When Springtime of Nations did our last video on the situation in Burma in April 2021, the military Junta (the ones who insist on calling the country “Myanmar” for cultural reasons) was killing civilians in the major cities with impunity. The only armed resistance was the decades old ethnic separatist groups who allied with the National Unity Government, the democratic government-in-exile and its supporters. We had hoped that this alliance would stop the mass murder of peaceful protestors, and thankfully these hopes were not in vain. It’s time to revisit Burma, and this time, both minority AND Bamar groups are fighting the centralizing tyrannical government.

The young people who had been at the forefront of the protests came to the highlands secured by the ethnic armies to be trained by veterans of the Burmese Civil War, an ongoing conflict from 1948 the beginning of Burmese independence. The Karen and Arakan Armies are the ones who do the most training and equipping of these recruits, who “graduate” from these camps to form People’s Defense Forces, armed with automatic weapons, mines, and RPGs to attack the Junta’s forces and cut off their supplies. To supplement the illegal firearms they receive from the separatists, makeshift firearms and the legendary FGC-9 (Fuck Gun Control 9mm) 3d printed carbine are manufactured as well. These PDF battalions have strength in the tens of thousands including thousands of Junta soldiers who defected from the central government forces rather than have to kill their neighbors.

PDFs are most effective in the rural areas of Southern Burma, between the highlands controlled by the ethnic armies and the cities where the Junta continues to hold power. In areas where PDFs have managed to completely or largely beat back the Junta, they have replaced centralized government institutions such as schools with their own. Their allegiance is directly to the NUG, which as part of their alliance with the Ethnic Armies has appointed a Karen military leader as the deputy head of government and other separatist leaders in more minor government roles. The former democratic government of Burma under Aung San Suu Kyi was just as centralist as the Junta when it came to the ethnic groups that make up much of the population of Northern Burma. Having had to endure the evil of centralized government turned on themselves, federalism as a solution to the ethnic strife, with broad autonomy for the Karen, Karenni, Kachin, Arakans and other groups being accepted by most in the NUG. For now, this is acceptable to the separatists, who still hold as their highest goal full independence for each of their nations.

No decisive blow has been struck at the Burmese Military Junta, and if history is any indication, this could become just one more chapter in a very long, very bloody conflict. However, for the first time, the ethnic plurality Bamar people are fighting alongside the minorities for their fundamental rights and freedoms, and this may yet turn the tide. A Burma that respects minority rights may be on the horizon, and Springtime of Nations welcomes this development with nothing less than our wholehearted support. Long live the Karen, Karenni, Kachin, Arakans, Chin, Kuki, Shan, Mon, Ta’ang, Kokang and last but not least, the Burmese people! May 1000 flowers bloom!