The Wa National Organization (WNO), a non-ceasefire Wa group, will never surrender until its call for democracy, human rights and ethnic rights has been satisfactorily answered, according to its leadership in response to a recent written demand.
The letter, dated March 3, 2008 and signed by Col Maha Ja, a scion of a Wa princely family, who has since 1996 made peace with Burma's rulers, stated that since his brother Maha Hsang had gone (he died on 29 October 2007), the group he had founded in 1974 is no more.
"We believed he was prodded by the Burma Army to write the letter," said Ta Ai Nyunt, who was elected as the new General Secretary of the WNO on February 7. "Of course, it is out of the question. The WNO is not a company privately owned by Prince Maha Hsang. It is a political movement of the Wa, by the Wa and for the Wa. Maha Hsang himself reminded us time and again."
The letter also stated that the WNO and its armed wing Wa National Army (WNA) had not been formed to fight against the government of the Union of Burma. "We are not fighting against the government," said Ta Ai Nyunt. "We are fighting against the military dictatorship that had seized the executive power. Even both Maha Hsang and Maha Ja had taken up arms against it."
Maha Ja, the younger brother, surrendered to the Burma Army in 1996 together with Khun Sa, leader of the Mong Tai Army (MTA). Maha Hsang, the elder brother, was later approached by the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), headed by Gen Khin Nyunt, to "enter the legal fold", a euphemism for "surrender," but he had refused.
"This isn't the first time we've been told to surrender or dissolve the group," said Ta Ai Nyunt. "Maha Ja has been chirping on the theme since his brother's death."
Maha Ja is head of the pro-Burma Army militia in Homong, former MTA base opposite Maehongson.
The WNA base, also opposite Maehongson, is located some 30 kilometres southwest of Homong. It is an ally to the Shan State Army (SSA) South, whose base is some 40 kilometre east of Homong, and a member of the National Democratic Front (NDF).
The junta's original plan, according to WNO sources, was for the former General Secretary Ta Ai Tun to hold a formal surrender ceremony on February 10. "That plan was foiled when we held an emergency meeting to re-elect the leadership and re-endorse our founding principles," said Ta Ai Nyunt.
Bo Teuk Merng, the WNO's new chairman, who had once fought with Bao Youxiang, now the ceasefire United Wa State Army (UWSA) leader, against the Burma Army, says he has as yet no plan to join the UWSA.
"There's no hurry," he told SHAN. "Small as we are, the WNO offers an alternative to the Wa people. I'm sure Bao knows that and appreciates it." He declined to give further details.
The Wa, one of the major groups of Shan State, has been granted a Self-Administered Division (SAD) by the junta-sponsored National Convention comprising six townships: Hopang, Mongmai, Pangwai, Nahparn, Panghsang and Markmang. The UWSA also controls Mongpawk and some areas along the Thai-Burma border.
