Ye Chaung Phyar, June (29)
Nai Hanthar, chairman of the New Mon State Party (NMSP), who embraced the path of peace talk, said that if all EAOs are involved, they will join in the overthrow of the military dictatorship of the Spring Revolution.
The chairman of the New Mon State Party, Nai Hanthar, made this remark in Mon in an interview with the Independent Mon News Agency on June 25.
Nai Hanha stated that because the geographical feature of Mon State is not mountainous like Kachin, Chin, Karenni, and Karen states, but flat, attackers may arrive from all directions if they fight with the regime forces.
He said, “If a solution is reached through dialogue, the country will be peaceful in the long run, so we will exercise restraint without any fighting, but if one day, all the EAOs fight against the military council, we will join them”.
An analyst of ethnic affairs said, “I see that Nai Hantha’s statement expresses the position of the New Mon State Party, which may change in the course of the dialogue. In my opinion, the NMSP does not accept the 2008 Constitution or the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), but they continue to maintain the path of dialogue based on the essence of the NCA. The NMSP and the military council met three or four times, but no results came out”.
Currently, there are frequent clashes between the junta army and the combined resistance forces, including the KNU, in Ye Township, where the New Mon State Party’s headquarters is based.
Local civilians and Mon people have also been killed in some Mon villages due to airstrikes and artillery fire by junta troops.
According to the data compiled by Than Lwin Times, at least eight civilians were killed and more than 15 were injured in the shooting of the regime troops in Ye Township, which has been placed under martial law over the past six months.
Nai Nagar, the spokesperson of the Mon State Revolutionary Force (MSRF), pointed out that it is not possible for the New Mon State Party to participate in the armed revolution immediately.
Than Lwin Times has not been able to independently confirm whether Nai Hanthar’s remark represents the New Mon State Party or his personal opinion.
A local Mon resident said that since the conflict has already spread to the Mon people, if the NMSP joins the revolution only if all ethnic groups are involved, it is questionable to what extent the Mon state will be able to endure and whether the Mon ethnic armed forces can protect the Mon people.
After the military seize power over alleged electoral fraud, at least 500 armed resistance forces emerged throughout the country, and powerful ethnic armed forces have also joined the fight to eradicate the military dictatorship.
Among them, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Chin National Front (CNF), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Karen National Union (KNU), and All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) also engaged in the spring revolution.
Although some ethnic armed organizations did not actively participate in the Spring Revolution, they provided military training and ammunition to the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs).
The ten ethnic armed groups, including the New Mon Party, held at least five peace talks with the military council in more than two years after the coup, but the civil war is still raging till now.
In this situation, the statement of NMSP chairman Nai Hathar that they will participate if all EAOs are involved in the revolution has no sign of coming true.
News – Than Lwin Times
Photo: IMNA