Event overview
Kai Htang Lashi reflects on armed resistance in Myanmar from an insider’s perspective.
Myanmar has recently been in the media for its state-led atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim community. Less known is the dire plight of other ethnic minorities in the hidden wars that ravage the country’s borderlands. In fact, many ethnic minorities have taken up arms against violent state oppression and exploitation since Myanmar’s independence from colonial rule. Currently, there are eighteen ethnic rebel organisations fighting for secession or significant autonomy from the ethnocratic state. One of the oldest and strongest armed resistance movements is the Kachin Independence Organisation/Army (KIO/A). Formed in 1962, the Kachin rebellion fields about 20,000 soldiers and governs territory along the Myanmar-Chinese border. It also enjoys significant popular support from the Kachin ethnic group.
In the third event of the series Understanding Armed Resistance at the Centre for Postcolonial Studies, Kai Htang Lashi reflects on the Kachin armed struggle from an insider’s point of view. Kai Htang is the spokesperson on Foreign Affairs for the Kachin National Organisation (KNO), formed by exile Kachin revolutionaries in the 1990s. The KNO has close ties with the KIO/A, and forms a crucial link between the Kachin Diaspora and armed resistance in Myanmar. The organisation also engages in diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. Kai Htang was born in Lashio, a traditional stronghold of the Kachin revolution. Her life has been shaped by decades of armed conflict in her home community.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Mar 2019 | 5:30pm - 7:00pm |
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