A church service is held for a member of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), who died during fighting with the military, in Demoso township in Myanmar's Kayah state on Sept. 17, 2021. (Photo: KNDF/AFP)
Key ethnic armed groups from predominantly Christian regions of conflict-torn Myanmar have joined others in rejecting an invitation for peace talks by the military junta.
The Karen National Union (KNU), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Chin National Front (CNF) and Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) from the Christian strongholds have decided not to attend meetings with the junta chief.
The groups said the peace talks must involve all stakeholders and be guided by a genuine political will to ensure a future federal democratic union.
“The invitation for peace now, however, is limiting the participation of all stakeholders, and will result only in an unsuccessful endeavor to obtain a genuine peace and effectively ending armed conflict,” the KNU said.
Military chief Min Aung Hlaing had called for peace talks and offered to personally meet with representatives of established ethnic armed groups in May. But the invitation was not extended to the new people’s defense forces (PDFs), which have been fighting junta troops in several townships across the country.
The junta has designated PDFs and Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) as terrorist groups and Min Aung Hlaing said in a March 27 speech that he would not negotiate with them.
Many observers also see the move as part of tactics by the military rulers to divide and rule ethnic groups as has been done for decades
The NUG, several anti-coup activists and rights groups have little trust in the junta’s peace talks offer, believing it was merely a show being put up for the international community.
Many observers also see the move as part of tactics by the military rulers to divide and rule ethnic groups as has been done for decades. The current regime, though, has been struggling to control the nation amid growing resistance from PDF groups.
The Kachin Independence Organization, a political wing of the KIA, said: “We need to solve political problems only through political means.”
But the four ethnic armed groups from the predominantly Christian Karen, Kachin, Chin and Kayah states dismissed any talks with the military actively engaged in an offensive using airstrikes and heavy weaponry against civilians.
Thousands of people including Christians have been uprooted from their homes and become internally displaced persons (IDPs) while others fled into Thailand and India as refugees
The ongoing military assault in the Christian regions has seen a steady rise in attacks on churches and houses in recent months. Arbitrary arrests, killings, torture and rape at the hands of the military have become the order of the day.
Christians in Chin, Kayah, Kachin and Karen states have faced severe persecution during the decades-old civil conflict in the country.
Myanmar has 20 established ethnic armed groups fighting for self-autonomy for more than seven decades in one of the longest-running civil wars in the world.
