Muslims join Buddhist, Christian fighters to topple Myanmar’s military | Conflict News

Myanmar – Scattered throughout the plush, rolling hills of southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi area, insurgent fighters stationed at checkpoints examine automobiles and vehicles touring in the direction of a close-by city nonetheless below the management of the Myanmar navy – their adversary.

Whereas it is a acquainted sight within the area, the place the battle towards the navy waged by disparate armed teams has intensified because the 2021 coup, what units these rebels aside is their religion.

These are members of the little-known “Muslim Firm”, who’ve joined the battle for democracy in Myanmar as a part of a Christian- and Buddhist-dominated armed group – the Karen Nationwide Union (KNU).

Formally named third Firm of Brigade 4 within the KNU, the 130 troopers of the Muslim Firm are only a fraction of the tens of 1000’s combating to overthrow the nation’s navy rulers.

With their story largely untold, Al Jazeera visited the corporate’s headquarters, nestled between the ridges of jungle-clad mountains at an undisclosed location in Myanmar’s south, to piece collectively an virtually forgotten thread within the intricate tapestry of Myanmar’s battle.

“Some areas are targeted on ethnicities having their very own states,” Muslim Firm chief Mohammed Eisher, 47, defined, referring to the armed resistance actions who’ve lengthy fought towards Myanmar’s navy.

In Tanintharyi, Eisher stated, nobody group dominates the land and, in addition to, the navy’s repression impacts all teams.

“So long as the navy stays in place, Muslims, and everyone else, can be oppressed,” he stated.

Whereas Eisher stated he hopes the acceptance of range throughout the anti-military forces would assist ease cultural and regional tensions which have beforehand led to battle in Myanmar, students say the embrace of the Muslim Firm underlines the inclusive nature of the historic rebellion happening, and the incorporation of beforehand marginalised teams into the battle.

Various traces of descent

Myanmar’s Muslims hint numerous traces of descent.

They embody the Rohingya within the west of the nation, Muslims with Indian and Chinese language heritage, and the Kamein, whose ancestors are believed to have been archers of a Mughal prince in search of refuge within the Arakan kingdom within the seventeenth century, and which is now a part of Myanmar.

In Tanintharyi, the place the Muslim Firm is predicated, some Muslims are descended from Arab, Persian and Indian merchants, whereas others are Burmese Malays, often called Pashu. The area’s ethnic range additionally consists of Karen and Mon, in addition to Bamar sub-ethnicities from the cities of Dawei and Myeik, amongst others.

Whereas their uniforms bear the KNU insignia, the Muslim troopers of third Firm carry a star and crescent moon badge of their baggage, symbolizing their lineage from the All Burma Muslim Liberation Military (ABMLA) – the nation was referred to as “Burma” earlier than it was re-named “Myanmar”.

Of their principal camp, hijab head coverings and thobes – long-sleeved ankle-length conventional robes usually worn by women and men in Muslim international locations – are frequent apparel. Recitals of Quranic verses ring out from a mosque, whereas prayer mats are laid out at distant insurgent outposts. All through the holy month of Ramadan, the corporate’s fighters observe fasting and attend each day prayers.

Successive military-led governments in Myanmar, along with hardline nationalist monks, have portrayed Muslims as a grave menace to Burmese Buddhist tradition. That has resulted in Muslim communities, with roots spanning greater than a millennium in Myanmar, going through scapegoating, non secular suppression and denial of citizenship.

“It’s harmful to generalize, however Muslims in Myanmar are extremely susceptible and have been uncovered to vital violence,” Myanmar scholar Ashley South stated.

“In Karen areas, nonetheless, one usually finds communities dwelling peacefully – and it’s vital that Muslim refugees moved tentatively to KNU-controlled areas, typically rather than different teams,” South stated.

He added that the inclusion of teams beforehand alienated by Myanmar’s fractious politics is a defining trait of the present revolution, which has made sturdy positive aspects towards the navy because it grabbed energy in 2021.

Historical past of Muslim resistance

The Muslims who resisted the navy following its overthrow of Myanmar’s elected authorities three years in the past after which discovered their approach to third Firm, should not the primary to rise towards repression.

Amongst these fleeing the anti-Muslim riots of August 1983 in what was then Moulmein – now referred to as Mawlamyine – in decrease Burma, a small group of refugees fashioned the Kawthoolei Muslim Liberation Entrance (KMLF) in KNU-held territory.

The KNU educated about 200 KMLF fighters, however disputes between Sunni and Shia leaders ultimately fragmented the group.

In 1985, some KMLF fighters moved south to Tanintharyi, founding the ABMLA. After many years of sporadic clashes with the navy, they formally grew to become third Firm, identified colloquially because the “Muslim Firm”. That was about 2015, after the KNU’s ceasefire with the navy ended, in response to an administrator who has been with the group since 1987.

With navy atrocities having devastated households throughout Myanmar because the current takeover, Myanmar’s military is now anathema not solely to Muslims and ethnic minorities however to many of the inhabitants, the administrator stated.

“The [2021] coup opened a path to freedom for everyone,” he added, talking to Al Jazeera as he sat on a hammock above a pair of navy boots taken from a captured authorities base.

About 20 ladies serve in third Firm, together with 28-year-old Thandar*, a medic who joined in October 2021. After finishing fight coaching below the KNU, Thandar advised how she heard concerning the Muslim power and determined to enroll.

“I’ll work right here till the revolution is over,” she stated, smiling at their commander, Eisher. “He’s like my new father now,” she stated.

Amongst different issues, belonging to a like-minded firm of fighters “made it simpler to have a halal weight loss plan”, she stated.

“Plus, I’m with fellow Muslims,” she added. “It’s good right here. That’s why I’ve stayed right here for therefore lengthy.”

‘Freedom for all peoples of Burma’

About 20 Muslim recruits fleeing the navy regime’s conscription legislation, enacted in 2010 however activated solely this yr in Myanmar, enlisted not too long ago, stated Eisher.

Throughout Al Jazeera’s go to to the corporate, troopers at its principal camp have been largely married males, utilizing their depart to go to their households close by. A separate barracks housed the sick, sometimes younger males struck down with malaria earlier than.

The close by camp mosque is a modest constructing fabricated from breezeblocks with a tin roof, and plastic piping on the outer wall for ritual ablutions earlier than prayers.

Eisher advised how his religion was examined in 2012 throughout a skirmish with the navy, when he was shot within the neck and higher proper arm. Separated from his unit, he trekked alone for 2 days earlier than discovering his comrades, who carried him for 5 days by way of a dense jungle.

“The stench of the pus from my neck wound made me retch,” he recalled, touching the crater-like scar left the place a bullet had exited and remembering how laborious he had prayed.

“I used to be praying for the absolution of my sins, if I had dedicated any, and if not, for the power to maintain combating,” he stated.

At an outpost deep within the jungle of third Firm’s territory, Mohammed Yusuf, 47, leads a unit of fighters. Like Eisher, Yusuf has suffered for the trigger. Twenty years in the past, whereas clearing landmines, one exploded, blinding him.

“I need freedom for all peoples of Burma,” he stated. “The revolution can be profitable, however it wants extra unity. Everybody ought to keep true to the trigger.”

Third Firm additionally has its inside range, together with a couple of Buddhist and Christian members on the principal camp.

One of many Buddhists, a 46-year-old Bamar farmer-turned-revolutionary with a serene smile, has taken to rising eggplants and string beans for the fighters to eat.

After volunteering with two different resistance teams, she advised how she got here to the realisation that her place was within the “Muslim Firm”.

“There’s no discrimination right here,” she stated.

“We’re all the identical – human beings.”

*Thandar is a pseudonym because the interviewee requested that her title not be used on this article.