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Statement of NCGUB on11th Anniversa

Subject: Statement of NCGUB on11th Anniversary of Military coup

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NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA<br>
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<b>Statement on 11</font><font size=1><sup>th</font></sup><font size=3>
Anniversary of Coup by the Military <br>
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The day, on which the military seized state power after brutally gunning down the demonstrators of the 4-eight pro-democracy movement of 1988, has reached its 11th anniversary. As much as September 18, 1988 has blackened pages in the history of Burma, it has degraded the prestige of the armed forces and debased the history of sacrifices made by them. The insatiable greed and self-interest of a clique of top Burmese military leaders have besmirched, beyond repair, the name of the Burmese armed forces and, ever since the September 18, the people have loathed and hated them. <br>
&quot;The military seized state power on 3 separate occasions, once in 1958, a second time in 1962 and finally in 1988. Though there was no bloodshed at the time of the coups in 1958 and 1962, the blood of thousands of people was shed in the coup of 1988. That bloodbath was like drawing a distinct line between the people and the military. In this situation, the top military leaders, wishing to misuse the entire armed forces, promoted the slogan of &quot;Respect the Armed Forces as your Mother and Father&quot; and systematically divide the armed forces from the people. The refusal to recognize the election results, after holding a general election, has further lowered the dignity of the armed forces. <br>
Comparatively, the Burmese armed forces, before 1988, had much higher dignity than armed forces of the present day. Also, families of members of the armed forces enjoyed much higher living standards. Though the armed forces were used politically on a few occasions, they had never been involved in exercise of the executive, legislative and the judicial powers. They had mainly served for the security and defense of the country. During this time of the SLORCISPDC, the military has been directly involved in exercise of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, and a group of military leaders has used the entire establishment as an oppressive tool against the people, for the perpetuation of its power. Thus, the military clique has converted into mercenary forces, the armed forces, which has had the glorious traditions of anti-fascist resistance and anti-colonialist struggle. <br>
Gen. Aung San, the founder of the Burmese armed forces, left only three pairs of clothes at the time of his death. The top leaders of the SPDC, however, possess hundreds of millions of Kyats, in cash. The commanders and troops at the front-line, though, are facing shortages of medicine and food supplies, and are looting the people for them. Their family members in the rear have to face a similar situation and, regrettably, many of them have resorted to prostitution. For the entire armed forces to regain their former honor, and for the members to have security of life, it is the responsibility of every member. <br>
It is necessary to reorganize the armed forces, which have been used as an oppressive tool by the dictatorship, into the people's armed forces. So long as the leaders of the dictatorship are dominating, it is impossible for them to become the people's armed forces. Only under the rule of a democratic government, will it be possible to transform them into democratic people's armed forces. <br>
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Ars of the armed forces to help and participate, hand in hand with the people, in the democratic movement for the security of life, for the security of life of their families and for the restoration of honor to the armed forces.<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
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</font><font size=3><b>September 18, 1999</b>. <br>
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