Episode #141: Talkin' Bout a Revolution
“There were a lot of a lot of things that I was naive about, and underestimating what the situation was,” Jon admits. He had appeared on an episode of Insight Myanmar Podcast soon after he was released from prison for protesting the coup last year, and after taking a listen to his thoughts at that time, in this conversation he reflects on the situation as he sees it today.
Jon was first struck in his earlier interview by how hopeful he had sounded that a nonviolent solution might be possible in overcoming this brutal military, and that armed resistance could be avoided. At that time, he believed that there would be a way to find a common humanity with soldiers, and that some kind of reasoned dialogue would certainly be possible. “At first, we were only seeking for help, actually crying for help, and trying to protest in a way that we knew, because we were never taught how to fight battles violently or to respond to things with violence,” he says. “We were asking nicely for a period of time and all that we got was the retaliation and the violence upon us.” Some months after his initial interview was released, Jon and his friends realized they either had to submit passively to military rule or try to fight back using more aggressive action. “What [the military] wants is total power and total control,” he says sadly, “So everyone else who opposes them, they're now seeking to eliminate us or kill us.”
While he is confident that the morale in the military must be at an all-time low, he acknowledges that defections have been far less than what was initially hoped for. “My thinking is they've been brainwashed to the level of, whatever the leader is saying must be the truth, and what everyone else is saying is a lie,” he explains. “They can still do crazy shit and they don't feel guilty about it! So I think that's one of the big challenges that we're having, is trying to educate these soldiers that these things are wrong.”
Jon has personally been involved not only in non-violent activities—such as working with local artists and platforms that support the democracy movement through their artistic vision—but also in the underground movement and guerilla operations. Jon maintains a meditation practice, which has helped him balance the traumatic experiences he now faces. He became a temporary monk this year as well. However, he puts it in perspective. “I still do all my Buddhist practice. But when we're at war, we do our spiritual stuff, but then we still fight to kill the enemies.”
Indeed, this has been a somewhat confusing time for many Buddhist activists. According to Jon, some prominent—and previously highly revered—monks appear quite hypocritical. He describes how some monks sermonize about morality and not killing, for example, yet either support the murderous military outright or are at least happy to take large donations from them, which has led some to question which (if any) monks to follow and provoked a crisis of faith. Fortunately for Jon, the monks who had been teaching him do not personally act in opposition to their teachings, and so he has had an easier time continue to follow their guidance.
Jon is very aware of how his own experience and that of his activist brothers and sisters merges into the larger issue of the fault lines now appearing in Burmese Buddhism following the military’s manipulation of the Saṅgha, and their attempts to pervert the clergy into sponsoring nationalist messages. He knows that this tension is something that will have to be reconciled going forward. “If we win, and if… we keep talking about what happened, I think the younger generation will have ability to decide on their own and have a wider and better understanding of how Buddhism actually works.”
Although his father has encouraged him to lay low, reminding him of potential business relationships with the military should they win, Jon has not hesitated a moment in his chosen path of action. “If I go down doing this, there's no regret for me of what I've done,” he says, adding that from the first days of his resisting the coup, he was fully ready to give up his life if needed to stand up to the military rule.
Jon’s analysis of the present state of the resistance movement is grounded in his own, on-the-ground perspective of the conflict. “We are not winning yet, but they're losing for sure!” He feels the morale and motivation are far higher among his friends in the movement than in the military, and that their vision of a progressive and inclusive Myanmar is destined to ultimately win out. Jon also describes improved abilities among the fighting units, who are now able to utilize drones, manufacture their own ammunition, ambush military units and capture their equipment, attack supply lines and even raid military camps—none of which could have been imagined at the outbreak of the coup.
Still, he knows the road ahead will not be easy. “This military is trying everything in their power, and every wicked way in the world, to diminish and to break the reputation of the movement of our people,” he says. With this in mind, he feels it is essential that the resistance become more united, and laments the fake news and false optimism that has appeared in various forums in recent months, and has led to divisions and tensions within the resistance movement. “I think it's important for the Myanmar people to be more vigilant and to not be afraid to send out the truth, rather than the good news,” he says. “If we just keep telling people what they want to hear, then we will just have more people like [General Min Aung Hlaing] in the country and in the whole world! So it's really important for us to keep sending out a true message rather than a good message, a true story rather than a good story.”
While stories of the most horrific atrocities are what usually make the biggest news, Jon points out some of the less reported-on kinds of devastation that the coup has wrought. For example, he describes how alcohol and drug addiction have become much more prevalent as the Burmese people try to cope with the crisis; some close to him have even died as a result; many other Burmese just suffer silently with depression or other mental afflictions. “It’s just a human survival instinct,” he says, “like they will just try to cope with whatever situation they're thrown into.” Jon adds that life has become particularly fraught for the younger generation; in addition to lost opportunities for work and education, many youths have been randomly assaulted and/or arrested by the military, creating a constant level of fear and anxiety for the younger generation anytime they just step out of their homes. Even worse, Jon suggests that arrests may have gone down, as soldiers now simply kill when conflict occurs.
Jon and his friends have all but given up on the UN or other international organizations coming to their aid, which has led to the need for self-sufficiency in waging their resistance movement against a Russian-backed, professional military known for its ruthlessness. But he still hopes that individuals who are allies around the world will continue to stand by their cause. “If you see someone who is close to Myanmar, talk about it,” he says. “And then if you see someone who doesn't know Myanmar, educate them about it! I think that's the only way that we can push the story of Myanmar forward.”