Please Don’t Call Myanmar Military Tatmadaw

By Desmond 25 Could 2022

I’m not a army skilled, simply somebody who loathes my nation’s army. So it’s unsurprising that I’m struggling to give you the proper identify to make use of for the present Myanmar army.

My job, which incorporates writing studies, periodical evaluation and making ready briefs for worldwide donors and audiences, requires me to study a whole lot of army phrases. My supervisor, a local English speaker, has helped me out so much, however we nonetheless have a giant disagreement over what time period to make use of for the military of coup chief Senior Normal Min Aung Hlaing.

For me, there are two particularly troubling phrases used to explain the army. The primary is ‘Tatmadaw’, which within the Burmese language means ‘Royal Armed Forces’ and was the identify used for Burma’s military within the pre-colonial period when Burma was dominated by a monarchy. ‘Royal’ is known as wonderful in Burmese tradition. Utilizing the phrase ‘the Myanmar army, often known as the Tatmadaw’ turned the norm for a lot of analysts and so-called Burmese consultants. However the unscrupulous use of ‘Tatmadaw’ by many exterior analysts hurts our hearts. The phrase is just too good for Min Aung Hlaing’s military, who’re only a group of armed males killing their very own folks. There’s nothing ‘royal’ concerning the actions of the present-day Myanmar Navy.

The second troubling time period is the usage of Myanmar or Burmese earlier than the phrase ‘army’. For many who are conversant in Myanmar, Myanmar or Burma each confer with the Bamar, the most important ethnic group within the nation. Nevertheless, within the post-1988 interval, the army regime intentionally propagated the phrase ‘Myanmar’ as an overarching time period representing all ethnic teams. It was an outright fabricated try. The ethnic minorities, a few of whom have their very own armies, by no means accepted it. The ethnic armies, who’ve fought the army regime for many years, use the time period ‘Burmese military’, which means the armed forces combating for the Burmese, or Bamar, folks.

I, although, have by no means felt that the army represents the Burmese folks or the nation. The army are their very own self-interested group and it is just its propaganda machine that presents the army as representing the nation. On the identical time, it managed the state for six a long time and it’s plain that the army is usually manned by Bamar folks, and so pushes a Burmese Buddhist ideology.

As a Burmese particular person, I at all times felt ashamed when my ethnic mates referred to the ‘Burmese military’, as I felt that they have been saying that my military was committing all these atrocities in ethnic areas. However I used to be powerless to alter the identify. A lot of my fellow Burmese have additionally naively accepted the identify. However since final 12 months’s coup, many Burmese folks have been given the unwelcome alternative of seeing the true, evil face of the army, with a few of them now combating again towards the army.

Now, we Burmese should not utilizing the time period ‘Tatmadaw’ and are simply referring to the armed forces as ‘Sit-tat’, or army, with no reference to glory. Some persons are additionally referring to the army as ‘Sit-kwe’, or canine troopers, a reference to the army being canines who solely obey their masters. It’s derogatory, however I really feel it’s the most right time period for them. Many Burmese are saying that we now have our personal army now, the Individuals’s Protection Forces led by the Nationwide Unity Authorities. We discovered an alternate army to interchange the outdated one.

However studying information studies for the worldwide viewers, who might need little information of the background of Min Aung Hlaing’s brutal army, some nonetheless use ‘Tatmadaw’. It’s price noting that utilizing the army’s most popular time period helps the army regime’s propaganda by ignorantly accepting them as a glorified and consultant actor of Myanmar. Much better to make use of ‘Sit-tat’, if you wish to be a impartial reporter.

As an alternative of the time period ‘Myanmar Navy’’, essentially the most appropriate time period can be ‘murderous army’, which captures the true nature of Min Aung Hlaing’s military. It’s also vital that reporters add an evidence describing how the army launched a coup and deposed the elected authorities, in addition to how it’s committing struggle crimes towards the inhabitants.

I humbly ask worldwide readers to make an effort to grasp the present state of affairs. And step one in doing that’s to make use of the proper phrases for the army.

Desmond research worldwide improvement with a give attention to peace processes and transitional points.