Red Ant

It is rare for a soldier of Tatmadaw entered at will, willing to fight. Many of them were entered Tatmadaw for the fear of being arrested because they had a lot of trouble cases.

There was a person I experienced who was arrested by the police for thieft case. The police beat him and he was resent and angry about that. After he was free from prison, he entered to Tatmadaw. If he stayed as a civilian and he did the thieft case again, he had to be arrested again and will be beaten again. So he joined Tatmadaw from the nearby army and became a soldier. Once he became a soldier, enjoying his uniform and he always provoke when he saw a police.

One day, he saw with his old friend, the police who beat him when he was arrested. He said ”you are the one who beat me, come and fight with me” and that police also said ”you, the thief I caught ”and they fought against each other as we hardly stopped them.

Just like this, many of them joined Tatmadaw with bad purpose to return what they were suffered when they have right to do not with the opinion to protect the Country and Civilians. And there are also ones who were forcely joined Tatmadaw to recruit new people. Among the soldiers who were forcely recruited, there was one who named “Red Ant (Khar Khyain)”.

Our army has a large vacant plot of land leased to a poultry company. In that field, they brought and rub-down the kippers to make chicken-feed.

As the land-rent-fees, they had to pay the Tatmadaw about Twenty hundreds lakh Kyats for every single month .The battlion chief rolled in wealth every month.

We called that field as kipper field. The civilians lived outskirts of the battlion sometimes come to steal that kipper. They stole kippers commercially with gunny sacks. So, the battlion chief told to guard the kipper field. One day, while holding a meeting, the battalion chief urged to recruit new soldiers. The battalion officers were instructed to recruit as much as they could. After the meeting, they consulted. Finally, they got the idea with the ones who were stealing the kippers. And then, when at night, they guard the kipper field. About 2:00AM, they started to see the thief and watched him carefully in silence. Once the thief tried to go back after he packed with gunny sack, they went out of hiding and caught the thief. He can’t do anything as he was caught with the evidence. As planned, the thief was arrested and threatened. They threatened the thief ”You had to go to prison and don’t want that to happen, you had to join Tatmadaw”. But he was living nearby the army and he knew everything about them. So no one can force him to enter Tatmadaw.

So, the battlion chief told the guard officers to persuade him with their own way but not to be too much and if they can’t persuade, let it be and they left him with the guard officer.

At the next morning, the guard officer told battlion chief that the thief agreed to enter Tadmadaw. All of the battlion officers came to see him with big suprise. And then, they saw the thief with redness and bumps all over the body and they asked him that he was going to enter Tatmadaw. He answered ”Yes, I’ll really enter Tatmadaw and let me out of here as fast as possible, I’ll really join. “.

Then the battlion chief asked the guard chief “how you did him to agree? Did you beat him as all over his body is redness and bumps”.

And the guard answered ” I didn’t even touch him. I was just a little impatience and I sent a colony (group of red ants) to his room. And a moment later, he shout loudly to enter Tatmadaw and let him out of there. That’ all  Sir.”

And the battlion chief said ”You, the cruel one.”

After he went to military training, once he became a soldier, he was named as ”red ant”.

And till now when he saw red ants or colony, he kills them in various ways like firing them and saying” cuz of you, ants. ” as he rancoured them too much.

That is about the soldier who called ”Red Ant”.

And here I want to say is,

There are too many soldiers like ”Red Ant” who joined Tatmadaw with the thousands of trouble not with the opinion to protect people and country.

In the event of battle once they hear the sound of gunfire, they always run back instead of trying to know that sound is from which side.

So, as the civilians, once saw soldiers with guns, don’t think they are the ones with many experiences of battle event and wishing to protect country and people. In Tatmadaw, there are too much soldiers like ”Red Ant”.

I am saying this not to be contempt the enemy.

Once we have better knowledge and intelligent than our enemy, I want everyone to do everything with good sense of consideration. Our PDF, people’ soldiers, are too much batter opinion than the soldiers of Tatmadaw , “Red Ants”. That’s why , we’ll win every battle event.

So, don’t be dispirit and demoralized once the Revolution took far. If we try harder with our hearts, we will come closer to our goal, Democracy.

Thanks you very much.

Htet Myat

Translated by KZH