IN troubled Myanmar, the rigours of life are finally catching up even with the armed forces. Earlier this < month, six battle-scarred soldiers of the crack 269 Burmese Light Infantry Regiment crossed the Indian border to Mizoram, seeking political asylum. They looked weary and run down and just about managed to escape from their colleagues who were hot on their trail. The Indian Government is yet to decide what to do with the six soldiers, now in custody.
New Delhi has refused asylum but it is not clear whether the soldiers will be deported. Should that happen, the soldiers, Gyaw Moe (radio operator), Khin Maung Wai, San U, Gyaw Naing Lin, Aung Win and Gyaw Moe Naing, can only expect the worst—in Myanmar, execution is the standard punishment for mutineers and deserters.
For the grizzled veterans, fleeing from a summary court martial, trouble began when the junta ordered an anti-insurgency operation in the thickly-wooded Chin Hills province in west Myanmar, bordering Mizoram and Manipur.
The Chins, one of the several rebellious tribes inhabiting Myanmar's borders, had declared their territory as a breakaway independent area in 1988. After negotiations failed, the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) decided to teach the rebels a lesson. The separatist Chin National Front fought back against the crackdown and launched a series of attacks on the army.
Soldiers of the 269 Light Infantry were required to build roads and resort to other backbreaking work to create the much-needed infrastructure for military operations. The task became all the more difficult in the face of frequent ambushes by Chin rebels. Also, the malaria-infested terrain made life hell for the soldiers, many of whom were taken ill. A group of soldiers complained about the pitiable working conditions, but this did not go down well with the top brass. The six soldiers, who led the protests, were soon faced with a court martial for raising the symbolic fist against the establishment.
The men decided to escape—before June 28 when their sentence was to be carried out. Points out an Indian intelligence official: "By the rough and ready standards of the Myanmar army, it would be reasonable to assume that the fate of these six, who would be treated as deserters, was sealed." To escape death, the men, weaved and dodged their way through the tortuous hills and dense tropical jungles pursued by the army. They managed to enter Mizoram with their weapons on July 2.
Once they crossed the border, they searched for fellow compatriots who had fled to the Indian north-eastern state after the military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in 1988. However, the Mizoram police, which often encounters Burmese stragglers, are no longer kindly disposed towards infiltrators.
In the last few months, the Mizoram police has turned the heat on Burmese fugitives, particularly those belonging to the Chin tribe. The Chin National Front has been resorting to extortions in Mizoram's frontier villages and in late-June even murdered a Mizo student leader.
These Myanmarese insurgents cross over to India, extort and loot the villagers, and cross back again before the police can react. And, because they strongly resemble the locals and often speak the same dialect, it is difficult for the police to isolate them. Possibly, the six soldiers were mistaken as Chin rebels.
Realising that they were less than welcome, the soldiers threw away their weapons, changed into lungis and contacted other Burmese pro-democracy activists for help before the net closed in on them.
Says U.Bo. Thaung, a member of Parliament of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party now operating in exile from the North-east: "We had to give these men initial protection, and later, we decided to approach the Government of India to secure political asylum for them."
India, busy trying to placate the SLORC in an effort to boost border trade, has refused asylum. External Affairs Ministry officials made it clear that providing shelter to student leaders was one thing but that it was quite another thing to entertain army deserters. The SLORC has often complained about the shelter that India grants to "anti-national elements".
Desperate, pro-democracy Burmese leaders in India have decided to approach western governments to help the soldiers. Sizeable Burmese communities live in Manipur and Mizoram and pro-democracy activists have set up well-networked organisations in the two states.
The case—apart from posing a diplomatic dilemma for India—is significant as this is the first time soldiers have crossed the border with weapons. Uptil now, it was the Chin rebels who usually infiltrated into Indian territory in search of sustenance. According to sources, over 10,000 infiltrators have been pushed back since 1989. In the larger Myanmarese context, it reflects growing tensions within its military formations in the frontier regions where the SLORC has only paid lip-service to trying to arrive at an understanding with rebels. Also, though the Myanmarese army is now far better equipped to fight insurgents—with China supplying nearly $2 billion worth of arms since 1990—the strain of fighting a relentless civil war for over four decades is finally telling on its soldiers.
Tags