Kawthoolei Armed Forces Disagrees about the NCA Signing

Statement by Kawthoolei Armed Forces (KAF) | October 8, 2015

KAF disagrees with the 3 Karen groups, KNU, DKBA, and KNU/KNLA PC as representing ALL Karen when signing the NCA with the Burmese with their intent to destroy historical evidence of our freedom. Also, misleading and creating confusion among all the Ethnics against their wishes of their own freedom, for the following reasons:

1. It betrays the Principles and wishes of our Karen Forefathers. They were careful not to sign to be a part of Burma in the first place, even the Panglong Agreement, due to the lack of assurance of the freedom of all Karen. They left a heritage for our Karen people as a free people even to this day.

 

2. It is against the will of our Karen people to see the Burmese military invasion of their livelihood and the ownership of their land and their future.

 

3. Many of our Karen martyrs and soldiers did not die or lay down their lives for the sake of a small number of people to sell off our Karen rights with self-interests and their demands for political status. They laid/lay down their lives for the freedom and self-determination of our Karen people.

 

4. By entering the Burmese political mess that leads to the laying down of our arms, we strongly do not believe it will bring a great future for our Karen.

 

5. The current Burmese rulers are Army Generals and are self-appointed and not cleanly elected by the people based on true Democracy.

 

6. These self-appointed Karen organizational leaders have no right to represent ALL Karen in a political status without the legitimacy of a proper election by the Karen public as a whole.

 

7. We believe Burmese interests and Ethnics interests clearly and distinctly differ. What the Ethnics want is freedom and self-determination. What the Burmese Generals want is to extend their military might, to overrun us and to suck us into their political mess, to confuse and distract us from our goal for National Interests. Ethnic Issues has nothing to do with Burmese politics. It is about our National freedom.

 

8. We do not believe the Regime’s program of a Nationwide Ceasefire will lead to genuine Peace.

 

9. True Peace is based on mutual respect with honesty and integrity, without surrender, that leads to the recognition of equality and respect of the rights of all Ethnic identities within their own motherlands.

 

10. We do not believe that Myanmar should dominate the whole entire nation using all kinds of manipulations. But, we believe in a true Federal Union based on individual Ethnic autonomous States.

 

11. It is for this reason, that Thein Sein’s Regime and their military, who are full of their self-power agenda, are not capable of creating true peace within the Union with all the Ethnics. Neither, do the KNU, or these two other Karen organisations, are also blinded of our historical stand to overcome the Regime to fulfill the interest of ALL Karen.