The Army of Poets and Students Fighting a Forgotten War

from The New York Times I'm Katherine. benold this is the. [Music]. daily Myanmar is home to one of the. deadliest most intractable Civil Wars on. the planet but something new and. remarkable is. happening an unusual wave of young. people from the cities including. students poets Baristas have joined the. country's Rebel militias.

this Coalition is now making startling. gains against myanmar's military. dictatorship today my colleague Hannah. Beach takes us inside this surprising. resistance. [Music]. movement it's Monday June.

[Music]. 24th Hannah you've been covering a war. that is barely getting any attention in. the world we hear a lot about Gaza in. Ukraine but you've been covering this. war in Myanmar and now three years in. something is Shifting in a really. unexpected way tell us what's. happening I think when we imagine a. Civil War in Southeast Asia we expect I. don't know gorillas and combat fatigues. fighting in the jungle and yes you do.

have those longtime Rebel Fighters but. what's happening now is that these. veteran soldiers have partnered with a. new and exciting Force which is young. people from the cities who have joined. together with these old guys and they've. decided to fight the good fight for an. ideal called. democracy and remarkably 3 years after. this Civil War began they're starting to.

win wow and just for context remind us. how this war started where are we in. this story so for about 50 years Myanmar. was stuck in this kind of awful. preserved and Amber military. dictatorship and then about a decade ago. the mymar military leaders they started. to peacefully transfer some of the power. to a democratically elected. leadership and that civilian leadership. was led by I think the one Burmese.

person that people might know D anang. suuchi she's a Nobel Peace Prize laurate. and she's very eloquent in English and. she was this kind of paragon of. democracy and nonviolent resistance to. this big bad military dictatorship yeah. I remember actually how she was. celebrated there were sort of pop art. posters of her fa and she gave lectures. in Oxford and of course even Obama. visited her exactly she was up there.

with the Dal Lama with with Nelson. Mandela and so yes you're right. President Obama visited not once but. twice I mean to this little country in. Southeast Asia that people had barely. heard of but then the Myanmar military. Unleashed an ethnic cleansing campaign. against the ethnic minority ringa. Muslims and Onan sui who was constantly. under pressure from the military goes to. an international Court and defends the.

military against charges of. genocide and it's at that moment where. all these world leaders who' wanted to. associate themselves with the great. things that were happening in Myanmar. were a little bit. embarrassed and foreign governments just. sort of backed. away right so Anan suuchi who. represented in a way the hope of. democracy to many in the west sides with. the military on persecuting the rohinga. and it's a embarrassment for all the.

people that endorsed and supported her. yeah and I think that's the context in. which this cou happs right so February. 2021 the military arrests the civilian. leadership of the country puts Don. Sansui in jail and the people who. suddenly lose so much from the. resumption of military rule go out on. the streets and there are millions of. people on the streets who are peacefully. protesting and the military does what it.

has done over and over and over again. with Pro democracy movements in myamar. which is to shoot people on the. streets and that catalyzes a lot of. young people you know doctors and. lawyers and engineers and airplane. mechanics and Poets and civil servants. to do something. unprecedented which is to escape from. the cities and make their way to the. Borderlands of Myanmar where a bunch of. ethnic militias have for Generations.

been fighting the military hun and they. join with these ethnic militias and form. a unified armed resistance so students. and other young people from the cities. join this armed resistance against a. real army with a brutal history it. doesn't really sound like they stand a. chance it doesn't and I think those of. us who've watched myamar for a while. sort of expected it to be a David and. Goliath story in which Goliath.

wins but a few months ago I started. hearing something that surprised me. which is that a coalition of these. resistance groups these militias had. launched an offensive and within a few. months you had dozens of towns that. changed from hunda control to Rebel. control you had hundreds of yma army. outposts that changed hands to.

resistance control and so by the time. the kind of dust settled you had a. situation in which more than half of the. territory of Myanmar is now in. resistance hands wow it is an. unprecedented rate of success for a rag. tag group some of whom two years ago had. never even picked up a gun I mean that. that's incredible so they basically W. back more than half of the territory and.

and they did so in just a few months how. is that possible I mean what are these. Rebels doing yeah that's a question that. I really wanted the answer to as well. and that's the main reason that I worked. with our security team and my editors to. be able to organize a trip back to. Myanmar we're traveling on a road that. is often mined so the uh driver is. trying to be as careful as possible to. actually get there.

um we went in a pretty convoluted route. because the main roads in the area where. we were which is called Karen states are. mostly within sites of the Myanmar. military and so we were worried about. being targets and so we had to take back. jungle. roads and all of a sudden I see in front. of me a very Brown Flat River and I'm. looking at it and I see absolutely no.

bridge and we're in this pickup truck. and I think how in the world are we. going to cross this River so here is. a. boat and here is our. car and I see in front of me these sort. of long boats with engines on the back. and in between these boats they have. kind of a pieces of wood like planks and. apparently are.

car is going to go on there which seems. like a mathematical impossibility but. we'll see how it goes and we go over. these two planks and I hope he's got. good driving. skills who here we go here we go here we. go and suddenly we have landed on top. and we're balanced in between the two. boats and this is our car. fairy a car fairy kareni Style. this is the kind of Ingenuity that.

happens in times of War so we're back on. these jungle roads and our destination. is a place where a rebel group called. The k&f the uh keni nationalities. Defense Force is setting up a functional. government in a place that until really. recently had been the sight of. incredibly intense fighting and after. hour after hour of going either through. jungles or passing these empty Villages.

suddenly we started seeing people and we. started seeing livestock and we started. seeing cars and we pull up in sort of. like a parking lot and a guy comes up to. me and he uses the former name from. myammar which is Burma and he says. welcome to Free Burma wow so you are now. in Rebel Health territory and what does. free Burma look like free Burma is this.

weird combination of young students who. really want to engage in deep. conversations about Marxism and about. democracy except you're in the middle of. the Jungle and you know you hear mortars. every now and then and they've had to. build everything themselves they've set. up refugee camps for displaced people a. whole functioning government. Administration in the jungle Hill. of the poorest state in Myanmar and the.

amazing thing is they've built all of. this without a functioning power grid. there's no running water there no phone. lines and there's no normal internet and. so photographer Adam Ferguson and I. traveled around and and we went to. wedding parties and we met with young. girls who were singing resistance songs. [Music].

I don't speak Burmese but I'm listening. to these songs and the melody is sort of. transporting me and then as I was. listening to the lyrics It Was burmes. burmes burmes and all of a sudden I hear. the words. [Music]. democracy heard it in songs and I heard. it in basic training by these recruits. to the CDF.

and I asked around and it turns out that. the phrase democracy doesn't really have. a translation in burmes this is. something that people were laying their. lives for but they were also singing it. and saying it in English and it kind of. underscored to me how powerful this. ideology was for. [Music]. them and so I wanted to go and embed. with this force and see what they were.

doing and understand the motivations of. some of these people who had joined this. Rebel. [Music]. Force we'll be right. back Hannah you said you wanted to embed. with these Rebel forces where did you. end up going so for all of karani State.

there's essentially One hospital to. which all casualties are taken and to. get there you travel down a jungle path. and you bump bump bump bump in there are. buildings some of them are made of brick. but mostly it's. bamboo this is a secret Hospital in the. jungle somewhere in ki State and sort of. out of nothing out of the forest.

they've built uh an emergency room over. there here's an operating. theater uh over there and there is a. functional hospital that has been built. by Young doctors and nurses and Medics. from the cities who all came with a. common purpose which was to join the. resistance. movement and one of the people who made. the biggest impression on me was a young. woman Nam named lenon and she she worked.

as a medic treating wounded soldiers and. victims of landmines everybody know. misle yes so know she's been part of the. resistance in kenni since the very. beginning and she was really striking we. were in the canteen which was this Shack. with a dirt floor and she was wearing. these pink pajamas and fluffy slippers. so she has a very big social media. presence I yeah she does she does knows.

not that much yeah and Lynn was from a. big city in Myanmar how did you decide. uh to join the resistance movement and. uh what what propelled you to do. that um you know like I am just 25 years. of Youth I have she describes herself as. just a normal. kid she sold Cosmetics online she went. to med school yeah. um on 2021 February I joined to the.

produ and um like when the coup happens. she joins a protest Movement Like many. young people they started shooting and. starting killing the people you know but. when the crackdowns happened most of her. friends she says just went home and kept. their heads down so they told me not to. do so just go back to the university and. just fin your.

degree and there was something in Lynn. that was not able to just go back to her. old life so I choose my way you choose. your way and yeah and so she made this. decision to run away and became part of. this resistance movement and what was. that transition like I mean that's quite. a big thing to go to the jungle and. completely change your. life I think it was really really hard I.

mean it is an intense experience for a. comfortable City girl to end up in the. middle of jungle. warfare and she has been working she. actually doesn't have her medical degree. because she left before she was able to. get it but every day she is working. triage and she is wrapping bullet wounds. and getting pieces of shrapnel out of. wounded.

soldiers she has a saw that she uses for. amputations for the victims of landmines. a saw a saw yes yeah everybody has their. own. saw and she is getting kind of a medical. education that you would never get you. know in the theoretical world of a. Medical. University she is trained to plunge her. hands into the chest cavities of wounded. soldiers to extract pieces of.

shrapnel and what she has is a. commitment to this idea of. democracy um that that I think is. extraordinarily powerful and she is. literally laying down her life for that. cause and Lynn is just one member of. hundreds of groups with tens of. thousands of people in them in this. resistance which at this moment of time.

seem to really be turning the tide. against the. [Music]. military it's so clear that these Rebels. are fighting for something they really. believe in but how is this Coalition how. are these groups like The kdf you spent. time with actually winning territory. back from a professional. military yeah I mean you're you're right. the Myanmar military is very well. equipped it has fighter jets it has big.

bad War making machines but one of the. things that the rebels have is kind of a. game Cher and an equalizer in Modern. Warfare and that's a cheap homemade. drone you mean like a very simple drone. the kind that I bought for my daughter. at Best Buy yeah so if you take that. drone that you got for your daughter at. Best Buy and you hand it to a k Rebel. Soldier and they go on the internet. and they start communicating with.

somebody in Ukraine they take that very. simple drone and they start adding bits. and pieces to it and they change. something that is used for photography. and they turn it into a machine that can. drop bombs on the enemy front lines wow. so they're actually communicating with. other pro-democracy Fighters if you will. in Ukraine and other places about how to.

do this yeah and it was really. remarkable because when I went to the. Drone base of the k&f they were using. laser cutters they were using 3D. printers and they were creating kind of. a modern Fleet of drones that has the. potential to fight against something. like a fighter jet and that really is a. game Cher it's interesting so these. Rebel drones are clearly proving to be a. real headache for the military. is that the main reason or is there.

anything else that explains the rebel. success I think the main reason is this. really unlikely Alliance that has formed. between the kids from the cities who. have come to the jungles and this array. of ethnic militias some of these ethnic. militias in a complicated way don't like. each other and so not only are they. fighting the hunda but they're also. fighting themselves and what has changed. for the first time since the coup is.

that these ethnic militias that had. these kind of. interesing problems have decided to. unify for a common goal which is to. fight the Hunter and they're beginning. to train and help the young people who. are coming from the cities and that's. really something that's never happened. before mhm most of these young people. from the cities may have played video. games and that was their experience of. War beforehand and then they're coming.

into the jungle and they don't know how. to fight I mean they shouldn't know how. to fight but they were given training. and weapons and kind of military knowhow. how to throw a grenade how to protect. yourself basic first state all of these. things were being taught to them and. these City kids have been fighting and. dying alongside members of these ethnic. militias and I think this TR that has. developed between them um has really.

changed the tenor of the war so you know. given that they're gaining territory. given that this Alliance for the first. time seems to be holding is there a. chance that they actually win that's a. very good question as difficult as what. has happened has been for the resistance. I think it's the easy part capturing. remote areas is a lot easier than moving. into the heartland of country where the. big cities are and that's going to be a.

really difficult thing for the. resistance to be able to push into and. claim so what lies ahead is the really. tough part oh yes let's say somehow the. resistance is able to push in and put. the Hun on its back heels in the. Heartland and kick them out of some big. cities at a certain point I think. members of their Alliance are going to. realize that they have fundamentally. different goals some of the ethnic.

militias want to become independent of a. country called Myanmar some of them want. to control the gains of inlisted economy. myamar is one of the biggest producers. of methamphetamine of fentanyl of opium. and then there also some people who. really want democracy and so it's very. hard to imagine even if they succeed. militarily for these groups to be able.

to agree on what they Envision Myanmar. to look like so does that mean the idea. of some future United democracy is not. actually. realistic across these different groups. everybody agrees the idea of federal. democracy is a good. thing I don't know when it comes down to. actually forming a new government should.

the resistance be able to do so whether. the temptation of power will prove to be. a a more potent Force than this Gauzy. idea of federal democracy and I think. the reality right now and even should. the resistance win is a myammar that is. fractured and splintered so what does. that mean mean for the young people. fighting in the jungle are they talking.

about this are they conscious of the. risks of their country being fractured. and splintered and are they prepared for. such an outcome you know it's very easy. for political theorists to talk about is. this a fractured state or is this a. splintered state or is this you know a. functioning. democracy but I think for the people who. are actually on the ground they are. fighting for very specific things which. is a resumption of their lives as they.

were before the the coup and that was a. life in which things were slowly getting. better and they had certain freedoms and. they were able to vote and they were. able to participate in a yes flawed. democracy but a democracy nonetheless. and that is what they're fighting. [Music]. for and revolution s fail and they fail.

and they fail until they succeed and I. think for the young people who are in. Myanmar they are willing to give their. lives for what maybe to me seems a slim. chance but for them it's what keeps them. going day after day in the jungles to. fight for a better future for young. people and for all the people in Myanmar. [Music].

Hannah thank you thank you. [Music]. Katherine we'll be right back.

[Music]. here's what else you need to know today. on Sunday Israel's prime minister. Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the. United States for the second time in a. week Netanyahu accused the Biden. administration of withholding weapons. for the war in Gaza his comments came as. Israel's Minister of Defense arrived in. Washington for meetings with senior us. officials. tensions over Israel's conduct during.

its war in Gaza have been rising between. Netanyahu and Biden in recent weeks a. day before Nan's latest complaints. Israeli soldiers tied a wounded. Palestinian to the top of a military. vehicle in the West Bank the scene was. captured on video and quickly went viral. causing. outrage the Israeli military set the ACT. violated military procedure and that. there would be an investigation. [Music]. [Applause]. today's episode was produced by Shannon.

linnn Nina Feldman relle bonja with help. from ASA. chatra it was edited by MJ Davis Lynn. with help from Patricia willins contains. original music by Dan Powell and Diane. Wong and was engineered by Chris Wood. our theme music is by Jim brunberg and. Ben lansor of wandy. [Music]. [Applause].

that's it for the daily I'm Katherine. benold see you tomorrow.