Behind the scenes of Shan National Day at Loi Tai Leng
Behind the scenes of Shan National Day at Loi Tai Leng
Mizzima, 15 Feb 2018
URL: https://www.bnionline.net/en/news/behind-scenes-shan-national-day-loi-tai-leng
Every year the Restoration Council of Shan State Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) holds a massive celebration for Shan National Day on 7 February at their mountaintop headquarters at Loi Tai Leng in Shan State, Myanmar, close to the Thai border.
The event, which attracts Shan people from all across Shan State and Myanmar, appears to be a mixture of a vast country fair and military parade, but it is a bit more than that.
It is also an opportunity for the RCSS/SSA to show off their troops, show that they have the support of not only many regular Shan people but also the other ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) who send representatives and from countries such as Switzerland, Italy, New Zealand and Turkey who all officially sent staff from their Yangon embassies. They also invite journalists who get the rare opportunity to meet and talk to senior RCSS/SSA members all in the same place.
The RCSS/SSA, also known as the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) has become the biggest Shan EAO.
The RCSS/SSA signed a state level ceasefire with the government in 2011 followed by a union level ceasefire in 2012. Despite this, their troops still regularly clashed with government troops. In 2015 the RCSS/SSA were one of the eight groups that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Since then they have still been fighting with government forces, but less frequently.
The RCSS/SSA never reveal how many troops they have, but the latest (2016) Myanmar Peace Monitor estimates that they have over 8,000 soldiers.
But, when asked about fighting between the Tatmadaw and the RCSS/SSA Yawd Serk put the blame firmly with the Tatmadaw and said that they had broken the ceasefire. When asked if he thought the attacks were accidentally carried out by mid-ranking officers or whether there had been orders to attack the RSS/SSA he emphatically said that he believed that it was an order from the top. He clarified by saying that he believed the decision to attack the RCSS/SSA had come directly from Min Aung Hlaing, the Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief, adding that he did not believe that the army sincerely wanted the peace process to succeed.
The event, which attracts Shan people from all across Shan State and Myanmar, appears to be a mixture of a vast country fair and military parade, but it is a bit more than that.
It is also an opportunity for the RCSS/SSA to show off their troops, show that they have the support of not only many regular Shan people but also the other ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) who send representatives and from countries such as Switzerland, Italy, New Zealand and Turkey who all officially sent staff from their Yangon embassies. They also invite journalists who get the rare opportunity to meet and talk to senior RCSS/SSA members all in the same place.
The RCSS/SSA, also known as the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) has become the biggest Shan EAO.
The RCSS/SSA signed a state level ceasefire with the government in 2011 followed by a union level ceasefire in 2012. Despite this, their troops still regularly clashed with government troops. In 2015 the RCSS/SSA were one of the eight groups that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Since then they have still been fighting with government forces, but less frequently.
The RCSS/SSA never reveal how many troops they have, but the latest (2016) Myanmar Peace Monitor estimates that they have over 8,000 soldiers.
But, when asked about fighting between the Tatmadaw and the RCSS/SSA Yawd Serk put the blame firmly with the Tatmadaw and said that they had broken the ceasefire. When asked if he thought the attacks were accidentally carried out by mid-ranking officers or whether there had been orders to attack the RSS/SSA he emphatically said that he believed that it was an order from the top. He clarified by saying that he believed the decision to attack the RCSS/SSA had come directly from Min Aung Hlaing, the Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief, adding that he did not believe that the army sincerely wanted the peace process to succeed.