SOE MYINT, an activist and journalist, on keeping hope alive in Myanmar
PICTURED: Soe Myint, who runs Myanmar’s leading independent media house Mizzima
CREDIT: Mizzima
IN 1990 THAI International Airways was on route to Yangon when two students hijacked the plane. The hijacking, by Soe Myint and Htin Kyaw Oo, came in the wake of protests over military rule in Myanmar. Using a “bomb” (actually bars of soap with wires attached) they forced the plane to divert to Kolkata and surrendered to the authorities, claiming political asylum. In 1998 Myint and fellow democracy protester Thin Thin Aung founded Mizzima in New Delhi as an exile-based media organisation covering Myanmar. After the political reforms of 2012, Mizzima returned to Myanmar as a local media entity. The military under General Min Aung Hlaing once again took control in a coup in 2021.
INDEX What are your thoughts two years on from the military coup?
SOE MYINT I am amazed by the resilience of the Myanmar people to military rule and attempts by the junta to deny their basic rights. Especially the younger generations, who have taken it upon themselves, at the cost of much hardship and risk to their lives, to lead the fight against the junta. We have witnessed a coming together of various forces in opposition to the junta. And for the first time in the history of Myanmar we are seeing collaboration between large swathes of the Burman population and ethnic minorities. This collaboration and common vision of federalism is an opportunity for Myanmar’s future which cannot be lost.
INDEX What has been the reaction to the extension of the state of emergency until August?
SOE MYINT We always knew this was one possibility. And it signifies the weakness of the junta. At the time of the announcement Min Aung Hlaing acknowledged that more than a third of townships were not under its control. This was assuredly an underestimation, as the townships declared by the junta to be under martial law as of February 2023 are actually townships without any military control. The extension of the state of emergency has done little other than further steel the resolve of Myanmar’s pro-democracy forces.
INDEX Do you think elections will be free and fair when they happen?
SOE MYINT There is no chance of elections being free and fair. A component of Min Aung Hlaing’s coup was to set the stage to reorient the country’s politics, which the military felt was getting out of its control… It is also a necessity for a pro-military ’party’ to emerge victorious from any ’elections’ as that would serve to protect Min Aung Hlaing and other members of the security sector from facing possible measures of accountability.
INDEX What is the outlook for independent media such as Mizzima?
SOE MYINT The junta is facing severe challenges to its rule. By some estimates around half the country is now outside its jurisdiction. In trying to justify its rule over the remainder of the country, it is essential that it controls the narrative. This narrative, which paints opposition forces as terrorists as well as claiming erroneous military gains in the conflict, is seriously challenged by independent media reports. It is no coincidence that Myanmar’s independent media, such as Mizzima, were meant to cease to exist with the 1 February 2021 coup. Mizzima was banned from officially operating inside Myanmar and was again forced to adopt a mode of operations reliant on an exile presence to support clandestine activities inside Myanmar.
Our audience numbers since the coup have realised dramatic increases as the people of Myanmar thirst for reliable and accurate information. Mizzima’s main Facebook page now has almost 22 million followers. According to an independent national media survey carried out in September-October 2022, Mizzima was the most popular source for news in Myanmar in 2022.
INDEX If you were detained and could take one book to jail with you, what would it be?
SOE MYINT I wish I could take a few books but Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom would be one of them.
INDEX What piece of art has affected you the most?
SOE MYINT Street magicians in Myanmar.
INDEX What news headline would you most like to read?
SOE MYINT Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing flees to Russia and seeks asylum.
