“We never went to war before. We were scared at first, and we had to fight our inner fear before we set out to the battlefield,” said Ko Doke Gyi, a young Moebye’s People Defense Force (PDF) member who revolted against the military regime.
“We tried by all means – gathering and demonstrating on the streets after the coup on 1st February 2021, it did not take us anywhere,” the 21-year Ko Doke Kyi enthusiastically explained why he has chosen armed revolution.
He decided to take arms after witnessing the military regime brutalities – cracking down the protestors, beating up and arresting people, and firing live ammunitions at unarmed demonstrators.
He had never dreamt of such a day he would be the one holding arms and rebel against the military dictatorship. When he first started firing guns, he was terrified hearing the sound of it. He defeated his fear and stepped into the battleground.
“Of course, I was frightened. I have never experienced a real war, I only have seen it in the movies. In reality, it was horrified. However, I had to overcome my inner fear so that I could fight my enemy,” he expressed his feeling during his first combat.
Ko Doke Kyi is one of the PDF force members who lives in the Southern Shan State and Kayah State border town called Moebye (Mongbye).
Moebye’s young generation, both men and women, has eagerly joined PDF and received fundamental warfare trainings in order to eradicate the Myanmar military dictatorship.
The fumes of war over a lively town
Moebye is a beautiful town, located on the edge of Southern Shan State border, surrounded by mountains and paddy fields in which Pilu Chaung river passing through the town making it geographically one of the best locations to live.
Paddy and corn are the main agricultural produces which Moebye residents depend upon for a living. The Kayan sausage, one of the Kayah’s symbolic and popular food, is originally from Moebye.
Kayan ethnic is the majority of the population and Shan ethnic is the second most lives in Moebye because of its location closed to both Kayah and Shan State.
Among all of the towns in Shan State, Moebye was the first to grab arms and rise against the military junta who illegally took power on 1st February 2021 coup.
On 23rd May 2021, three months after the coup, Moebye’s People Defense Force (PDF) conducted its first attack on Moebye police force station.
