President U Htin Kyaw honored 400 members of the Myanmar Defense Services for bravery on January 4, Myanmar’s 69th Independence Day. His praise for combatants on only one side of Myanmar’s many active conflicts raised doubts about his government’s commitment to the ongoing peace process.
“The present ceremony is a specific and extraordinary one, in which persons who contributed their arduous effort and unchanging enthusiasm in building up the nation and those who served the country bravely without having any thought for their personal interests, will be presented with honorary awards,” the president said at the President’s Palace in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar.
“In building up the nation into a peaceful and modern federal democratic Union, it is a great virtue to honor those who are well worth honoring for their extraordinary contribution, remarkably more than others, for the security of the nation, rule of law, peace and stability of the area and nation-building sectors,” the president continued.
Some critics took note of the fact that the president was rewarding actions carried out at the expense of Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations, with whom the government is meant to be seeking peace.
“It is not suitable to give award[s] to the army for fighting with the ethnic people while the government is engaging in the peace process with ethnic armed forces,” ethnic affairs analyst Maung Maung Soe told The Irrawaddy.
“It seems that by giving an award for being a hero to someone who the other side recognizes as the enemy, it could create bitterness. […] This is a time to be sensitive,” Aung Myo Min, the director of Equality Myanmar, told The Irrawaddy.
United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) Nai Hong Sar told The Irrawaddy that the awards would embolden the Myanmar military, which could lead to more conflict and attacks on ethnic minorities.
This award ceremony has not been the only reason critics have called the legitimacy of the peace process, initiated by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, into question. The Myanmar military’s ongoing and often disproportionate offensives against rebel groups in Shan, Kachin and Rakhine states have also caused many to lose faith in the highly publicized peace effort.
One commenter on the President’s Office Facebook page had this to say about the award ceremony:
