How to help Myanmar

The purpose of this article is to provide the opinions of Burmese leftists on the issue of how the global left could help Myanmar. To do so, I have reached out to four different leftists in Myanmar, each representing a unique left-wing tendency.

The first person I contacted was comrade Theo Maung, a democratic socialist who is now serving in a revolutionary militia for the Burma Revolutionary Army, a left-wing militia group. Theo expressed that it would be valuable to have technical and tactical support, such as education on modern agricultural and livestock technologies. With the access to technologies stated above, the militias can not only support themselves but also protect the communities they belong to, Theo said.

I also reached out to comrade San Shar, a regional political lead from People’s Liberation Army of Burma Communist Party (PCB). He shared his view: “western imperialism needs to be condemned and Chinese imperialism should be critically analysed when it comes to Myanmar’s revolution”. He chose not to give comment on Russia’s imperialism on Myanmar.

Comrade Zaw Khu Zun, former General Secretary of Leftist Youth Organization (loosely affiliated with the PCB), currently a renounced Bolshevik-Leninist. also contributed his views for this article. Zaw Khu Zun is expecting more solidarity strikes and demonstrations from the international left regarding Myanmar’s issue. He mentioned that the demonstrations should focus more on the capitalist corporations that are colluding with the military junta for their business.

“Such demonstrations will resurrect the public awareness on the Myanmar issue”, he stated. According to the reports from “Justice from Myanmar”, there are a number of western companies, especially German and Israeli companies as well as Asia-based companies from Singapore and South Korea, supplying weapons and technologies to the military junta. Such companies should face severe consequences for the involvement of genocidal massacres and inhumane treatment against the ethnic groups actively committed by the military junta.

Comrade Yoe Thit Aung, a life-long egoist anarchist, also expressed his views as well. He argued that local left and international left should work together for a common purpose of public awareness. Since people tend to listen more when someone with similar political background is sharing an experience, he is hoping for more political platforms internationally. He said: “people all over the world have lost interest in Myanmar’s situation. So, we need to assist fostering people exchange networks and mutual aid platforms with the international appropriate left-wing tendencies to resurrect the international awareness of the people on Myanmar’s issues”.

To sum up, revolutionaries in Myanmar need military grade weapons and tactical support regarding the military struggle. Politically, since there are some fundraising events happening all over the world, the international left can assist the fundraising movements to secure a solidarity relationship with the Burmese community for further political movements. People from Myanmar all over the world need to be informed about the possibility of a democratic socialist society free of exploitation, oppressions, and alienation. In this way, Myanmar people who have decided to settle in the respective countries can be recruited for the revolution that seeks a democratic socialist society.