also different from the autonomy-based struggle started by some EAOs many decades ago. That’s why we’ve been seeing members of PDFs fighting alongside experienced EAOs like the Kachin Independence Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Karen National Union, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and others in various military offensives. They’ll do whatever it takes to end the military dictatorship, as rooting out the system is their common goal.
This is the first revolution in Myanmar’s modern history.
Unprecedented coordination
Unlike the 1988 coup, many established ethnic armed organizations have taken a political stand in solidarity with the anti-coup movement. They have supported, trained and equipped newly arrived young fighters and have fought the junta troops with them. Such coordination had never before been seen in the history of armed struggle in Myanmar, bringing together young and old generations, old and new fighters and newly-formed PDFs and established EAOs, though of course there have been disagreements and arguments.
An important factor this time is that many EAOs have the same feeling as young fighters and the people about this latest coup. The military has always bullied and betrayed the people but this time they went too far. For many of the EAOs who sympathize with the anti-military regime movement, the latest takeover was a testament to the fact that the military couldn’t be trusted, especially in the peace process they participated in with the military for many years. The result was that following the coup they openly stated that they would no longer participate in the regime’s peace process.
The collaboration between PDFs and EAOs put the Myanmar people’s hopes of toppling the regime in high gear and saw them join hands to support the revolution by establishing crowdfunding among their compatriots at home and abroad, generating millions of dollars. It’s the Myanmar people’s support that has kept the revolution moving forward for more than three years now while the world merely offers lip service, and not a dime in material assistance.
While the people’s financial support for the revolution plays an important role, new technology like mobile phones and the internet have become another powerful force in the Spring Revolution. Unlike in 1988, information technology in 2021 enabled the people to record the regime’s atrocities on their phones, allowing the world to see how brutal the junta is. Furthermore, the internet also makes crowdfunding easier as well-wishers can contribute to the revolution with a few taps on their phones. On the front lines, the PDFs have successfully turned commercial drones into objects of fear for the regime troops, capable of carrying bombs.
The junta’s terror tactics intensify the revolutionary spirit
The junta and its military have resorted to the worst forms of brutality. They have attacked not only resistance fighters but the civilian population for supporting them. They have used all methods and weapons—from Su-30 fighter jets to MI-17 and MI-35 military helicopters, to helicopter gunships and all forms of artillery. Junta fighter jets have bombed village schools while students are learning; its troops have torched houses, churches and monasteries in villages and towns; they have kidnapped, tortured and beheaded innocent villagers. They use these tactics to terrify the public.
Over the past three years, according to the UN and observer groups, junta fighter jets have carried out 5,800 airstrikes. Its troops have killed around 5,600 people, including more than 1,000 women and 705 children, mostly in artillery barrages, airstrikes and shootings. And more than 27,200 people have been arrested. An estimated 3 million people have been forced from their homes since the coup.
But the junta’s terror tactics haven’t been able to weaken the revolution. Instead, they have only intensified the revolutionary spirit. Since last October, the resistance fighters, both PDFs and EAOs, have launched unprecedented military offensives like Operation 1027, seizing many military bases, outposts and towns in different states and regions. And because of their operations, thousands of soldiers have already surrendered.
In the beginning, scholars and observers believed that this resistance initiated by young resistance fighters would be crushed by the brutal tactics of the military. This view reflects their failure to grasp the revolutionary spirit of the Myanmar people this time, or to understand how and why this revolution has evolved step by step based on previous coups and resistance movements and the bitter lessons learned over the past 60 years, or to understand the key elements in this revolution.
No more deals with the criminal generals
After this latest coup, the military has become the enemy of the people again. This time, it is seen as a genuine enemy, one with whom there can be no compromise, under any conditions. In the past, most political forces from political parties to the prominent ’88 generation student group to ethnic armed organizations agreed to compromise and open negotiations with the military. It was a kind of national political tendency before the 2021 coup. They all tried to achieve national reconciliation with the military. Because not only different political leaders and ethnic leaders but also the general public thought reconciliation would be the best way to avoid confrontation and more bloodshed, despite the military’s long-term human rights violations and its greed for power. It was probably based on a traditional view that the Myanmar military was too powerful to collapse. Another thought was the military leaders might change positively, like military generals in other countries. That was the policy adopted by the National League for Democracy when it tried to work with a semi-civilian government led by ex-General Thein Sein in the 2010s.
But that didn’t work either. During that “democratic transition” period (2011-2020), the Myanmar people learned other lessons from the ex-generals’ quasi-civilian government:
- “Democratic transition” doesn’t work.
- National reconciliation doesn’t work.
- Ceasefire or peace processes don’t work.
So, the “national reconciliation” era is over and the “peace process” has failed. Likewise, the junta’s election proposal has been rejected by the public. It will not turn back as long as this military exists. This is because the military leaders have repeatedly destroyed the public’s trust and hopes, and have rebuffed every opportunity they have been offered to join other stakeholders and the public in sincerely rebuilding a democratic nation based on federalism. All tolerance for them is gone.
In the place of national reconciliation, only justice will be available for the criminal generals and their collaborators. Only justice will heal the wounded Myanmar people; only justice will bring about a future from which war has been banished. That’s all the Myanmar people want this time. No more Ne Win. No more Than Shwe. No more Min Aung Hlaing. No more junta. No more quasi-civilian governments, either.
For many Myanmar people, they are fighting this revolution with all that they have left—their flesh, blood and their remaining belongings. So, this is the final battle, one they can’t lose, one on which they have bet their lives—it is do or die.
Understanding this evolution of the Myanmar revolution, everyone, including our neighboring countries and the rest of the international community, should understand that old, military-centered solutions that led nowhere over the past many decades—like elections planned by the junta and negotiations with the criminal generals—are nothing but empty and insincere diplomatic gestures.
Those who support the generals—China, Russia, India and others—only insult the Myanmar people who have been fighting this revolution with their own blood, flesh and funding.
This is the Myanmar revolution (စစ်အာဏာရှင်တော်လှန်ရေး), whose goal is to uproot the military dictatorship, including the military institution’s political culture—its unethical, brutal, lie-ridden, corrupt culture—forever, in a final battle. Once it is won, the vicious circle of Myanmar’s modern history will end, and a new chapter can begin. This time, having suffered this decades-long cycle created by the military, all Myanmar people deserve a successful revolution that will allow them to live in the free world.
This story is the final installment in a three-part series. Please check out the previous two installments below:
Part 1: Evolution of the Myanmar Revolution (Part 1): Why the ‘Mother Coup’ Faced Little Resistance
Part 2: Evolution of the Myanmar Revolution (Part 2): Why the ’88 Uprising Didn’t Evolve Into Revolution
