Myanmar's shadow government launches 'People's defensive war' to resist military takeover

On Tuesday, Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG), formed by deposed legislators of the country, called for a nationwide uprising - "people's defensive war" - against the country's military, which seized power in a coup on February 1 this year. Duwa Lashi La, the acting president of the shadow government, posted a video on Facebook calling the country's entire population to rebel against the military-installed government and declared what he called a "state of emergency." 

The country has been wracked by unrest ever since the military seized power early this year from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, accusing it of election fraud. The development had sparked a wave of protests throughout the country, killing around 1,000 people.  

In his video message, Duwa Lashi La said that the National Unity Government launched a people's defensive war against the military junta with the responsibility to protect the lives and properties of the country's people, reported ANI quoting Al Jazeera. Calling it a public revolution, he urged people all across the country to revolt against Min Aung Hlaing-led military government. Lashi La launched a blistering attack on the incumbent government and accused it of committing "war crimes." He called on the ethnic groups of the country to "immediately attack" the military and urged military-appointed bureaucrats to resign from the government, Al Jazeera reported. He also asked the border guards and soldiers to join the protest and warned the civil servants under the military council from going to the office. He further vowed to uproot the dictatorship from Myanmar and establish a peaceful federal democratic union that fully safeguards equality in the country, reported Al Jazeera. 

People's defensive forces to resist military takeover

In a separate statement, the shadow government’s Prime Minister, Mahn Winn Khaing Thann said that the "people's defensive war" has been called in an attempt to abolish the ruling military regime completely. According to the Associated Press (AP) report, "people's defensive forces" were established in many areas by the resistance movement against the military takeover. It should be mentioned here that according to the NHK World reports, the National Unity Government has been designated as a terrorist group by Myanmar's military junta. The coup d'etat triggered a wave of protests and paved the way for mass violence in the country resulting in a steep surge of COVID-19 cases and subsequent deaths. According to data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as many as 945 people have been killed since the military takeover took place in February. Additionally, more than 2 lakh people have been displaced due to flashfloods and another 1.8 lakh people have been reported as COVID infected in the country. 

Myanmar military coup 

As Myanmar’s military has taken steps to undermine the country's democratic transition, including the arrest of the nation’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and few other civilian leaders in Burma, several governments and human rights groups across the globe expressed concern and urged the military to release all those who have been detained unlawfully immediately. The Myanmar Army, on the other hand, has said that it carried out the detentions in response to fraud in last November’s general election that Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide. On August 1, Military Commander Min Aung Hlaing declared that he would remain in charge until 2023 when he plans to hold an election. On the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, August 19, the United Nations (UN) had also expressed its concerns over the compounded situation of conflict, pandemic, and natural disaster in Myanmar. 

(With agency inputs)

Image Credits: AP