Photo: Collected
Amid growing unpopularity in the West, especially in South Asia and Southeast Asian countries, coupled with armed rebels occupying a vast tract of government-controlled regions, a top general advised diplomats to enhance political, economic, and cultural exchanges in their assigned countries.
The Myanmar News Agency story published in the state-run daily newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar reported that Myanmar supremo, General Min Aung Hlaing, Chairman of the State Administration Council and Prime Minister Senior, explained the necessary measures to ambassadors and diplomats in Naypyidaw or Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday.
At the meeting, the Senior General and Head of State were ranting against the rebels and identified them as “terrorists” in some townships of the nation in 2023. The acts of some ethnic armed organisations to give terrorist training, sell arms and ammunition, and blow up bridges and roads, together with the People's Defence Force (PDF), are the armed wing of the National Unity Government (NUG) in Myanmar.
The supremo of the military junta, General Hlaing, said, “The terrorists are killing innocent people with different attitudes, cooperation between Tatmadaw and Myanmar Police Force, and people in launching counter-terrorism operations in some areas of EAOS (Expiration of Active Obligated Service), and blamed EAOs are involved in online gambling and scams.”
He identified the act of terror as being committed by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (abbreviated CRPH), a Myanmar legislative body in exile, representing a group of National League for Democracy lawmakers of jailed Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and members of parliament ousted in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.
Also mentioned is the National Unity Government (NUG), a Myanmar government in exile formed by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH).
Hlaing advised the diplomats that it is necessary to monitor neighbouring and global countries’ situations, disseminate incidents correctly, and present actual Myanmar situations to the international community in their respective countries.
The Senior General underscored that diplomats must serve their duties with loyalty to the state and the national spirit. They have to emphasise boosting the economy of the state and its citizens, he added.
Admitting a crisis is brewing, the Senior General noted that the People’s Military Service Law and the Reserve Forces Act, as “nation’s conditions,” require all citizens to be responsible for defending the country.
Myanmar's military junta has introduced mandatory military service for all young men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve for up to two years to counter growing armed rebel forces to oust the military regime.
The government conducts measures on armed conflicts and different opinions under the law. He cautioned that the instigation of the media may cause the disintegration of the unity of the Union. Diplomats have to manage the international community to know the nation’s actual situation.
“Accept Those Who Arrived in Bangladesh” The military dictator said that Myanmar is ready to “accept those who arrived in Bangladesh if those persons are in line with the designated issues.”
He did not explain what he meant by “arrived in Bangladesh." Whether he meant the 330 personnel and officials who recently entered Bangladesh to escape the wrath of conflict with the Arakan Army or the Rohingya refugees languishing in the squalid camps in Cox’s Bazar,. But she did not elaborate on what efforts would be made to ease the problems under the agreements between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The military leader did not mention Rohingya as an ethnic Muslim community. Rohingya's name has been delisted from the ethnic communities in Myanmar and has been declared as not a citizen of the country. Thus, the Rohingya are stateless, confined to villages, and allowed to venture outside for work and livelihood.
Myanmar does not admit to committing ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya community. An estimated 1.3 million Rohingya fled to Bangladesh for safety and security in 2017. Fake news against ethnic people On the other hand, people in Rakhine State fear ethnic conflicts and subsequent arrests by the military junta in the wake of spreading false information to increase ethnic tensions in major cities like Yangon and Mandalay.
Various pro-junta media spaces are full of disinformation, where the junta people are posting old photographs of the 2017 cyclone Nargis victims as fresh ones. In addition, several leaflets instigating ethnic hatred were distributed in certain locations of Mandalay on February 12. Some Rakhine restaurants and specific locations in Yangon also witnessed such papers on February 13.
Rohingya Villages Attacked Meanwhile, Fortify Rights, an international NGO monitoring event in Rakhine State, reported that 12 Rohingya individuals were killed and 32 others, including 8 children, were injured during a four-day barrage of heavy weapons in Phon Nyo Liik village, Bu Tai Taung Township, Rakhine State, by Myanmar government troops.
According to Fortify Rights, 41 out of 1000 houses were damaged due to the continuous gunfire, forcing over 15,000 locals from nearby villages to seek safety. Fortify Rights calls for an investigation into these egregious crimes, stating that the relentless assault constitutes a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law.
This latest assault on Rohingyas underscores the urgent need for accountability and justice in the face of ongoing human rights violations.
Messenger/Sajib
