An interview with Ko Hsai Zan Hnaung, a CDM participant from Nay Pyi Taw Special Counterterrorism Unit.
August 29th, 2022
Ko Hsai Zan Hnaung, 26, joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) after serving in the Nay Pyi Taw Special Counterterrorism Unit for five years after the military council staged a military coup on February 1st, 2021. He currently serves as a deputy company commander in the CDM division of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF).
Q: Please introduce yourself first.
A: I’m from Sagaing, my hometown. I’m 26 years old.
Q: In what rank did you serve in the army before?
A: I served in the Nay Pyi Taw Special Counterterrorism Unit. I served there as a non-commissioned officer for five years.
Q: Why did you join the army?
A: I always believed that the Myanmar military protects the people and the country. Therefore, I joined the military with the desire to protect the country and the people.
Q: Did you go to the front line as a soldier?
A: I had to go to the front line as a soldier in the past, mainly in Karen State. There I was mostly stationed in the camps.
Q: What did you experience particularly during your service in the army?
A: I faced blatant discrimination based on rank in the army. And there’s also bullying in the army.I saw with my own eyes how young officers beat lower-ranking soldiers who were about the same age as their father.
Q: What was your best memory as a soldier?
A: I’ve a lot of memories as a soldier. Some of them are kind of funny when I look back now. Back then, I went to a lot of training with a desire to protect the people. I did a lot of military training. When I look back, I still miss those times sometimes.
Q: What about your close friends who were also in the military? What’re they doing now?
A: None of my close friends have joined the CDM. I don’t think most of them will join the CDM.
Q: When did you join the CDM? How long ago did you join?
A: I joined the CDM on March 27th, 2021. So that was quite a while ago.
Q: What made you decide to join the CDM?
A: When the military council came to power, I noticed the true will of the people towards it. The first reason I wanted to join the CDM was the news that Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing was shot by the military in Nay Pyi Taw.
Q: Were you pressured not to join the CDM when you were in the military?
A: They pressured us from day one by confiscating our cell phones and banning us from accessing outside media such as Mizzima, DVB, and VOA. They’ve prevented us from participating in political activities. They’ve tried to prevent us from seeing or hearing what’s happened. How can I say this? We didn’t know what was going on out there. We were brainwashed into thinking what they wanted us to think. For example, if you see someone in that (rebel) uniform, you shoot. If you find a rebel uniform in a house, you can be sure that the family supports the rebels and burns down those houses. Sometimes they threaten the wives of soldiers who’ve gone to the front with prison if their husbands flee the military and join the CDM. We’ve such threats in the army as well.
Q: How did you join the CDM? Who did you turn to for help?
A: When I joined the CDM, I didn’t contact anyone. I ran away from the army all by myself. I lived outside for a while. Then I went to Yatsauk before moving on to Pekon. When I lived in Yatsauk, I recruited many PDF trainees for the 4th Battalion of KIA (Madu). From there, I went to Pekon.
Q: Did you have any difficulties joining the CDM? How did you manage to do it?
A: I had to face many difficulties. When I joined, there were very few soldiers who deserted from the army to join the CDM. So, I just escaped from the army as a deserter. In a cornfield in the jungle, I fed on raw corn for four days because I had no rice to eat.
Q: What have you contributed since you joined the CDM? What’s your role at the moment?
A: When I first arrived in Pekon, I stayed at the training camp in Pekon with the PDF members. I lived there and did the tasks I could. Then People’s Embrace groups from Karenni (Kayah) State came and picked me up. Then I worked in the CDM division of KNDF. I worked with several battalions there. I also fought with comrades from KNDF battalions B02, B06, B07, and B03.
Q: Did you participate in the fighting between the military council and the combined forces of the Karenni Local Defence Forces after you joined the CDM? What did you experience? Were you nervous about engaging in a firefight with the military council troops?
A: Since I joined the CDM, our division has fought the military council several times. But when I faced them in a firefight, my hatred for them only grew. I think it’s because we joined the Myanmar Army to protect the people. And now I think that the military council has abused our convictions and committed very mean acts against the people with the coup. That’s why we hate them twice as much as other resistance members. So, if we have to fight against them, we try to fight without fear of death. We do everything we can to fight them off.
Q: What do you say about houses being burned, locals being taken hostage and killed by military council soldiers?
A: After I joined the CDM, the military council burned houses in battles. In the battle of Dawkamee, where we had to fight for many days, they burned the houses of local people. We had to fight fiercely and laboriously. In the battle, there were many casualties on the junta side. When the military dogs [ junta soldiers] fell in battle, they put the bodies in the houses and burned them. They also torched houses when they were forced to retreat from an area during their military operations. They set fire to religious buildings like churches in front of our eyes. We went and fired back, but we couldn’t put out the fire. We could only stop them from torching more houses. They killed one person after another. I experienced something like that. Once I saw with my own eyes how they burned people alive near Moso village in Phruso township. Among the bodies burned alive by the soldiers of the military council were children who were only about three feet tall. They were burned alive on a vehicle. I witnessed such tragedies. All this happened after I joined the CDM.
Q: What’s your message to people?
A: I want them to know that even as CDM participants, we’ll continue to do our best and fight back. So, I want people to stay strong. This revolution will be successful soon.
Q: If you were asked what you want to be in your future, what would you say?
A: All my life I’ve been a soldier, so I’d like to be part of the future federal army. I’d like to serve in the multi-ethnic federal army of the new country.
Sent by Maw Mi Myar (Kantarawaddy Times)