With the referendum to have the draft constitution of Burma approved by the people round the corner, the Burmese military junta has resorted to using strong arm tactics on the Kachin ceasefire groups to support its roadmap. The arm twisting, has led to more disarray in the different Kachin groups with no one seeing eye to eye.
The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the main Kachin ceasefire group is dithering and is yet to come with a clear stand on the referendum. In an amorphous statement it has said that it wants the junta to allow citizens to participate freely in the ensuing referendum. But it is clear that the KIO is confused for it has also added in the same breath that it is not sure what it would do if their request on this score is not kept. The KIO's statement on the referendum and election said that both must be free and fair. It also wanted the setting up of a proper organization to oversee and monitor both the referendum and the election to ensure it is free and fair. As is typical of the junta it has ignored the KIO's statement.
That the KIO is in a dilemma is obvious. A majority of people in Kachin state have lost faith in the KIO and the organization's latest attack on the Kachin National Consultative Assembly (KNCA), the biggest umbrella organization of Kachin nationals, in the end of February for advising the KIO to take a clear cut political stand, has only divided the Kachin groups and raised the Kachin people's hackles.
The KNCA was aggressively warned not to give political advice or make demands on the KIO. To make matters worse the KIO sent representatives to the homes of the KNCA leaders in Myitkyina Township, the capital of Kachin State and warned them soon after the cerebrations of 47th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day in Laiza.
KNCA leaders were bluntly told by the KIO representatives that it knew how to do politics with the ruling junta and cautioned it not to do or say anything which does not concern the KNCA.
The KIO's warning came after the KNCA wrote a letter to the KIO during the Kachin Revolution Day in Laiza last month suggesting that it was high time to take a decision in black and white what the politics of the KIO should be. It had the choice of supporting the junta's seven-step roadmap to the so called "disciplined democracy or demand a tripartite dialogue" between the junta, the opposition political parties and ethnic leaders for a genuine federal union in Burma.
The letter said the KIO's stand should be clear and it should not stick to the grey area of politics. The KNCA, which has had to face criticism for kowtowing to the KIO for years, fell silent after the warning.
That the Kachin groups are working at cross purposes on their stand regarding the referendum and the elections becomes clear if one takes into consideration the stand of the KNO which has opposed the referendum to approve the draft constitution. It has urged all responsible citizens of Burma, government servants, members of religious institutions, members of NGOs, youth and students and their respective organizations, and members of all women's organizations to cast the "No" vote.
Again Myitkyina University students are advocating to the people to cast the "No" vote and have gone around the town pasting hundreds of posters. The A-4 size posters were put up in crowded places Myitkyina and Waingmaw Townships recently. The poster movement was organized by the All Kachin Students Union (AKSU) in Burma which is diametrically opposed to the KIO's stand on anything to do with the junta.
The junta meanwhile continues to mount pressure on the Kachin ceasefire groups to come out in the open and support its road map.
It forced the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) in Pang Wa, the town on the Sino-Burma border where it is headquartered in its controlled area, to accept temporary national identity cards and family unit (Ing-htaung-su).
The temporary national identity cards are meant to vote in the ensuing referendum and NDA-K members have been given white colour temporary identity cards. Kachin residents are being given green coloured cards for men and the red coloured ones for women. While residents were charged for the cards the NDA-K members were exempted from paying. All the members of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed wing Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) and Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group are being issued white colour ID cards.
The white colour ID cards will help the junta differentiate between citizens and Kachin ceasefire group members. The ID cards will help holders travel in the country but they can stay in one place for only two weeks.
Ideally, the junta wants all ceasefire groups in Burma to surrender their arms and transform themselves into political parties and contest the elections. Ethnic groups like the KIO here again suffer from another dichotomy. Its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army refuses to give up arms while its political wing the KIO wants a free and fair referendum and elections. The contradiction is there for all to see.
(The author is a veteran journalist from India and has been in major newspapers as a Reporter, Deputy Chief of Bureau, News Coordinator, Op-ed and Edit writer.)
