A Woman's Revolution
Editor’s note: These posts are part of a collaboration between Tea Circle and Insight Myanmar to publish Report #3 by Real Stories Not Tale’s (RSNT). To read RSNT’s Report #1, visit Tea Circle’s posts here and Insight Myanmar’s posts here. The full RSNT Report #3 is available here. For all posts by RSNT featured on our site, check out the full list.
“We see the gentle hands of women that once held needles for sewing, flowers for beautiful decoration, and pens for education now holding guns for their freedom.”
Phao Tasu used to work for a political party in Karenni State. She was interviewed on December 3rd, 2021.
When I woke up on the day of the military coup, I didn't notice that the internet and phone connections were cut off. At first, I didn't know what was happening, but all my appointments got cancelled. Once I saw the news, I didn't think the information from Myawaddy TV announcing that the military had taken our country's sovereignty and power was trustworthy. It felt like I had fallen into a dark pool and I didn't know what to do next.
I ran as a candidate in the 2020 general election in Myanmar. Although I didn't win a seat, I was very busy with the evaluation process after the election and just before the coup. As a regional and local ethnic party, we planned everything for five years and engaged expertise from abroad, but everything was destroyed after the coup.
I dreamt of doing three things in my life: working for my party, continuing my education, and having decent work. Unfortunately, after the coup I lost my job, so I’ve had no income for the past two months. I’m still working for the revolution, and I’ve had to move five times. In those conditions, I couldn’t study anymore. I left my home in April, and I haven’t had a chance to go back. The military came to look for me in my house and destroyed everything I had. They broke into my house by force and looked for evidence and data because they suspected I was part of the resistance. Luckily, they didn't get any information from my house because I had already hidden all my documents.
My native town is not safe to live in anymore: it has become a battleground. I am helping refugees from Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps at the moment. When I have meetings with stakeholders from Kayah ethnic groups, I discuss with them online. Sometimes, I help document the life of IDPs by shooting documentaries and I’m still part of the underground movement.
I’ve relocated to different places where water and electricity are scarce. Even though there is no internet connection where I am right now, I feel safe. I got married during the revolution after I joined the ethnic armed group. Currently, I am in hiding with my husband and I’m one month pregnant. My family members live separately right now, and many of my cousins have joined the same ethnic armed group. It has been a long time since I last saw my mom. I also haven’t had a chance to meet with my friends in person, but I met some of my friends over Zoom for work.
I haven't thought about my future. My husband is a photographer and he was also involved in IDP projects. The only thing I am thinking about these days is where to move next for my family and my family's health.
Sometimes I forget that I am a woman. I am surprised that I took so many risks as a woman after the coup. While the other people were staying calm, my sister and I were busy helping police participating in the CDM to find a safe place to stay in. While we were doing so, no one was helping us or taking responsibility for those CDMers. However, after some time, some men joined us to help the CDMers go to training camps. My mom was quite surprised to see me recruiting new comrades and arranging military training. My mom told me that I was not a Hong Kong Jet Ma from the movies!
We were chased a number of times. I really don't want to be arrested or killed, and there are more things to be afraid of as a woman. When I linked up with some women organizations, I made more female friends. My husband is quite supportive of me being committed to the revolution. My society is conservative and there is discrimination between men and women, and I couldn’t escape that traditional tie. However, I tried to attend meetings although I had to spend a lot of my time in the kitchen. I feel like the role of women in leadership is undervalued in my society.
Compared to the past four or 10 years, the perspective of my society of women has changed. Now I can participate in politics, just like men, and join armed training for CDMers. To convince my society, I tried hard to show I am capable, confident and equal. Now society’s perception of women has changed. We see the gentle hands of women that once held needles for sewing, flowers for beautiful decoration, and pens for education now holding guns for their freedom. When I see such strong women, I cannot stop the tears in my eyes. I wish for them to be united with their families as soon as possible.
We need to make a precise evaluation on how to cope with the difficulties we are facing right now because there are a lot of internal conflicts within us too. It is not enough—and isn’t fair—if only Sagaing, Chin State and Kayah State are the battlegrounds for this revolution. If we continue like that, it would be better to have a temporary ceasefire agreement to relieve the people's suffering from those regions.
At the moment, I’m staying in a safe place. If the military has a mission, they cut off the internet, and we can escape to another safe place when that happens. The military soldiers are violating human rights and are pretty ruthless; one man who was filming one of their missions had all his fingers cut off. But personally, I don't want to depend on the NUG to announce D-days; however, I hope they do well in the ambassador process and with the UN envoy.
I get a headache when I think about the future of our country. The NUG has been given the mandate to handle many situations, and they need to engage with the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in Myanmar. We need the whole country to participate in the revolution. Isolating the military government and boycotting their businesses can be pretty effective. There are many things we can do in our Kayah region. We must go on building a federal state. We must fight every battle. We must build a good constitution.
As a woman, it is not enough to focus on the war. We must also be involved in health care, administration, and other sectors. We should not be left behind. Although people say women are sensitive, being sensitive is not a minor thing, it is important and everyone must be prepared to accept it.”
Real Stories Not Tales (RSNT) is a dedicated team in and out of Myanmar that aims to bring awareness to the reality of young people’s lives since the Myanmar military staged a coup on February 1st, 2021. Stories are collected through interviews with each protagonist by the team, either in Burmese or in English. Each character is drawn by a professional illustrator bringing a visual context to the story. RSNT is an anonymous name that is used by the group to guarantee security to all parties involved in the collection of the stories.