Military Leader Spreads Disinformation and Propaganda at Cabinet Meeting
Fact-Check | Burma Independent Voice
Claim by Coup Leader Min Aung Hlaing:
“After 2021, the so-called PDF terrorist insurgents emerged because they were dissatisfied with the election results at that time and chose the path of armed conflict.”
Verdict: FALSE
The coup leader’s claim that the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) emerged due to dissatisfaction with the 2020 election results is a factual distortion. It contradicts the actual sequence of events following the coup.
The PDF did not emerge out of dissatisfaction with the election results; rather, it was formed because the military rejected the 2020 election results and seized power from the civilian government. When the public responded with peaceful protests, the military unleashed a campaign of lethal violence. Young people eventually chose the path of armed resistance as a means to defend themselves against these killings.
Following the February 1, 2021 coup, non-violent protests erupted nationwide. Citizens demanded the release of detained civilian leaders, the return of power to the civilian government, and respect for the 2020 election results. The military responded by brutally crushing these protests using live ammunition.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), at least 543 civilians were killed by the military within the first two months of the coup (as of April 1, 2021).
Armed resistance only began more than two months after the coup, specifically to counter the military’s violent crackdowns. In April 2021, residents in parts of Chin State and Sagaing Region began using traditional percussion firearms (Tumi guns) to defend their communities. In Sagaing Region, a stronghold of resistance, armed defense began around April 2, 2021.
As the military continued to kill and arrest those opposing the coup, many youths fled to ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) for military training. The PDF was officially formed on May 5, 2021, and on September 7, 2021, the National Unity Government (NUG) declared a “People’s Defensive War.”
By September 5, 2021—just before the NUG’s official declaration—the AAPP had already documented 1,049 civilian deaths. The NUG’s second-anniversary statement on the resistance war emphasized that the transition to armed struggle was a direct response to the military’s threat to “Human Security” through its violent actions against unarmed civilians.
Therefore, the claim that the resistance was born from “dissatisfaction with election results” is entirely false.
Claim by Coup Leader Min Aung Hlaing:
“This situation arose because domestic and foreign politicians exploited the country’s educational weaknesses and instigated people for their own benefit.”
Verdict: MISLEADING PROPAGANDA
The coup leader’s assertion that the armed resistance is a result of “educational weaknesses” and “instigation by politicians” is an attempt to mask the root causes of the uprising with propaganda.
The movement against the 2021 coup was led and joined by a vast number of educated youths and professionals from various fields. Among those who took up arms after witnessing the brutal crackdowns were many university students and graduates.
The claim that PDFs emerged only due to political instigation is also detached from reality. Many local defense groups were formed spontaneously and independently at the township and village levels before the NUG was even established. Only later did many of these groups come under the NUG’s PDF command. Furthermore, numerous armed groups like the BPLA and PLA operate independently of the NUG structure.
While the coup leader attributes the resistance to a lack of education, the leaders of Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs) are highly educated individuals, and many EROs were founded by prominent intellectuals.
Historical evidence confirms that the emergence of the PDF was a legitimate exercise of the right to self-defense against an illegal coup and the subsequent massacre of peaceful protesters. Participants in the armed revolution include doctors, engineers, educators, writers, musicians, and filmmakers, as well as university students.
Min Aung Hlaing’s statements are clearly aimed at obscuring the military’s culpability and disparaging the integrity of those participating in the revolution.
