Inya Institute Winter 2024 Newsletter

The Inya Institute

Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2024

M

ilitary campaign Operation 1027 began on October 27, 2023, as a coordinated attack by the Three Brotherhood Alliance consisting of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Arakan Army (AA), and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). This alliance is taking over an ever larger number of military positions and towns formerly controlled by the Tatmadaw in northern Shan State and elsewhere. The number of soldiers defecting or surrendering to the alliance (whether negotiated with the Myanmar army or not) keeps rising too while videos of recently captured high-ranking junta officers encouraging their frontline subordinates to lay down arms circulate on social media. Short of troops and unable to mount a counter-offensive, the Tatmadaw is doubling down on deadly attacks carried out by fighter jets and the shelling of civilian targets. The operation has country-wide implications, including a direct impact on the civilian population’s security and livelihood, both of which have already been severely undermined.

In the second installation of her contribution, Crystal, the pseudonym of a long-time collaborator of the institute, details how Operation 1027 has recently led to junta troops exerting even more pressure and coercive measures on Mandalay residents. Meanwhile, in northern Shan State, Namkham-based Ai Sur NK, one of our Shan language instructors running the Languages

www.inyainstitute.org

of Myanmar Course, documents the current situation in the aftermath of the takeover of the city by TNLA. His account offers on-the-ground details that are not covered by local or international media.

The repercussions of this operation are also having an impact on the capacity of some of our groups of junior researchers to develop their projects in the borderlands of Myanmar. Leading this 10-month research and mentoring program, Dr. Kimberly Roberts offers an update of the workshops she has been running so far.

Despite all the on-going challenges, the junior researchers’ teams remain committed to their project and their progress is significant. More information on p. 13.

While Peter Alexander, one of our 2023 CAORC-INYA Fellows, offers historical insights on the creation of the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust on p. 3, Brendan Flanagan, James Cerretani, and Hasta Colman, our three other fellows, will present their findings on current transnational socio-cultural and socio-political developments at webinars scheduled over the next few weeks (full information on pp. 11-12).

Lastly, for those interested, there is still some time to submit proposals for the 2024 International Interdisciplinary Conference on Myanmar’s Borderlands: For more details, see p. 14. We look forward to your participation!

The Inya Institute team in Yangon

In this issue Insights 3 “Origins of the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust: Elite Competition in Colonial Rangoon”, by Peter Alexander Testimony 6 “Lives under Threat: Safety of Mandalay Residents in the Aftermath of Operation 1027”, by Crystal Views from the Ground 10 “A Second Junta is Planning to Rule Namkham”, by Ai Sur NK Upcoming Events at Inya 11 Recent Activities at Inya 13 Inya Institute Membership 14 Upcoming Events in the U.S. and beyond 15 New Books on Myanmar 16

Address in Myanmar: 50 B-1 Thirimingala Street (2) 8th Ward Kamayut Township Yangon, Myanmar +95(0)17537884

Library: It currently holds a little more than 900 titles and offers free access to scholarly works on Myanmar Studies published overseas that are not readily available in the country. It also has original works published on neighboring Southeast Asian countries and textbooks on various fields of social sciences and humanities. Optic fiber wifi connection is also provided without any charge.

Address in the U.S.: c/o Center for Burma Studies 101 Pottenger House 520 College View Court Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115 USA +1 815-753-0512

Library digital catalog: Access here.

Working hours: 9am-5pm (Mon-Fri)

Director of Publication: Dr. François Tainturier

Digital archive: It features objects, manuscripts, books, paintings, and photographs identified, preserved, and digitized during research projects undertaken by the institute throughout Myanmar and its diverse states and regions. The collections featured here reflect the country’s religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity and the various time periods covered by the institute’s projects developed in collaboration with local partners.

Layout and Formatting: Aung Kyaw Phyo Education and Training Manager: Pyae Phyoe Myint U.S. Liaison Officer: Carmin Berchiolly Contact us: contact@inyainstitute.org Visit us on Facebook: facebook.com/inyainstitute.org

Digital archive: Access here.

The Inya Institute is a member center of the Council of American Research Centers (CAORC).

It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act (2020-2024).

Institutional Members Center for Burma Studies Northern Illinois University

Center for Asian Research Arizon State University

Southeast Asia Program Cornell University

Academic Board

Board of Directors

Maxime Boutry, Centre Asie du Sud-Est, Paris Jane Ferguson, Australian National University Lilian Handlin, Harvard University Bod Hudson, Sydney University Mathias Jenny, Chiang Mai University Ni Ni Khet, University Paris 1-Sorbonne Alexey Kirichenko, Moscow State University Christian Lammerts, Rutgers University Mandy Sadan, University of Warwick San San Hnin Tun, INALCO, Paris Juliane Schober, Arizona State University Nicola Tannebaum, Lehigh University (retd) Alicia Turner, York University, Toronto U Thaw Kaung, Yangon Universities’ Central Library (retd)

President: Catherine Raymond (Northern Illinois University) Treasurer: Alicia Turner (York University, Toronto) Secretary: François Tainturier Jane Ferguson (Australian National University) Lilian Handlin (Harvard University) Nicola Tannenbaum (Lehigh University)(retd) Thamora Fishel (Cornell University) 2

Insig hts Origins of the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust: Elite Competition in Colonial Rangoon Peter Alexander is an MA student in the History Department at Northern Illinois University. Since his service with the Peace Corps in Burma was cut short in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been pursuing further study in the USA. The results of his research at the British Library conducted thanks to a 2023 CAORC-INYA Short-term fellowship will form the backbone of an MA capstone paper to be completed in the spring of 2024, which deals with Buddhist modernism, urban history, and nationalism in Burma. He also hopes to use this material in the future in research and study towards a PhD. The Shwedagon Pagoda Trust originated in a time of upheaval, when Burmese society was being reshaped by the violent imposition of colonial capitalism. This was a time when the common people of Burma assumed the responsibility of protecting and maintaining the Buddhist sāsana. After the end of the Konbaung dynasty, the Burmese people created many new Buddhist institutions to uphold the sāsana, including the Pagoda Trust.

The creators of the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust were elite Burmese men.

They were men who profited off of the exploitative nature of colonial society.

Later observers might have described them as “သူတို ့ဗမာ” or “those Burmans,” who prioritized their careers in colonial society over national solidarity.

As their status improved, these men had to find ways to justify and legitimate their position in society. They were separated from the courtly rituals that legitimated royal authority in Mandalay, and so they had to innovate. The creation of the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust was one crucial innovation that allowed members of the new Burmese bourgeois class to legitimate their status.

The Shwedagon Pagoda Trust was created in a period of intense competition among the Burmese colonial elite for status and power, as well as negotiation with the British administration over the structure of colonial society in Burma. These competitions and negotiations are preserved in the records of the British Library. Thanks to funding from the Inya Institute, I was able to conduct archival research and piece together an outline of the conflicts and controversies that shaped the early days of the Trust.

Pic. 1: McCosh, John. The Great Pagoda at Rangoon from the East. 1852.

Calotype. 1962-04-3-21. National Army Museum.

The most valuable source for understanding the social dynamics surrounding the Shwedagon Pagoda before 1872 is the Burmese book ထီးေတာ်ႀကီးသမိုင်း (Htidawgyi Thamain) by a writer named ဦးႀကြက္ (U Kywet). This work was published in 1880 by the Burma Herald Press, and it vividly retells the events of 1869-1871, which led to Mindon Min’s donation of a new htidaw to the Shwedagon Pagoda and the appointment of the first Shwedagon Pagoda Trustees in 1872.

Reading this book, it’s clear that before 1872 repair of the pagoda had been managed by informal networks of elites on a case-by-case basis. Burmese royalty had maintained the pagoda for centuries, so it was the King’s responsibility to support these projects. When the elite men of Rangoon decided to regild the Shwedagon in 1869, their first act after gathering funds for the project was to write to Mindon Min, requesting his permission to carry out the project.

3

When they started regilding, workmen noticed that the old htidaw was rapidly deteriorating. The men in Rangoon sent another letter to Mindon Min and asked him to replace the htidaw entirely. Fearful of the political symbolism, British administrators intervened in the project.

The British appointed a committee of five men to take custody over the new htidaw when it arrived, and to organize the mounting ceremony.

In 1872, these five men were officially appointed as the first Shwedagon Pagoda Trustees. These men had been influential members of the larger network of elite Burmese men that had organized the original repair project. But now their influence was institutionalized and “set in stone” with the backing of the British administration, giving them unchecked power over the affairs of the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Pic. 2: Nine Distinguished Burmese Gentlemen: The Shwedagon Pagoda Trustees. 1907.

In 1882, a movement to reform the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust emerged among the Burmese elite in Rangoon. Reformists accused the trustees of financial mismanagement and allowing the pagoda to fall into disrepair. This movement was popular among people with English educations, such as civil servants or businessmen.

During the first elections for Rangoon’s Municipal Committee, a group of five Burmese men campaigned on a platform of reforming the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust.

They won the election, and became the leaders of the reform movement.

The reformists were also innovating in other ways. In 1883, in response to violent crime in Rangoon’s suburbs, they formed an organization called the society of myogan lugyis (ျမိဳ ခ ့ န္ လ ့ ႀူ ကီး), or “gentlemen appointed by the townspeople.” This organization consisted of around 250 men who had been elected in community meetings to take responsibility for the safety of their neighborhoods. It was part neighborhood watch, part political party. The group would continue to be influential in Rangoon through the rest of the 1880s, and also played a role in pagoda affairs.

Chart. 1: Timeline Graphic

4

In 1885 the incumbent trustees and the reformist movement reached a compromise in Rangoon’s Court of the Recorder. Together with an English judge and lawyers, they created a “scheme” (i.e. a plan) for the management of the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust, which set down the rules by which it should be governed. The court appointed nine trustees – the five leaders of the reformist movement, and the four incumbent trustees. As a religious organization, this new trust was to be managed independently from the secular colonial administration.

The records of this reform movement are preserved in more than a dozen entries in the Burma Proceedings at the British Library. They were preserved in part because the reformed Shwedagon Pagoda Trust became the model for all pagoda trusts formed by British administrators after 1885. After the Third Anglo-Burmese War, British administrators established pagoda trusts for major pagodas across the country that had formerly been maintained by royalty.

The new Shwedagon Pagoda Trust took a more active role in pagoda affairs. The Trustees led a new regilding project in 1887, which was the first time the pagoda had ever been regilded without royal involvement. An earthquake in 1888 knocked down the စိန်ဖူး (diamond bud) and ငှက်ြမတ်နား (vane) from the uppermost part of the pagoda, and so the Trustees organized more repairs. They also refurbished the platform and the southern steps, and built themselves an office nearby.

A report written by Major R. C. Temple in 1892 suggests that the trust was being run effectively at this time. Another valuable source from this period is the Burma Pocket Almanac and Directory from D’Vauz Press, which includes information about a number of prominent residents of Rangoon – including Pagoda Trustees.

In the early 1890s, British administrators responsible for Rangoon’s military cantonment tried to have the Trustees pay for various facilities. The trustees were granted land on which to build a monastery for the thathanabaing. They

were also urged to use trust funds to help pay for latrines on the cantonment (they declined.)

For several years, cantonment authorities tried to make the Trustees responsible for the sanitation and governance of Bahan, which at that time was only a small village consisting of about 70 ဘုရားကြ်န္(hpaya-kyun), who the British described as “hereditary watchers of the shrine.” This arrangement collapsed, but it resulted in a series of detailed surveys of Bahan.

As Trustees passed away, succession became a problem. There was no consensus on what sort of person should be a trustee, or how replacements should be selected. By 1895, only five Trustees remained, led by U Myat San. At this point, a rival group led by Rangoon’s အခွန်ဝန် (akunwun, or tax collector) U Shwe Waing mounted a series of legal challenges against the trustees. U Shwe Waing and his fellows again called for reform of the pagoda trust. Accusations that the trust had been mismanaged led to the ouster of the old Trustees, and ultimately to the first election of Shwedagon Pagoda trustees in 1898.

This election took place on the pagoda platform, and was attended by thousands of Buddhist residents of Rangoon. It brought an end to conflict over the Pagoda Trust as a new group came into power.

By claiming responsibility for the management of the Shwedagon Pagoda, the Trustees took on symbolic authority over lay Buddhists in Burma. This

was an echo of the lost royal authority which had been legitimized by the state’s production and maintenance of great pagodas. But the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust was also a modern innovation, which used democratic procedures to hold the trustees accountable and which developed through a continual impulse towards reform.

The Shwedagon Pagoda Trust was the example by which all other pagoda trusts measured themselves. In the reports of Burma’s archaeological survey, government archaeologist Taw Sein Ko regularly discussed his interactions with pagoda trustees across the country.

A survey conducted in 1906 showed that 26 trusts had been formed on the Shwedagon model.

In that same year, Taw Sein Ko proposed to administrators that trust schemes be standardized across the country, and advocated for new features such as term limits for trustees and greater involvement of colonial administrators, neither of which were taken up. Instead, pagoda trusts continued to operate independently. When independent pagoda management was challenged in 1916, Burmese Buddhists across the country rose up in protest.

The creation of the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust was just one of the ways that the new Burmese elite of colonial society sought to legitimize their status. By taking on responsibility for maintaining pagodas, they inherited an aspect of the legitimate royal authority that had been lost, and they created new discourses of reform and democratic legitimacy.

The CAORC-INYA Short-term Fellowship program for U.S. Graduate Students conducting research work on Myanmar/Burma in a third country is funded by CAORC through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department.

5

Testimony Lives under Threat: Security and Safety of Mandalay Residents under the Coup Crystal, the pseudo of a native and long-term resident of Mandalay, returns in this Winter issue with an account of the current security situation in Mandalay just before and in the aftermath of the military campaigns started in northern Shan State by armed groups in October 27, 2023.

With 12 years of work experience in the non-governmental sector and humanitarian fields, she has also been working closely with local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and INGOs, including the Inya Institute. An active citizen, she has been involved in various policy and advocacy initiatives initiated by local CSOs and NGOs, and has been serving as a member of various steering committees advising a number of local CSO networks in their advocacy for legal reform, promotion of the rule of law, basic human rights, minority rights, interfaith harmony, peace & social cohesion, for the past 7 years.

While the first part of my account on the economic situation in Mandalay published in the Fall 2023 issue of the newsletter focused on how Mandalay residents have adapted to the current context, this second part presents SAC’s arsenal of techniques and practices employed to suppress dissent and maintain pressure on the public just before and after the start of Operation 1027.

A recently revised and more oppressive legal framework Since the February 2021 Coup, people have been living under the constant threat and fear of being arrested, interrogated, imprisoned and even killed under various charges by the State Adminstration Council (SAC) forces and the local police. These charges are usually pressed under the new provision of Section 505A of the Penal Code which is now used to oppress and arrest people who have taken part in the street protests and other forms of protests and revolt against the SAC, in addition to a number of criminal charges (which, in most casess, people have never committed).

The security, safety, and living conditions of the public are worsening day by day as the period under the coup has now been extending for more than two and half years. All the existing laws which give protection to the common people are no longer valid or enforced. Instead, SAC leaders have passed several emer-

gency orders, directives, provisions and laws which offer full authority to the ruling military regime to arrest, charge and imprison any citizen as they like. If not suppressed, some existing laws have been amended by SAC to further oppress and exert more brutal authority and threat to the public.

For instance, on February 14, 2021, SAC announced some amendments to the Penal Code by including a new provision, section 505-A, that could be used to punish comments regarding the illegitimacy of the coup or the military government, among others. The new section would criminalize comments that “cause fear,” spread “false news, [or] agitates directly or indirectly a criminal offense against a Government employee.” Violation of the section is punishable by up to three years in prison. Under the new provision, any at-

tempt to “hinder, disturb, damage the motivation, discipline, health and conduct” of the military personnel and government employees and cause hatred, disobedience or disloyalty toward the military and the government is punishable by up to three years in prison. While SAC is focusing on revising a legal framework and making it more oppressive, it is also responsible for the deteriorating security environment as will be seen in the next section.

Raiding and looting of people’s properties, businesses, and shops Apart from the frequent random street searches carried out by SAC forces on people on motorbikes and cars for checking phones & belongings and squeezing money as well as an ever widespread bur-

Pic. 1: Burglary incident at “Paw Oo” gold shop (credits: Eleven Media)

6

glary and theft, the raiding and looting of property and goods held by big shops and businesses have become common occurrences in Mandalay over the past months.

During the raids conducted by SAC forces in broad day light, shop owners and their family members were arrested, hand cuffed and taken away in military trucks for interrogation as they were accused of supporting People Defence Forces (PDFs) and the National Unity Government (NUG) either financially or through other means.

In August, a famous stationary wholesale store on 30th Street was raided in broad day light by SAC forces in uniform. SAC forces arrested three female employees, the owner lady and sales staff members and took them away in the army truck. They were taken away for further interrogation on charges that the shop owner wrote comments in the thread featured after PDF members’ posts on Facebook. She was thus considered as a supporter of PDF forces.

Her property and shop were sealed, locked and confiscated by SAC forces, and designated as state property with the following mentioned: “The owner and family of this shop are found to be connected and supporters of PDF, a terrorist group.” Such a designation implies that the owner and his/her family are enemies of the State and SAC regime.

Other types of incidents happen also regularly in Mandalay. Recently, on 30th October, “Paw Oo” gold shop, situated on 84th Street, between 41st & 42nd streets was robbed in broad day light (around

8:30 am), and all gold items were taken away by armed men who came with two motorbikes, shot a bullet at one of the counters and robbed all what they could. About 1,200 Lakhs (equivalent to $37,500) worth of gold were robbed, as reported by Eleven Media broadcasting and some witness.1 No one knows exactly who these people were, but right after the incident, SAC forces came to the shop and checked the security cameras; however, they have not able to track and catch any robbers or able to take any action, people said.2 Not only shops and businesses, but several small private clinics have been also targeted recently. One eye clinic was raided, sealed, locked and the property confiscated by SAC forces in August 2023. Together with clinic staff members, SAC forces arrested an eye specialist doctor who is more than 70 years old and detained them all for further interrogation.

Both the clinic and the whole building (where the owner family is residing) is now locked, sealed, and a notification sign was placed by SAC indicating that this property now belongs to the State and no one is allowed to use it, as the doctor and staff from this clinic are deemed to be associated with or supporting local PDFs. People said that, in addition to arresting the doctor and clinic staff, the whole family of the owner of the building, who rented the property to the eye specialist, was also arrested, detained, and interrogated when SAC forces found out that

Pic. 2: Mandalay streets almost deserted in the evening 1 Eleven Media Broadcasting news, FB page, 30th October 2023 2 Ibid.

7

the owner is a former schoolteacher and a CDMer. SAC forces also demanded that computers be handed over to them when they learned they were kept in another condo apartment of the teacher. Eventually, SAC forces also searched the condo apartment of the teacher’s family and the apartment was also sealed, locked and confiscated as state property. No one knows the fate of the family members or the doctor since the arrest.

As the military operations launched by local PDFs in every region and state have intensified in recent months, especially since October 27, more pressure, screening, and oppression is being exerted by SAC forces on the public.

Random, surprise night checks of houses for unregistered guests and visitors In recent months, random, surprise night searches to houses at night time were carried out by combined teams of SAC forces, police, and General Administration Department (GAD) members, at several quarters and wards in Mandalay. These developments happened after recent video clips posted by individual bloggers, as well as announcements made by NUG’s official webpage regarding an expansion of their field operations aimed at crushing down SAC before the end of 2023. It was even announced that all the resistance forces will enter Nay Pyi Taw from various directions and regions in a major military operation named “All Roads Lead to Nay Pyi Taw”, considered as the prelude for the final victory against SAC.

Once the NUG announcement spread through FaceBook pages and YouTube channels, a closer monitoring and a higher frequency of house searches were conducted by SAC during November.

For instance, a nurse aid girl who comes from Myingyan town and lives at the hostel mentioned that hostels and houses were regularly searched at night

by SAC forces and every girl at the hostel coming from other towns and villages, who are now working in Mandalay were being asked detailed questions about their occupation, the reasons for their stay in Mandalay and connections with their native towns or villages. They have to show their ID card to the military and police forces.

This closer monitoring is being conducted with a special focus on hostels located in wards, like Nanshay Quarter, which is close to the former palace where the military headquarters of Upper Myanmar’s Central Command have located.

The aim of these random night checks and interrogation is to identify possible unregistered guests whom SAC forces could then portray as PDF members coming from other regions.

In one instance, the house of a friend’s acquaintance was searched at night and all family members were taken away and detained for the night and interrogated for not having properly registered and informed the GAD officer about their stay in a new house located in another township. They were registered only at their former home situated in another township and were told they should have registered in both townships. SAC forces detained all family members and interrogated them for one night and one day.

After all this time, SAC forces asked for 5 lakhs to be paid for each member of the family as a “fine” or “ransom money”.

After the payment was made, all family members were released. The family owns a big sanitary and bathroom accessories and equipment store in one of Mandalay’s townships.3 Therefore, wealthy people and business owners have nowadays become the target of SAC forces and are frequently squeezed for ransom money after random arrest or raids of their shops and properties, all charges being made on false allegations and accusations by SAC forces with no sound reason or evidence.

Such instances of arrest, confiscation of properties and shops of some rich business owners are now common occur-

rences, especially in the months of July, August and September, after the resistance forces have intensified the operation against the SAC forces, in different regions and states and in the Mandalay area too.

On 2nd October, an aerial bomb shell fell on a house situated in Seittramahee Ward, in a residential neighborhood of Chan Aye Thar San Township, (between 26th & 27th and 74th & 75th streets) in Mandalay at the early hour of 4am. People in the area heard two consecutive loud bangs. This is the most recent type of threat faced by the residents of Mandalay.

Both the SAC and NUG have not claimed

In the same week of October, an emergency order, Order 144, was imposed in Aung Myay Thar San Township alone, in Mandalay, forbidding people to leave their homes between 8pm and 4am. The actual reason for imposing the curfew on this township only is unknown; but people assume that, since the township is next to the palace site (Nanshay), where the Central Command is based, SAC forces might want to prevent resistance forces to come to the area and possibly attack the military headquarters.

On October 25 at around 2pm, during the annual Kyauk Taw Gyi Pagoda Festival near the Kuthodaw Pagoda, at the corner of 66th & 12th streets, very close to the Bureau of Special Investigation (Sa Sa Sa Office/Passport Office), a bomb exploded near a row of stalls installed by street vendors for the temporary market

Pic. 3: Aerial bomb shell in residential Mandalay (credits: Eleven Media)

Pic. 4: Another view of the incident (credits: Eleven Media)

any responsibility for the shelling and no additional information was made available to identify which side has carried out this attack. However, the majority of people assume that this could be an attack and warning from SAC and a technique by military forces to instigate fear among people and local PDFs and warn them not to attack them as this was an aerial bombing. Luckily, the residents of the house were on a trip at the time, thus no one was hurt. This incident proves that, even in big cities like Mandalay, people’s lives are not safe anymore, especially from the clashes that have intensified between local PDFs and SAC forces in recent months. People must live cautiously and protect their own lives. Personal security and safety can no longer be taken for granted.

After the October 2 aerial attack, road searches carried out by SAC forces on commuters using their personal motorbike and cars increased dramatically. This was a renewed attempt by military forces to squeeze money from locals as a “fine” if they found anyone suspicious.

of the pagoda festival. The bomb injured one street vendor. Following the bomb blast, less people visited the pagoda festival before sunset; but in the evening, the usual crowd had come back again to the pagoda festival and stalls as witnessed by Mandalay residents as well as posted by an independent news media, the Mandalay Free Press.4 Later, Mandalay PDF issued a statement in which it claimed responsibility for the explosion and also enjoined Mandalay residents not to take part in the festivals and events organized

by SAC which are intended, according to the armed group, to portray that Mandalay Region is peaceful and people enjoy their life under military rule. Mandalay PDF’s objective was to warn people that the whole country is still in a revolutionary phase against the military regime.

As per the same news agency, on October 28-30, on the occasion of the Thadingyut Festival celebrated around Mandalay’s moat, SAC forces received assistance from local militia groups (called pyu-saw-htee) dressed as civil-

Recent shelling and bomb blast in public areas and targeted township

3 Narrated by a witness friend, who is the acquaintance of the house being raided that night.

4 Mandalay Free Press (MFP) news, an independent civil news media FB page, October 26; as well as narrated by some Mandalay residents.

8

ians. The celebrations were supposed to be patronized by SAC leaders and several prominent businessmen. The event offered SAC forces and their affiliates an occasion to perform even more numerous checks on motorbike and car drivers and to squeeze money from them as reported by local witnesses. Many assume that organizing such festivities and events in big cities like Yangon and Mandalay is part of SAC’s propaganda to show the world and the revolutionary forces that the people of Mandalay and elsewhere in Myanmar enjoy their life under their rule and are not concerned about this revolution.

Also in late October, while organizing such festivities and public events just a few days before the Thadingyut Festival, SAC lifted the curfew which had been imposed since after the coup on all the townships of Mandalay Region (except for Mattayar, Sintgue, Thebeik Kyin and Mogkok townships which all see ongoing intensified armed conflicts between local PDFs and SAC forces). The lifting of the curfew was officially announced through state-owned broadcast media and newspapers on October 27.5 Overall, people are constantly living under very insecure conditions and with the fear of being arrested on the street or in their own house and shops, having their properties and goods looted and confiscated, and, even possibly, being killed. All this may happen at any time of the day and night and under one-sided false allegations, accusations, and charges by SAC. Recent military operation and eminent threat of armed conflict in Mandalay A combined force of Mandalay District PDF has made its officially announcement on November 13 that a major operation, “Shwe Pyi Soe Operation”, was launched to take back Mandalay city from SAC and its Central Command.

The warning leaflets were distributed

through drone on Thaung Thaman road (near U Pain Bridge) to inform and warn the public not to go near military bases, police outposts and around the moat and the Central Command inside the ramparts. Commander of Mandalay District PDF, Battalion 4, Captain Tartae informed Khit Thit Media that the armed group also dropped two bombs through drones at two military compounds: No.2 main workshop of military electrical department and the military vehicle and machinery maintenance department compound near Tamar Tan, as a warning to SAC forces. They have also raised the flag post of People’s Defense Force and raised the flags on Taung Thaman Road to inform public of the launching of the operation, as informed by the captain in Khit Thit media.6 Arbitrary arrest of commuters in the late evening for portering Subsequent to this official announcement by Mandalay PDF and right after the intensifying military operations in Shan State and the news spreading among public that the PDF was about to round up Pwin Oo Lwin, there was an increasing number of arbitrary arrests of young men among commuters on motorbike and bicycle by SAC forces, especially in the late evening time, around the Myo Thit area and other suburban areas of Mandalay, when people come back home. Families were contacted by their sons detained at police stations (under no firm grounds or charges) and they were forced to tell their family to bring a ransom money (ranging from 5 to 10 lakhs) for their release. If families were not able to pay the ransom money, then they were threatened to be sent to the front line of the battle field, as mentioned by witnesses of such incidents.

Therefore, people are now afraid to go out in the late evening and those who are working also return home hastily before it gets late. Streets are now totally deserted after 7:30pm.

5 Ibid, October 28 news from FB page 6 Khit Thit Media news, Khit Thit Media Facebook page, November 14, 2023

9

Right after a series of street arrests, GAD officers urged the public through loud speakers not to listen to rumors and spread false news about imposition of the emergency order, Order 144.

Instead, they claimed that they had lifted the order on October 27 (just before the Thadingyut Festival) to ensure that people can go out freely at night and that the news of arrest and detention of youth and men is not true. In fact, SAC has not done so and want to make sure people do not believe in such rumors.

Following this series of official announcements and those made by Mandalay and Yangon PDFs related to their planned military operations, the buying of basic food items like rice, beans, cooking oils, soaps and medicines and dry rations has recently occured at an even more frenetic pace than before. This led some rice shops and other stores to completely stop the sale of goods after their owners ran out of supply, said some witness. At gas stations, car drivers are now accustomed to queuing up sometimes the whole day as gasoline runs out of stock or, even if it is sold, gasoline is only sold in very limited amount.

As a spillover effect from the ongoing major military operations in Shan State by the combined forces of three Brothers Alliance, some residents of Pyin Oo Lwin are seen to come down to Mandalay to escape what they think is imminent armed conflict in their town and temporarily staying at their relatives houses. Fighting has indeed flared very close to Pyin Oo Lwin in the Wetwone area. Despite the news that Pyin Oo Lwin is the next target for major military operation by the combined forces of PDF and Three Brothers Alliance, the road to Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin is still not blocked until now and we can see people and goods are still flowing to Mandalay. But due to road blockages of the Maymyo-Lashio road and roads to Kyaukme or Naung-Cho, some Chinese goods & products are not flowing into Pyin Oo Lwin and to Mandalay anymore.

What the future holds for us remains to be seen!

Vie ws f rom the Ground A Second Junta is Planning to Rule Namkham Ai Sur NK is the pseudo of a Shan colleague living and working in Namkham, a town located in northern Shan State along the Chinese border. He is one of our language instructors who have been teaching Shan language to Myanmar and International learners since 2022. He reports about the current situation in Namkham which was recently taken over by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and deplores TNLA’s current practices that, to a certain extent, replicate those of the Tatmadaw.

Namkham, my small township, is located in the Northern Shan State, one of the borderlands of Myanmar - China (Shan - Kachin - China). It is inhabited by different ethnic groups: Shan, Palaung (Ta’ang), Chinese, Kachin and others.

There are so many revolutionary armies activism such as SSPP/SSA, PSLF/TNLA and KIO/KIA. A terrible civil war occurred after Operation 1027 of Northern Allies - the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA made of Kokang soldiers), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army (AA) - started. Although most of the battles have more or less ended (as of publishing time) and lots of main roads and bridges were destroyed in the Northern Shan State, Namkham was calmed until the first week of November. The fighting took place between the Tatmataw (Myanmar Army) and TNLA from the beginning of 2nd November 2023 in Namkham. There were many ruined buildings and some casualties at the bomb site.

The battles between TNLA and the Tatmataw had been occurring for nearly two months. Durning the fighting, some people were used as human shields. The Tatmataw used a Buddhist temple as a shelter and TNLA occupied people’s private buildings for hiding themselves and avoiding the bombs.

During the fighting, most of the Tatmataw was by defended at the Brigade (1) Sakhan Thit. For defeating the Tatmataw, TNLA took positions in public buildings such as police station, schools, registry, village temples and some other offices.

While they occupied these places, some

of their legionnaires also used people’s private houses. Around the police station near the market about ten people’s private houses and stores were devastated and all the commodity, food, motor bikes and luxuries stolen.

Restaurant’s signboard in Namkham (Source: Internet)

The Tatmataw used so many different aircrafts to shoot targets in the area of Sakhan Thit and the downtown area where TNLA soldiers were positioned. In general, aircrafts attacked over three to four periods during the day. And about hundreds of bombs fell on Sakhan Thit each day. About 60 houses and temples have now been destroyed and more than 20 civilians wounded in the crossfire and bombing that happened across 13 quarters and 4 villages in the area.

There are 8 villages located north of the Shwe Li River and 4 villages where Kachin people live and which are turned as refugee camps accepting more than ten thousand victims. Some people went to 10

Muse, Mandalay, Bamaw and China. Fortunately, the villages where the camps are located are surrounded by farms and lots of villagers donate plenty of local vegetables. Some camps receive support in the form of food and free health service by SSPP/SSA. And many Shan CSOs begged support from different regions such as others towns from Shan State, Myanmar, Thailand, China as well as from overseas Shan families. Unfortunately, there are only few media posts on social media covering these issues and there is no NGOs supporting the camps.

There were some people who could not leave home. Because they were afraid of burglars and there were lots of difficulties at the camps. For example, while TNLA garrisoned at Pok Den Ma Quarter, Taryar Gong Quarter and Noung Durn Village in order to attack the Tatmataw in the following days, lots of the villages’ food, motor bikes, refrigerators, TVs and safes were either smashed or grabbed. TNLA used cars and trucks for transportation [of weapons and soldiers] without paying [compensations to their owners]. No one is brave enough to inform the news agency. Only the battle action has been a topic of interest for the audiences. An assault on civil liberty is being ignored.

On the other hand, water, electricity and the internet have been cut down for nearly a month. The people counted on the wells, engines and solar battery.

Only a few people can use China mobiles for surfing online. The price of gas and octane has increased too. Somehow, the filling-stations are closed.

Cont.’d on p. 12

Upcoming Events at Inya The Everyday Life of a Revolution:

Boredom, Solidarity, and Movement Among Burmese Rebels in Exile Brendan Flanagan

Ph.D. Student in Anthropology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa

January 23, 2024, 9:30 PM (EST) January 24, 2024, 9:00 AM (MMT) Register at https://bit.ly/48xYKLy

Webinar series organized by the Inya Institute and funded by CAORC through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S State Department.

The coup on February 1, 2021 disrupted all facets of social life in Myanmar, precipitating a crisis that continues until today. In the aftermath of the violent crackdown that fell upon those who came out into the streets to protest against military rule, thousands of people fled across the border to Mae Sot, Thailand. Representing a broad cross-section of the country’s diversity, those seeking refuge in Mae Sot, found themselves forming bonds of solidarity with “strangers”.

The research presented here seeks to illuminate the preoccupations animating the political imaginary of this accidental demographic, as well as to document the everyday practices that undergird the unfolding of a revolutionary ethics. I explore how the ideas nurturing a revolution develop and carry forward in a situation characterized by displacement, fear, and precarity. The central question raised is: how did this novel social formation institute itself under circumscribed conditions?

Brendan Flanagan is interested in the politics of place, theories of social change, and how ecological relations are imagined in a time of crisis. Since September 2022 he has been based in Mae Sot, Thailand conducting research with exiled Burmese activists, as a research affiliate of the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University, in addition to working in grant management for Tenasserim Rivers and Indigenous People’s Network (TRIP-NET), a civil society organization based in Dawei. Brendan is also an educator in the field of earthen building techniques, a carpenter, and a gardener, who enjoys getting lost in the forest.

Myanmar Community Education in Malaysia James Francis Cerretani

Ph.D. Student in Anthropology at the University of Southern California

January 30, 2024, 9:30 PM (EST) January 31, 2024, 9:00 AM (MMT) Register at

https://bit.ly/3U2kP0w

Webinar series organized by the Inya Institute and funded by CAORC through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S State Department.

Focusing on schools run by and for transnational communities of Myanmar living in Malaysia and using participatory, multimodal methods, this project asks: How do community schools provide education tailored to transnational youths’ imagined futures? This research considers education broadly and schooling specifically, as the critical sites where ideas of belonging and futures—in relation to various actors’ projects of inclusion and everyday forms of exclusion—are imagined and constructed among transnational communities. The talk will cover fieldwork methods, early findings, and questions about how education sites are crucial to understanding concerns of belonging, identity, race, gender, ability, history, and religion for people of Myanmar in a transnational context.

James F. Cerretani is a 2023-2024 recipient of the Fulbright Student Research Award to Malaysia. Cerretani holds a Masters of Research in Visual Anthropology from Goldsmiths University of London, is a founding member of the TikTok Ethnography Collective (TEC), and the former multimodal editor of Anthways Journal (London). James attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York and worked interdisciplinary across anthropology, filmmaking, narrative photography, and Islamic studies with a regional focus in Southeast Asia. In 2017, James was awarded the Meredith Fonda Russell International Fieldwork Fellowship to conduct fieldwork with Rohingya diaspora in Ireland, exiles in Bangladesh, and internally displaced in Myanmar.

11

Upcoming Events at Inya Cross-Border Cooperation to Aid Resistance: CSOs in Thailand and Myanmar Hasta Colman

Ph.D. Student at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Relations

March 7, 2024, 9:30 PM (EST) March 8, 2024, 9:00 AM (MMT) Register at https://bit.ly/47CjaC2

Webinar series organized by the Inya Institute and funded by CAORC through a grant from the Bureau of Educationaland Cultural Affairs of the U.S State Department.

Cont.’d from p. 10

In addition, the main roads of MuseNamkham and Nattu-Namkham are closed occasionally by TNLA. The carfare has now increased to 200,000 MMK [for a trip] to Bamaw, 20,000 MMK to Muse because of the cost to pass the TNLA gates. For a small truck carrying goods, the small commercial vehicle is 100,000 MMK kyats per each time passing the gate. It is incommoding the citizenry.

Furthermore, when they check the ID cards of citizens, one must be hesitant if one are Burmese. Lots of fleeing Burmese drivers and families from the 105-mile trade zone were stuck at Man Kham, the entrance gate for a week.

Afterward, most of the quays across the river have been closed except Noung Ma Quay. However, TNLA checked the passengers austerely and the tracks or commercial vehicles might pay a surtax each time. One funny event happened when I drove back from Muse, the TNLA soldier saluted me and asked me to

Hasta will present findings from her research in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, where she embedded with Myanmar civil society organizations, navigating the ever-changing new “normal” of post-coup organizing. From conducting secret training programs in Thailand for Myanmar activists, to changing the status of NGOs from official to “underthe-radar”, Hasta documents the struggles of Myanmar activists in their quest to work for their country, even when their early involvement in the civil-disobedience-movement prevents them from ever going home.

Hasta Colman is in her 4th year of the PhD program at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Relations. Her thesis topic concerns border politics and relations between China and South and Southeast Asia, particularly Myanmar and Nepal.

She spent over ten years working with grassroots organizations and international NGOs in South and Southeast Asia on development projects, with particular focus on developing indicator frameworks to measure community impact. Hasta holds a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a master’s degree from The University of Chicago. She held research fellowships and studied at Fudan University (Shanghai), Tsinghua University (Beijing), and National Taiwan University (Taipei). She is fluent in Mandarin, speaks novice-level Karen (thanks to the intensive courses offered by The Inya Institute), and has just begun learning Thai.

show some paper. I had nothing and just showed the soldier a TNLA tax voucher but he brushed it off and told me not to show that again. I understood [the whole scene] when I saw the cameraman or journalist shooting.

During the battles, the schools, hospitals, clinics, stores, phone services and markets are shut. However, outside the market, there is a greengrocer pedestrian precinct which is open from 7 to 10 am.

Most of the greengrocers are from the villages which also supply the camps. The price of everything has increased steadily because of the surtax, road toll gates and high price of petrol. For health service, people typically counted on nurses who often practiced in the area. Now, however, one must have an appointment with SSPP health assistants or doctors in Muse.

After TNLA conquered Namkham, they planned to open the market. But nobody was brave enough to sell inside.

And there is a rumor that they arrange to cap taxes on all sellers although there 12

has been a sharp downturn in demand in recent months. At my shop, I had paid as they required 700,000 MMK for a year.

But, on the counterfoil, only 500,000 MMK was written on it. I called one of their leaders; he said 200,000 MMK was the claim for his soldiers. Unless the owners pay all the amount, the shop may be detonated or the owners be held as hostages. And they are also listing all of the shops, services and businesses for the over taxation.

TNLA held some meetings with the leaders of villages and encouraged them to follow their own law, not to revolt against them, and not to inform any news agencies. The question is what are they fighting for? Where are our human rights? Most of the people found it hard to hide their antipathy towards the actions of TNLA. We, the people, counter the Myanmar military junta. Hopefully, we just want to support a fair revolution, not a second dictatorship.

Recent Activities at Inya Navigating Obstacles: Research in the Borderlands

by Dr. Kimberly Roberts The ‘Myanmar’s Borderlands: Past, Present, and Future’ initiative began in June of 2023 with a series of online morning workshops. During a five-week period the eight research groups honed their research questions, chose research sites, and selected research methods.

Although the online medium restricted the range of classroom activities and limited the ease of forging a cohesive group identity, it also enabled the 23 junior researchers to participate in an experiential learning opportunity. Admittedly, teaching across four different time zones at times got confusing and this summer, power outages, overheating computers, and monsoon rains stalled the occasional all-group meeting and many an individual group meeting. However, by the end of the summer each group had successfully generated a draft research proposal.

Currently, a series of interim workshops throughout the 2023-2024 academic year are supporting the eight groups as they implement and then later analyze and write about their research projects. On October 17, I began the first

of the interim workshop series with the intent of holding an all-group meeting, as well as meeting with each individual group twice to aid in the writing and execution of research questionnaires.

All research projects encounter challenges and unexpected upheavals, and, in this instance, there are many. Over the summer, armed conflict in the border areas between the State Administrative Council (SAC) troops and their affiliate militias and some Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) and allied People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) began to escalate.

Yet, this rapidly accelerated after the implementation of Operations 1027 and 1111. According to UNHCR estimates regarding internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar, between June 24, 2023 to January 8, 2024 there has been a 45% increase in IDPs (747,700 persons), for a total of 2,284,300 IDPs post-2021 coup.

The researchers participating in the Myanmar Borderlands initiative have faced airstrikes and ground assaults, displacement, power outages, internet

shutdowns, and cyclones in addition to the more mundane issues of time zones and technology (now the occasional six time zones to navigate). Most groups have started their data collection regarding oral histories, humanitarian relief experiences, migrant experiences, and education, yet with significant adjustments from the proposals. For some groups, this is as simple as changing interview questions, for a few it is the intended research participants and for a couple it is the entire research design and methods that they had developed over the summer. During our all-group meeting on December 9, we collectively exchanged ideas about how to adjust research when there are barriers to locations, interviewees, and subjects, with the safety of researchers, their families, and participants remaining paramount.

Yet, despite the difficulties this program has still enabled 23 junior researchers living in the borderlands to have access to a cross-cultural educational space and conduct research on topics that impact their home communities.

CAORC’s Biennial Overseas Research Directors Meeting in Dakar, Senegal, October 1-4, 2023 On October 1-4, the institute’s director, Dr. Francois Tainturier, joined his CAORC network colleagues for the biennial meeting organized by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).

This iteration of the meeting was hosted by the West African Research Center (WARC) and the West African Research Association (WARA) under the energetic leadership of Prof. Ousmane Sène.

Francois offered an update of the institute’s activities and programs and discussed plans for collaborative initiatives with other ORCs, including the Center for Khmer Studies, Cambodia, the American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS), the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS), the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS), and the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies (AISLS).

One of these initiatives is the forthcoming Faculty Development Seminar (FDS) jointly organized by the Center for Khmer

Studies (CKS) and Inya together with CAORC which will be held in Cambodia in late May 2024.

The CAORC contingent at the Leopold Sedar-Senghor Stadium in Dakar

13

Annual Membership Membership of the Inya Institute is now available for Institutions as well as Indiv iduals!

Despite Myanmar’s current multidimensional crisis, the Inya Institute continues to operate in Yangon providing educational and training opportunities to Myanmar students, supporting scholarship by Myanmar and International researchers in Myanmar and in third countries, and offering language learning opportunities for those interested in Myanmar’s linguistic diversity. It is also one of the few libraries currently open to the public in Yangon.

Interconnectedness between Myanmar, the U.S., the Myanmar diaspora in the U.S. and elsewhere is more important than ever and the institute is keen to support this value as shown by its activities listed above. You can be part of this so please consider becoming a member of the Inya Institute!

Contact us at: contact@inyainstitute.org

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP

Any recognized academic or educational institution in the United States or Canada may become an Institutional Member of the institute. If a representative of an institutional member chooses to send a delegate to serve on the board of directors, he/she has an opportunity to shape the institute’s programs and activities.

Anyone may become an Individual Member of the institute, upon application and acceptance by the institute.

Other benefits include: (1) Recognition of institutional member status in the institute’s quarterly newsletter; (2) Publishing of members’ scholarly events in the institute’s quarterly newsletter; (3) Invitation to join online events, including conferences and webinars, organized by the institute.

Benefits: (1) Inclusion in the institute’s listserv of those institutions and individuals receiving the quarterly’s newsletter; (2) Invitation to join online events, including conferences or webinars, organized by the institute; (3) Reduced fees for the language learning opportunities developed by the institute.

Annual institutional membership dues are $400.

Annual individual membership dues are $25.

Upcoming Conference Full CFP here Proposal Submission Form here

Chulalongkorn University’s Asia Research Center for Migration and Faculty of Political Science, and the Inya Institute (Yangon) invite scholars and students to submit original research papers covering any of the topics listed above, both historically and contempo-

rary, and spanning any area of Myanmar borders with China, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India. We also welcome book presentations, movies presentations, and roundtables.

14

The keynote will be delivered by Prof.

Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Director of the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) and Director of the Center for Ethnic Studies and Development (CESD), Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.

Upcoming Events across the U.S. and beyond 1. Migrations and Mobilities along the Belt and Road: Emergent Geographies in Asia and Beyond

Location: Hybrid (Online via Zoom) 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore Date: 11-12 January 2024 This workshop is jointly organised by the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto; and the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.

The workshop invites empirically grounded papers that analyse migration and mobilities set in motion by elements of the Belt and Road, including: -cross-border commerce and trade -work opportunities across different sectors -entrepreneurship and deskilling -education and vocational training -marriage and family reunion -lifestyle migration -precarity and displacement.

This two-day interdisciplinary workshop aims to bring together international, regional, and local scholars to reflect on how the conditions of mobility have changed along the Belt and Road by addressing a range of salient issues on the emerging geographies of migration, such as migration regimes and conditions of (im)mobility, various implications of emerging flows of migration, and the dynamics of sociocultural exchange and knowledge circulation. more info here.

Registration here.

2. Boats in a Storm: Law, Migration, and Decolonization in South and Southeast Asia 1942-1962

Location: Thomson Hall (THO), Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington Date : 25 January 2024, 3:30-5:00 p.m.

For more than century before World War II, traders, merchants, financiers, and laborers steadily moved between places on the Indian Ocean, trading goods, supplying credit, and seeking work. This all changed with the war and as India, Burma, Ceylon, and Malaya wrested independence from the British empire. Drawing on archival materials from India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, London, and Singapore, Kalyani Ramnath narrates how former migrants battled legal requirements to revive

prewar circulations of credit, capital, and labor, in a postwar context of rising ethno-nationalisms that accused migrants of stealing jobs and hoarding land. Ultimately, Ramnath shows how decolonization was marked not only by shipwrecked empires and nation-states assembled and ordered from the debris of imperial collapse, but also by these forgotten stories of wartime displacements, their unintended consequences, and long afterlives.

More info here.

3. A Maze: Myanmar’s struggle for democracy: Conversation with activist, writer and surgeon Ma Thida

Location : Russell Square, College Buildings Date: 30 January 2024, 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Myanmar’s renowned activist Ma Thida will speak about her forthcoming book on the country’s struggle for democracy, and share her insights on the current situation.

The decade-long quasi-civilian administration period (2011-2020) didn’t bring Myanmar to reach its way toward democracy, instead Myanmar had been lost in a tortuous maze crafted by the military leaders. Her book highlights to answer some questions like ‘How has the Sprint Revolution gained its aimful momentum and maintained positivity so far? What are those hard-to-get-ridof walls? How are majority of people of/from Myanmar trying to keep their march on current passages to reach back on the road to democracy?

Centre for South East Asian Studies Chair, Prof Michael Charney, will share his comments as an expert on Myanmar studies. This conversation will be moderated by Aiko Doden, Professor Practice at the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy.

More info here.

4. Insurgent Autonomy: The United Wa State Army and Region-making in Highland Myanmar

Location : Online via Zoom Date : 07 February 2024, 12:00-1:15pm Highland autonomy is no longer about the keeping of lowland states at bay, or resisting their encroachment into the hills. It is instead a relational autonomy, maintained through the management of political ties and flows of capital and 15

people into the hills. In the highland Wa Region of Myanmar, on the Chinese border, the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army has engaged in this careful dance for over 30 years, maintaining its autonomy from Myanmar and China.

In this seminar, Dr Andrew Ong will examine the process of region-making in Wa Region: how its political visions are incongruous with the language of the modern state-form, how it makes and breaks intermittent ties with neighbouring states, and how it regulates the movement of people and capital in and through its region to ensure survival.

More info here.

Zoom Registration here.

5. Interdisciplinary Myanmar Conference 2024: Myanmar’s International Role, More Than a Buffer State

Location: Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic Date: 21-23 June 2024 The Myanmar-Institut e. V. (Berlin) and the Palacky University Olomouc (in particular the project “The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific Region” - EUVIP) cordially invite you to participate in the next Interdisciplinary Myanmar Conference entitled “Myanmar’s International Role: More Than a Buffer State”. The conference will bring together students and researchers of the country and the region.

The conference is free of charge and will be held on-site at the Palacky University Olomouc in Olomouc, Czechia. The possibility for online participation is planned. The conference will start on 21 June 2024 mid-day with a (tentative) keynote speech by Catherine Renshaw from Western Sydney University, and continue with panels on Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday morning.

Each panel will have a convener and a commentator who will comment on the presented papers. For the evenings, cultural events are planned. More information will be forthcoming on the program.

More info here.

New Books On Myanmar Disciplining Democracies: Human Insecurity in Japan-Myanmar Relations Lindsay Black Policy Press, 2023

This book examines Japan’s relationship with Myanmar from the passage of its constitution in May 2008 to the February 2021 coup d’ état that finished its transition to a ‘disciplined democracy.’ It explores the nexus between security and political economy in the context of changing regional dynamics characterized by ‘Great Power’ competition and cooperation. Focusing on the impact of Japan’s relations with Myanmar on people in Myanmar and beyond, the author argues that the Japanese government and businesses sidelined ‘universal values’ for profit at the expense of human security.

This text develops a unique Area Studies approach that critiques how Japan’s foreign policy elites perceive Japan’s role in the liberal international order.

Triple Crisis in Myanmar is a selection of contributions to the 7th International Conference on International Relations and Development, organized by RCSD and held at Chiang Mai University from 22-23 July 2022. The book sheds light on the coup’s impact and the pandemic’s toll on the nation, emphasizing the role of civil society and the plight of displaced migrants. It also explores human rights violations against Myanmar’s migrant workers in Thailand and climate change effects on vulnerable communities.

This analysis offers a multifaceted view of a country grappling with complex overlapping crises.

Myanmar in Crisis: Living with the Pandemic and the Coup

J. Chambers & M. Dunford (Eds.) ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, 2023 Myanmar in Crisis brings together scholars from across the social sciences to analyse the dual crises of COVID-19 and the 2021 military coup. All of the essays address one of four themes around the concept of crisis: society in crisis, a state in crisis, an economy in crisis, and international relations in crisis.

Scaling up from that local perspective, the book also looks at Myanmar’s history of foreign relations, the response of the international community to the coup and the challenges faced by foreign governments and regional bodies in navigating the deteriorating political situation. Beyond providing crucial insights to Southeast Asian area specialists, the book offers deep insights into the way that multiple crises interact, amplify one another, and open up possibilities for hope amidst tragedy.

The Displaced Rohingyas: A Tale of a Vulnerable Community

Sk Tawfique M Haque, Bulbul Siddiqi, Mahmudur Rahman Bhuiyan (Eds.) Routledge India, August 2023 This volume offers a comprehensive overview of the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh. It analyses the socio-cultural and humanitarian challenges of the crisis, along with the discourses that have developed on this issue via the local and international media and literature. The volume also suggests ways to build sustainable solutions for the Rohingya refugees.

Triple Crisis in Myanmar: Coup, Covid & Climate Change

C. Vaddhanaphuti & G. Houtman (Eds.) Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University, August, 2023 16

Rights Refused Grassroots Activism and State Violence in Myanmar

Elliott Prasse-Freeman Stanford University Press, September 2023 For decades, the outside world mostly knew Myanmar as the site of a valiant human rights struggle against an oppressive military regime. And yet, a closer look at grassroots sentiments reveals a significant schism between elite human rights cosmopolitans and subaltern subjects maneuvering under brutal and negligent governance. Rights Refused shows how Burmese subaltern politics compel us to reconsider how rights frameworks operate everywhere.