Interviewed by SHAN on 6 February following his return from Taunggyi, where he met the presidential envoy U Aung Min and signed a second agreement on 16 January, Brig Gen Pawng Kherh, head of the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) delegation, said the durability of the ceasefire pact concluded in December rests totally with the government headed by U Thein Sein.
“From the beginning, we have offered a peaceful way out,” said Pawng Kherh, hightly respected among officers and men of the SSA South, as the RCSS/SSA is known to the people. “Whether the ceasefire is going to last or collapse is therefore up to the government. We are not looking forward to it but we are ready to defend ourselves and our people at any time.”
The SSA South, together with the SSA North and the Shan State National Army (SSNA) that had already concluded ceasefire agreements with the Burma Army in 1989 and 1995 respectively, had called for a peaceful resolution in September 1996, but was rejected by the ruling military council.
The rejection was followed by a massive forced relocation program that displaced more than 300,000 people from 1,500 villages in 11 townships.
The RCSS/SSA was assigned the area that stretched from the Karenni (Kayah) border in the west to the Mongton-BP1 high way in the east as a Special Development Zone. It is bounded by the Salween in the north and the Thai-Burma border in the south.
Apart from the SSA troops, there are at least 6 infantry battalions of the Burma Army and 2 brigades (the 772nd and 778th) of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) stationed in the area.
According to Pawng Kherh, the SSA and the Burma Army will have to undergo a period of trust building process until the latter feels positive enough to leave.
As for the Wa, he said, “Our mission in the area is development for the people and to carry it out in peace. In this, we are not different from the Wa. We hope to cooperate with them to accomplish it.”
He added that the Burma Army wanted the SSA to withdraw all its troops in Shan State South and East together with their families to the area. “We told them the place is too small to accommodate all of us, and if we were forced to move them to the area, there would be dissatisfaction among them which would in turn lead to the collapse of the ceasefire. The best thing is to keep them where they are and to launch development projects there.”
As yet, there is no area big enough to accommodate displaced peoples at two other bases on the border: Loi Hsarm Hsip, opposite Chiangmai’s Fang district and Loi Gawwan, opposite Chiangrai’s Mae Fa Luang district. Meeting Lt-Gen Yawdserk, the RCSS/SSA supreme leader in Chiangmai on 5 February, U Aung Min assured him that he was looking for a suitable location for them.
“We want peace in the whole country, not just Shan State,” Pawng Kherh concluded. “The opportunity has now come for the people and the armed movements to come together and work together to achieve it. We should not miss this opportunity.”
The RCSS/SSA, since Monday, has been holding the annual meeting, which is expected to end tomorrow. “We will then assign teams to survey and locate suitable sites for resettlement of the displaced people residing with us,” said Yawdserk.
