November has been a cruel month for the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). From mid November the Burmese military junta has started gunning for KIO/A with unconcealed vengeance despite having an almost 14-year ceasefire with it.
The reason --it wants the group to issue a statement to counter the democracy icon Daw Aung Suu Kyi's statement made on her behalf by the UN Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in Singapore November 8. The KIO/A has steadfastly refused to be brow beaten by the military regime on this score all though it has made many other compromises earlier.
Suu Kyi's statement said that she was approached by a number of ethnic groups to represent them in the dialogue with the military junta. The junta has been arm twisting a number of ethnic ceasefire groups to issue statements opposing her statement.
While the junta did manage to make a number of ethnic groups to issue statements it reacted venomously towards the KIO/KIA. In a bid to pressurize the KIO, Burma Army troops and officers of the Sa-Ya-Pha, Military Affairs Security Unit also called the military intelligence, surrounded the homes of senior officials of the KIO and went in ostensibly checking for strangers and unreported guests in mid-November. They seized Chinese landline telephones instead. The raid was targeted at the outfit's leadership - brigade commanders, senior officials, and liaison offices in Myitkyina and Bhamo cities including the home of the KIO vice-president N'ban La Awng in Shatapru quarter in Myitkyina.
The raid was ordered by the ruthless Northern Command Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint based in Myitkyina and came in the aftermath of a special representative of junta supremo Sr-Gen Than Shwe, Maj-Gen Ye Myint, chief of Military Affairs Security (Sa-Ya-Pha) who met KIO leaders in Myitkyina early in November.
The KIO leaders chose not to react to the raid simply because it did not want to step on the junta's toes and upset the apple cart further. KIO leaders own luxurious homes and are into money making private enterprise in the junta controlled areas of Kachin State and other major cities in Burma.
Just three days later mounting further pressure, the military junta sealed the main gate to the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) Headquarters, in Laiza controlled area on the Sino-Burma border in Kachin State at night. All pedestrian and vehicular movement across the gate was brought to a halt. Lajayang Gate is a key border export and import exit and entry point for both Burmese and Chinese merchants in Kachin State. On an average more than 100 people and cars cross the gate daily.
Further harassment was in store for the ceasefire group. Continuing to arm twist the KIO, soldiers of the Burmese Army's, Infantry Battalion No. 142 detained five soldiers and three office staff of the group on November 22. The detainees were from Dingga Controlled Areas Office in Dawhpum Yang region under the KIO's 3rd Brigade. They included the office in-charge and second-office in-charge, an accountant and five soldiers. It is another matter though that the eight detained by the army fled from the detention centre in Kachin State four days later.
The junta has been relentless in its harassment of KIO and its associates. Three Burmese military battalions including Waingmaw based Infantry Battalion No. 58 and Shwenyaungbin based Light Infantry Battalion No. 321 began operations in the gold mining areas in Nam San Yang near Laiza, in KIO controlled areas. The army has arrested and driven out the gold miners.
Around mid-November two of KIO's main gold mining areas were temporarily made out of bounds by the Burmese Army. The main ferry routes to one of the biggest KIO's gold mining areas in upper Mali Hka River (Mayli Kha) in north of Myitkyina were cut off and other smaller gold mines along Namsan River on Myitkyina-Bhamo highway road was taken control of.
The junta is bent on crippling the KIO economically to make it toe its line. It is increasingly placing restrictions in areas of the KIO's core revenue, which are the gold mines in Mali Hka (Mayli Kha) River between Myitkyina and Sumprabum and its Sino-Burma border trade activities along the Myitkyina-Laiza Road. The entire operation to make the KIO kowtow to the junta is being masterminded Kachin State commander, Maj-Gen Ohn Myint.
So vindictive and systematic has been the junta that it is constantly monitoring the activities and homes of senior officers of the KIO and the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K).
Early this month security agents of the junta were seen watching the homes of the officers in Myitkyina Township, capital of Kachin State. The harassment has gone to a level where family members of KIO officials were questioned three to five questions daily by officers of the military intelligence also called Military Affairs Security Unit (Sa-Ya-Pha). This is being done twice or thrice a week.
Hemming in the KIO from all sides the Burmese Army disabled two key bridges in N'mai Hka River in Kachin State last month. The two metal-string bridges - the 59-Mile Jubilee (Jubili) and Chipwe (Chahpwi) on Waingmaw-Sawlaw road were partly dismantled by troops. The wooden planks on the bridges were removed. The bridges connect gold mining areas and logging fields under the KIO's 1st Brigade on the western side of N'mai Hka River in the junta and NDK-A controlled areas on the eastern side of the river.
The economic blockade and physical harassment of KIO officials is ample evidence that the ruthless Burmese military junta is hell bent on bringing the KIO to its knees. It is not leaving any stoned unturned to this end putting the KIO in a bind. As it is the KIO has been facing severe criticism from people in Kachin State which had condemned the organization for lending support to the junta's National Convention despite the fact the military regime ignored the 19-point of charter of demand that the KIO submitted at the NC.
