In Nay Pyi Taw, where the military dictator and his subordinates live, the leadership of the coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, was built a pagoda named Marawizaya and held the opening a funeral ceremony on 1st August. The weight of the marble block that will be carved into the big god is more than five thousand tons. It was donated by former military dictator Than Shwe, and was quickly completed within two years of Min Aung Hlaing’s coup.
The military council has revealed that it is the world’s most intelligent stone statue, and the cost of construction, excluding the cost of marble, may cost between 30 million and 40 million dollars, according to Zaw Min Tun, in charge of the information of the military council. This amount is equivalent to winning 120 times the highest prize of Myanmar “Aungbalay” Lottery.
Regarding the construction of the statue of the world’s highest intellectual god, the lobbies of the military council are spreading propaganda saying that it was built as a military leader to make the country and people proud for many years. But We all know that Min Aung Hlaing is truly devoted to the country and its people.
Even when the Marawizaya Pagoda, which they are proud of, was still standing, the houses of the Anya region (upper Myanmar) and the ethnic region were burned down, and the people were arrested and killed indiscriminately for their safety. According to ISP Myanmar’s statement (ISP – Institute for Strategy & Policy), the army led by Min Aung Hlaing has burned and destroyed more than 82,000 people’s homes in the two years since the coup.
In addition, according to the press release of AAPP (AAPP – Assistance Association for political prisoners), from February 1, 2021, 3,888 people have died due to the military dictatorship. After Min Aung Hlaing’s coup Myanmar’s economy had to go down in all directions, and land prices had to rise. It’s really sad that the country that we are relying on to develop now has everything destroyed because of a group of power-crazy people.
Even when things were going down like this, it was published to mark the completion of Marawizaya Pagoda and to commemorate the first birthday of Rahtananda’s white elephant, twenty thousand kyat worth. If you look at these facts, it is impossible that Min Aung Hlaing is truly devoted to the country and the people, as the military council is spreading propaganda.
In addition, within a few days of the completion of the construction of Marawizaya Pagoda, all the people must have seen the news that the revolutionary forces had captured the Lakhat Taung Mountain Camp Hill in Myawaddy City along with the video. That Lakhat Taung camp hill is not a normal defensive camp hill, but a camp hill where a defensive camp was built on a pagoda hill.
In other words, the pagodas, the church and other religious buildings was used as a defense for the military. If the military was really praising religion as the military council is saying, they wouldn’t be using religious building as strong defenses for military. According to the nature of war, if the two sides fight hard, the pagodas will be damaged. However, the military is used to protect religious buildings instead of protecting them.
Therefore, no matter how much the military side says that it is devoted to the people and the country, no matter how much they praised the religion, the actions they did, if you look at the actions being taken, the people can know the true attitude of the army. Therefore, it can be said that the old methods used by the military dictators of all ages are completely useless in this spring revolution.
Yours respectfully,
Chan Min
Cory Goodwin