KAPAUNGKYA Village located in Taze Township of Sagaing Region has about 700 houses with its residents supporting the USDA, NLD and other political parties. Despite supporting the different political parties, the residents had lived in peaceful coexistence. After the Tatmadaw assumed responsibility for the State, NLD supporters in the village turned out to be ultra-terrorists and formed a PDF terrorist group with Theegon Sayadaw Bhaddanta Sandima acting as the leader of the group. The terrorist group killed nine people, including some children at the age of 11, 16 and 18 on 17 April this year. Similarly, the terrorist group killed three people including two old people, a woman and a man at the age of 73 each, on 9 October, and two more people, a man and a woman, on October 10. In their terrorist act of killing and setting fires, 14 people – 11 males and three females – were killed. Because of their act of threat to life, village residents who do not support their party moved to nearby villages and their relatives in fear for their lives. Some had to flee to Taze Township Police Station and USDP party offices to take refuge. As the local terrorists did further threats to them in many ways while seeking protection and refuge in that way, the refuge-seeking people went and took shelter at Sayadaw Bhaddanta Warsawa’s Sasana Alinyaung Buddhist Monastery in Oomawdaw Village in Kanbalu Township. Currently, the monastery has received more than 50 people who are in trouble and is looking after them.
Here are the words of Daw Thuzar Win who grieves for her parents and husband.
Daw Thu Zar Win
MY name is Thuzar Win and I’m from Kapaungkya village, Tanze township. We hide in the forest because we are afraid of PDF. About 6 pm in the evening we heard the motorcycle noises while we are having our dinner. Suddenly they arrived with guns. I begged them and said, “Please don’t do it, please don’t do it”. While I was begging, Kyaw Swar Htet and Wai Phyo Thant shoot my husband but missed the first shot. Kyaw Swar Htet pulled out the handgun from his pocket and shoot my husband 3 times cruelly. After that they said “He is dead, let’s go “and they went to my father and mother. I cannot stop them because I knew that they would kill me if I stop them. They shoot my father first and the bullet hit the leg. While my father was screaming in agony, they shoot at the head cruelly and my father died on the spot. I was hiding and watching the scene with my son. My mother has poor eyesight and cannot even move from her bed as she was critically ill. They asked her “Are you …”. When my mother replied “Yes”, they shoot my mother head cruelly. All the brains splattered, and my mother died instantly. While they went to my parents, I run and hide in the forest. They were shouting “Look for that bitch” and searching for me to kill. I was scared like hell and forget how to breathe. They set fire to our house and killed our 7 bulls. I hide in the forest the whole night sitting in the water to the knees level while raining. I was rescued by the security forces in the morning. They killed my family, burned our house, killed our bulls and took away all the belongings that we worked, earned and saved. I only left with my National Registration card. I cannot live together with the terrorists in the same village anymore. My youngest daughter is 11 years old, my eldest boy is 17 years, study at 10th grade and my second son is 13 years old. My daughter saw her father was shot and died. She was hurt very painfully. My parents were shot and died in front of my son. My father was died in knee bending position and my mother neck was collapsed when she died. My son had to place her grandfather and grandmother in comfortable positions.
I don’t have a house, shelter and food now. I want to raise my children well. Please help me to raise my children well.
U Nyunt Khine
Let me present to you what happened to U Nyunt Khaing.
All the PDFs were gathered at U Ohn Thoung’s house. First, they demolished my house and then they tried to kill me with swords. I ran away to the house which is 20 yards away from my house. They surrounded me and threatened me that I must not vote or support the USDP party in the future. They told me to bow down and pay respect to them. Two teenage girls, Aye Mon and Nay Chi Tun told me that if you bow down to us we will not kill you. I have to bow down 3 times to Aye Mon and Nay Chi Tun who are only the age of my daughter. Even though Sithu Win shot me with a slingshot to my neck. I tried to cover with my hand and my hand was cut severely. They forced my family to leave the village. My wife, my son and my daughter left the village on two motorcycles. I requested my friend to come and fetch me in his car. Because of him, I was escaped from death. My brother, my brother’s friend and I went to Lanson Town. My brother and my brother’s friend were killed because they cannot find me. They informed me through different sources to come back to the village. Sayadaw U Sandimar of Thigone Monastery also phoned me and told me to come back. I asked the Sayadaw whether he can guarantee my life if I come back. I didn’t go back because Sayardaw cannot reply to my question.
U Kyaw Myo Thet believed Sayardaw’s words and went back to the village. He was killed in the Sayardaw’s monastery. I hide and stay in Monywa for 3 months. I cannot stay in Monywa anymore after they posted my photo online. I hide in different places every 15 days. They think that if they killed my mother, father, brother in law and my family members, I will come back and they killed all of them cruelly. The place now I stay is not safe and I cannot sleep well. I have to separate my brother and sister in different places. They are also not safe. We don’t have a safe place to stay, we don’t have food to eat, we don’t have clothes to wear. We don’t know how to make our living.
U Tin Soe
PDF came to my house and demolished my house because I hoist the USDP flag. I was caught while I ran away with my family. They aimed with swords and spears. While they were looking for ropes to tie me, one villager shouted “the army is coming”. While they chased down that villager, I took a chance and ran back to my house. While I was running, they shot me from my back and hit my head, my son’s knee was hit by a brick also. When I reached home security forces arrived and saved me. My house is a parker building and it’s worth K 70 million. They burned down my house. They burned down all the pieces of machinery that we make for our living. We have nothing left. They will kill us if they find us. We must hide and run all the time.
Sayadaw U Wathawa
Happenings in Kapaungkya village is a very sad story. I got the news that houses were burned down, demolished by PDF and extreme NLD, NUG supporters. Villagers were bullied, aimed by guns and shot by guns. When I contacted the villagers, they already run away from the village and stayed at the USDP office and security forces outpost at Tanze. After one month they are facing multiple obstacles such as food, security, health care, etc. So, I went there and moved them to my place. At present, there are more than 50 villagers in my monastery. They are facing so many difficulties. All their houses were burned, properties were robbed, bulls and cows were slaughtered by PDF. When they left the village, they had to run barefoot to save their lives.
Please don’t neglect them, please help them. They needed support from the military. They don’t have clothes to wear, food to eat and a place to stay. They don’t have a penny to spend and they need medical care also. I strongly request the government to look after them as soon as possible. Please don’t neglect them.
IT is a nature that everybody is not clean of mistakes. But you will be aware that those who keep going though he see what he is doing is wrong, and those, who could correct their mistakes in time, are different. These two types of people might come from the same motive but their destination is different. The youth have the future. They are able to consider and judge a subject matter equitably. They should not take the wrong course for their beautiful future. There are young people who could not go home being against their wish, those who are unlawfully bullied, those who do not know how to make claims while seeing killings among one another, those who regret when they see innocent people killed because of their act of bombings, those who are forced to do such acts due to their families under threats, those who stay low in fear among the people. In such circumstances, you could consider how the course you are taking is wrong or right. You will say you are doing this because you love your country. Here, it is necessary to choose the correct means to love the country. If you take this course because of the faith, such faith should not be coloured and it should be quite clean. So, I would like to urge you to consider whether what you are acting now is right or wrong and take the right course as soon as possible.
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