SLORC TAKES DOI LANG

SLORC TAKES DOI LANG

January 1, 1996

It was Aesop's famous fable all over again. Two seals catch a fish and dispute with each other about the choice of its best part. The wily fox intervenes, presides over the case, gives the head to one seal and tail part to the other, while he takes the fleshy middle part for himself. 

The Mong Tai Army and the United Wa State Army (aka the Communist Party of Burma until 1989) had battled over the possession of Doi Lang with its fertile Yorn River Valley for more than 13 years. Peace talks were arranged but never quite succeeded in bringing results. Thousands of precious young lives on both sides had been sacrificed for this valley. 

Then on the night of December 30, 1,500 Burmese troops moved into the area, presumably with the tacit agreement of the besieged MTA. They not only fought with the Was who were resuming their attacks against the MTA but also got behind the Thai paramilitary bases which were set up along the "new borderline" with Burma's Shan State in 1991. The Burmese military's latest move in effect questions the Thais' claim on the disputed area. 

On the MTA's part, their own dispute with the Was being settled by Burmese intervention, further questions as to their claim to the larger territory, the Shan State itself have inevitably been raised. People are beginning to ask whether they are still fighting for it. 

The Central Executive Committee of the MTA admits that the MTA, weakened by the June mutiny, is now forced to start from square one again. However, Khwanmong, Secretary 1, says without elaboration, that the MTA shall continue to work in the best interests of the Shan State.