A funeral for Aung San Myint, the general secretary of the ethnic armed organization Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), was held at an undisclosed location in a resistance-controlled area of Karenni State near the border of Thailand on Saturday.
“Aung San Myint was a passionate and dedicated politician who continued working toward the establishment of a federal democratic union even as his health deteriorated,” Banyar Aung, Secretary-2 of the Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC)—a provisional government established by the Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC) in June 2023—told DVB.
Aung San Myint, 63, was KSCC chairperson since it was established after the military coup in 2021 until he passed away on Aug. 30 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, while receiving treatment at a hospital for an undisclosed medical condition.
He also served as a secretary of the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF)—Myanmar’s premier resistance coalition established on March 30—which includes the KNPP, along with three other key ethnic armed groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU), the Kachin Independence Organizations (KIO), and the Chin National Front (CNF),
The SCEF also includes the two groups representing lawmakers elected in 2020 but ousted in the 2021 coup: the National Unity Government (NUG), and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH).
“Aung San Myint devoted himself to securing equal rights and self-determination for the Karenni people, as well as to the establishment of a genuine federal democratic union,” the SCEF stated in a condolence message on Aug. 30.
Myanmar pro-democracy forces, including the NUG, the CRPH, and the Karenni State IEC, all shared condolence messages about Aung San Myint to social media.
The KSCC was founded by Aung San Myint and other democratic leaders in Karenni State on April 9, 2021. It serves as one of the most inclusive political and policymaking bodies in Myanmar, according to experts.
The KNPP, established in Karenni’s Shadaw Township in 1957, didn’t sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the Myanmar military that was spearheaded by the military-proxy Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) administration from 2011-16.
The KNPP and its armed wing, the Karenni Army (KA), have been fighting the Myanmar military for self-determination in Karenni State for 69 years.
The “Karenni States [historically a collection of independent or semi-independent principalities known as the Red Karen States]” were officially recognized as an independent entity by the British Empire and the King of Burma through a formal treaty signed on June 21, 1875.
Since the Myanmar military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, Karenni resistance forces have remained united under the KNPP and KSCC to fight for a return to democracy and ultimately achieve a federal democratic union that’s inclusive of all the country’s diverse ethnic nationalities.
