Written By Maung Khaing Tun (Pyi Thit)

The devastating cyclone that hit Arakan State on May 14 inflicted massive property damage in Sittwe, Pauktaw, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Minbya, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U and Buthidaung townships of northern Arakan State. The storm caused human casualties while also killing thousands of cattle crucial for rural communities dependent on farming. Thousands of acres of crops were decimated.

Fortunately, the storm made landfall during the daytime and heavy casualties were avoided. Had it raged at nighttime, it...

In Arakan State, this year’s Thingyan was more than an annual celebration. Both Myanmar’s military regime and the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) organised their own Thingyan parties. The festival was politicised as both sides used this opportunity to gauge public support for them.

In Myanmar history, elections have often been followed by coups. In the latest instance, the military seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government on the day the newly elected parliament was set to convene.

Arakan State’s lengthy coastline supports a majority of livelihoods in the state, which are tied to the fishing/aquaculture and shipping industries. Inland, Arakan State’s fertile soil is relied upon by hundreds of thousands more who farm for a living.  

Myanmar’s neighbour China, a global superpower, has neither publicly criticised the coup nor imposed sanctions against the regime. It has been tight-lipped about junta atrocities against its civilians as the regime continues to torch villages, arbitrarily detain people, and commit extrajudicial killings.

Mom, I wrote this letter from somewhere in the forest. How are you? Are you worried about me? Do you miss me? Do you pray for me before you go to sleep every night? Are you losing sleep over me? Are you sad that I am not at the dining table with you? Do you miss me whenever my friends visit you?

Many young people today hold the view that they would at least still be able to support their family by doing manual labour abroad rather than stay under dehumanising military rule. They are not reluctant to leave their native towns and villages because there is no sense of the safety or security that “home” should provide.

The UWSP says it wants to cooperate in the peace and stability of the Union with complete self-determination. UWSP leaders have said that Wa State will not secede from the Union, but the UWSP will manage their state independently except for national defence and diplomatic relations.

There are reportedly more than 600 People’s Defense Force (PDF) battalions in Bamar-majority areas fighting the regime since it seized power on February 1, 2021. PDF groups are gaining increased control over territories in their regions, and the regime has had to rely on old, exhausted soldiers to fight them. With its ground troops increasingly weakened by the continuous fighting in many parts of the country, the regime has had to rely increasingly on the Air Force.

A key factor is the support of Arakanese people. It is the Arakan Army (AA) and its political wing, the United League of Arakan, which currently enjoy popular support in Arakan State.

Usually, police and administrative officials are bought by illegal lottery dealers. Myanmar Gabling Law carries three years’ imprisonment for selling two-digit and three-digit lottery tickets, but dealers are barely punished due to widespread corruption at the lower levels of the administration and law enforcement.

The project is to be developed by the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone Deep Seaport Co. Ltd, a joint venture between the Chinese consortium CITIC Myanmar Port Investment Limited and the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone management committee, with CITIC taking 70 percent of the ownership stake and the Myanmar government taking the other 30 percent.

ALP spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Khaing Kyaw Soe said in an interview with Voice of Myanmar that the ALP is heading to federalism through peace talks, and that the ALP’s ambition is federalism. The ALP has criticised the AA’s demand for confederate status, and its principle of a single army in Arakan State shows that the AA does not understand politics, the ALP has said.

When the Arakanese Kingdom collapsed due to the invasion of the Bamar, Arakanese revolutionaries like Taung Min Kyaw Htwe fought back against mainland rule. When Myanmar fell under British colonial rule, Prince Shwe Bann, Daewun Aung Kyaw Shue, chieftain Aung Kyaw Zan, Buddhist monk Sayadaw U Seinda and others fought back against colonial rule.

DMG has learnt that the township General Administration Department issues permits for sand mining at Sittwe Beach. The Arakan State administration council, the Myanmar military regime’s state-level governing body, is also turning a blind eye to beach theft, without regulating the business. 

Self-administration is government and policies under the control and direction of the inhabitants of a political unit, rather than by an outside authority. Both self-determination and self-administration have long been desired by Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups. 

With 25 percent of seats in Parliament guaranteed by the 2008 Constitution for the military, the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will likely be able to form the government under a PR system. It is still too early, however, to tell if the regime will be able to hold the voting as it plans. More than one year after the coup, the regime still can’t control many towns in central Myanmar, not to mention the ethnic areas, which have been contested for decades. 

Except for the United Wa State Army (UWSA), all the major ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) have refused to attend the peace talks invited by the regime in April. This shows EAOs’ distrust in the military regime. At the same time, EAOs are consolidating their control in their territories.  

Today, the Arakanese people and the Arakan Army are inseparable. The Arakanese people are walking in the “Way of Rakhita” set out by the Arakan Army, and showing that they are united. While the fighting has largely stopped, the Arakan Army is consolidating its administrative machinery in Arakan State and even advancing a judiciary independent of the pre-existing court system. This self-governance is one component of the Way of Rakhita.