MAR WONG, Shan State — In an isolated mountaintop hamlet of northern Shan State, as hundreds of people celebrated the anniversary of the Palaung insurrection against the Ne Win government, the leader of one of the few ethnic armies yet to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government has said that a peace settlement remains a distant prospect.
More than 650 troops from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the insurgent group representing the Palaung people, marched in honor of the Revolution Day anniversary on Monday to the cheers of hundreds of onlookers, some of whom had traveled on motorbike for more than six hours from as far away as Lashio and Hsipaw .
The TNLA has existed for less than four years, its two senior leaders were until recently based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, and the people whose interests it claims to represent—a Buddhist minority of around half a million—are scattered across the sparsely populated expanse of northern Shan State and the Palaung Self-Administered Zone.
The impressive turnout to the anniversary celebrations, at a remote and inaccessible part of the country and in temperatures barely above freezing, is a measure of the Palaung community’s depth of hostility towards the government and the Burma Army.
Revolution Day marks the beginning of the Palaung insurrection against the Burmese government on Jan. 12, 1963, a year after Ne Win’s military government seized power in a coup, ushering in an era of increased Bamar dominance of politics and the military, and the often violent repression of ethnic identity and aspirations.
“We should not forget our armed revolution,” Tar Aik Bong, the TNLA chairman, told The Irrawaddy on Monday. “We should not forget the people who sacrificed their lives for our revolution. Our revolution cannot end yet, as our demands have not been met. Our people have the duty to carry out an armed revolution.”
While the TNLA does not have a long history, the re-emergence of a Palaung armed group is unsurprising in the context of the recent history of northern Shan State. After the Palaung State Liberation Organization (PSLO) signed a ceasefire agreement in 1991, it was forced to disarm by the Burma Army in 2005. In the time since, locals had to contend both with army harassment and pro-government militias, who took over former PSLO territory and conscripted young men into their forces.
The pernicious opium trade, long used to finance ethnic armies and pro-government militias, also led to devastating consequences in Palaung communities after it was introduced following the PSLO disarmament. In the Palaung Self-Administered Zone township of Mantong, where the PSLO had ceremoniously handed over their weapons to government troops, the Palaung Women’s Organization estimated in 2009 that 85 percent of the male population over the age of 15 were addicted to opium The group has claimed that pro-government militias are mostly responsible for peddling the drug in Palaung communities and are given free range to do so by authorities.
In 2011, Tar Aik Bong and general secretary Tar Bone Kyaw sought military training from the Karen National Union and the Kachin Independence Army, with the intention of returning to Palaung territory and forming a new armed group. Four years on, backed by a formidable fighting force, Tar Aik Bong told The Irrawaddy that the Palaung people would not find a new peace with the Burmese government without significant concessions, particularly after the bitter experience of the PSLO’s disarmament.
“We have some difficulties which prevent us from signing a peace agreement,” he said. “We found this during our last talks in September. There was a standoff during that time. The Burmese Army did not want to talk about a federal army. They did not want to talk about a military code of conduct. They did not want to talk about power sharing and governance issues.”
“If we look back at all of these together, they did not want to grant rights for our people. The reason we have to hold our guns is that we want to fight for our political rights, and we want to protect our land. If we don’t get our political rights, our people will continue to use an armed revolution,” he said.
Fighting between the Palaung and the Burma Army has been ongoing in northern Shan State, which borders southern China’s Yunnan Province. Leaders of the TNLA argue that most fighting was the result of self-defense, breaking out when the army came into their areas of control. They contend that the Burmese government is not interested in solving the conflict through political dialogue, and the incursions are part of an attempt to pressure the group into a ceasefire agreement.
There was a triumphant air in Mar Wong on Monday, as the TNLA showed the crowd eight guns and ammunition confiscated from the Burma Army during recent fighting. The army claims a fighting force of 4,000 across six brigades, with Tar Aik Bong bullish about his force’s prospects for future growth. Other estimates of TNLA troop numbers, however, have put the figure closer to 1,000 fighters.
“As far as military equipment is concerned, it is easy to buy from China. We have no problem buying it if we have money,” he said. “As for manpower, more and more people are coming to join our troops. Our people feel they have been oppressed for long enough already.”
Despite the chairman’s optimism, the armed group faces financial difficulties in sustaining its operations. According to communications officer Mai Aike Kyaw, the TNLA’s monthly food budget is 150 million kyats, (US$146,000), a sum which would equate to about 25,000 kyats (US$24) per soldier under the army’s assessment of its own strength. Lacking a border zone with China under their control, the TNLA cannot sustain its operations with a lucrative sideline in smuggled goods to the same extent as the Kachin Independence Army and the United Wa State Army, which both maintain control over large swathes of border territory
Tar Aik Bong says that allied armed groups are providing funding for the TNLA, with extra finances donated by Palaung businessmen and levied on Chinese trucks passing through the group’s area of control. The TNLA is known to have close links with the KIA and has fought alongside the Shan State Army-North and the Kokang militia during the past year.
With no headquarters, its soldiers operate out of temporary bases deep within their territory or are billeted in Palaung villages while they travel.
“Our military’s bases are at our feet. We do our work where we sit,” said Mai Pan Sein, a TNLA leader.
The TNLA met with the Burmese government in July 2013 and faced considerable pressure to sign a ceasefire agreement. While announcing their intention to refuse any settlement that omits specific political guarantees, the TNLA say they have sought more discussions with the government, only to be met with outright refusals and more troop deployments in response.
“We could not conclude a ceasefire agreement after only meeting one time,” Tar Aik Bong told his supporters on Monday. “We have not been given the right of negotiation. Based on our experience, we could not sign a peace agreement now. We could only sign a ceasefire agreement when we are given the right to more talks.”