Myanmar’s ousted MPs try to regroup from Indian refuge
• A group of legislators is attempting to re-establish civilian government and displace the junta after the coup
In a spartan hillside room in India furnished only with a thin sleeping mat, a Myanmar MP spends much of his days attentively listening to Zoom conference calls and tapping away messages on his smartphone.
The soft-spoken man is among about a dozen ousted Myanmar MPs who have fled across the border to India’s remote northeastern region after the military’s February 1 coup and crackdown on dissent.
Reuters spoke to two of the MPs and to a Myanmar politician, all involved with the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a body of ousted legislators that is attempting to re-establish the civilian government and displace the military.
The three said the group is supporting demonstrations, helping distribute funds to supporters and holding negotiations with multiple entities to quickly form a civilian administration nationwide. They asked not to be named for fear of reprisals against their families.
Most of the ousted MPs are from deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which overwhelmingly won the November 2020 election, which the military has annulled.
The coup has been met with a fierce pro-democracy movement and tens of thousands of
people have taken to the streets, despite the crackdown.
Security forces have killed more than 700 people, and more than 3,000 have been detained, including more than 150 MPs and members of the former government. Mobile and wireless internet services have been shut down.
The fear of detention and inability to rebuild a civilian government without internet connectivity has driven some Myanmar MPs involved in the resistance to work from India, the two MPs elected to Myanmar’s parliament said.
“There is no time,” one of them, who is from the country’s western Chin state, said. “People are dying in our country.”
DIPLOMATIC QUANDARY
A spokesperson for the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, did not answer calls seeking comment. In the past it has accused the CRPH of treason on the basis that it is working to set up a national unity government to challenge the military’s authority.
Since fleeing to India about two weeks ago, the MP said that he has been holding regular discussions with colleagues to set up a parallel administration in Chin state, under directions from the CRPH. The process is complex, involving building consensus between elected representatives, political parties, ethnic armed groups, civil society bodies and civil disobedience movement leaders, the two MPs and the politician said.
The CRPH is also keen on opening communications with India, where at least 1,800 people from Myanmar are already sheltering, and it will seek New Delhi’s blessings for the parallel government it is attempting to form, the politician said.
“We can’t rely on China, Thailand and other neighbouring countries,” he said. “The only country where refugees are being welcomed is India”.
This week, NLD MPs from Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region held an online conference call, but only 26 out of 49 representatives dialled in, according to the second MP, who attended the meeting from India.
“We don’t know where the rest are,” the federal MP said, adding that two party officials are now trying to track down the missing colleagues.
Some of the fiercest resistance to the junta has come from Sagaing. In the past two months, about 2,000 families involved in the civil disobedience movement in one part of the region have been given financial assistance of about 17-million kyat (about $12,000), the MP from Sagaing said.
For the Indian government, the presence — and activities — of escapee Myanmar MPs could pose a diplomatic quandary, particularly given New Delhi’s close ties with the Tatmadaw. But in recent weeks India’s position on the Myanmar crisis itself appears to have somewhat shifted, which has also been
WE CAN’T RELY ON CHINA, THAILAND … THE ONLY COUNTRY WHERE REFUGEES ARE BEING WELCOMED IS INDIA
Unnamed politician Member of the CRPH
THE FIRST, AND MOST IMMEDIATE STEP, IN THIS REGARD IS THE RELEASE OF DETAINED LEADERS
K Nagaraj Naidu Indian diplomat
acknowledged by some CRPH representatives.
At a UN Security Council meeting on April 10, Indian diplomat K Nagaraj Naidu said New Delhi is pushing for a return to democracy in Myanmar. “The first, and most immediate step, in this regard is the release of detained leaders,” Naidu said.
However, India is concerned about divisions within the CRPH, which could hobble its functioning, a source with knowledge of New Delhi’s thinking said.
Still, the politician involved with the CRPH said he is hopeful that India will engage with the group, adding, “If democracy wins in Myanmar, it is also a win for India.”