AA deputy chief to give remarks on important role of healthcare workers in revolution

18 Jan 2023

DMG Newsroom
18 January 2023, Sittwe

The deputy military chief of the Arakan Army (AA), Dr. Nyo Twan Awng, will give a talk on January 20 addressing the important role played by healthcare workers in Myanmar’s revolution against the military dictatorship.

Dr. Nyo Twan Awng will share his 14 years of experience as a revolutionary, and will emphasise the importance of healthcare workers in the revolution, according to the Yangon Medical Network (YMN), which is organising the online talk along with Medical Family Mandalay (MFM).

When asked by DMG, AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha said he had no knowledge about the planned talk.

The YMN’s announcement says healthcare workers are providing healthcare services at the front line and assisting with supply and logistics, as well as joining the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in the ongoing resistance to Myanmar’s military regime, which has been dubbed the “Spring Revolution.”

Veteran Arakanese politician U Pe Than said: “I don’t think the talk is related to the Spring Revolution or AA’s relations with the [parallel] National Unity Government. I think he will only share his personal experiences about medical services in the revolution.”

A graduate of University of Medicine 2, Dr. Nyo Twan Awng founded the AA in 2009 along with Major General Twan Mrat Naing, fighting for equality and self-determination for the Arakanese people.

The YMN’s announcement says the AA and the doctor fully understand the desires of the Myanmar people, and have been assisting the Spring Revolution with the collective spirit of the medical community.

Using the pen name “Thabone Phyu,” which can be literally translated as White Rebel and probably referring to rebels in white coats, Dr. Nyo Twang Awng sent a New Year’s poem praising the revolution to the MFM on January 1.

Healthcare workers were among the first to take to the streets in demonstrations against the military coup in February 2021, and were likewise leaders of the CDM. Health workers from public hospitals across the country joined anti-coup protests and the CDM, refusing to work under military rule.