The PC or the AK?

Story & photos by Ryan Libre, for the Pulitzer Center

Kachin autonomy may be won on the battlefield or it may be won in cyber-space. They are preparing for both fronts

This question dates back to antiquity but has resurfaced in the north of Myanmar where the Kachin people have been struggling for autonomy for generations. The tools of communication and war have changed. So the modern version the Kachins are asking themselves is, " the PC or the AK?"

The KIA (Kachin Independence Army) fought an armed insurgency for over 30 years. Despite being out-numbered and out-armed, the KIA was never fully defeated. Nor were they able to win full autonomy for the Kachin People. During 15 years of precarious peace since the 1994 cease-fire, the KIO ( Kachin Independence Organization) has been trying to build up a civil society in addition to the army. Creating a civil society from scratch after a generation of war, isolated from the world at large and with scares resources is a daunting task. The Kachins know it will not be easy so they are working extra hard and making good progress. Free Kachin now has native language schools, a TV station, intensive English colleges, a civil service academy, regular native language publications, a media center, several websites and a national library. These institutions are the building blocks necessary to even consider using the pen as a means to fight for autonomy. Most however are still in their infancy.

_{A KIO intelligence officer reading a report from Human Rights Watch about the Junta's recent crackdown}

Choosing to solve conflicts with a civil governments instead of armies, with media instead of missiles has never been an easy task. All the more challenging when the Kachins have to first create the civil government and press.

Gandhi would have had little significance without the full attention of newspapers, radio and news stations spreading his words across India, back to the English isles and around the world. Unlike Gandhi the Kachins have not ruled out violence as a means to autonomy. They are however making a sincere effort and truly understand that the media is more powerful than machine guns. The question for the Kachins is how to harness the power of the media and the question for the world is, are we going to help them.

Aung San Su Kyi has been fairly effective at getting the media's attention, but the Kachins see their struggle as separate from the Burmese being oppressed by the military junta and they both still have a long way to go to get the power of the media behind them to the level it is needed to change the course of Myanmar's dark recent history. There are now over 700 full time photojournalists active in Iraq and 0 in Kachin.

History has shown the military junta will not just hand over power, even with a huge domestic demand.The more the world is watching and pressuring the military junta for fair elections the more likely they will happen. The Kachins, and all people under the Burmese military junta, need international support.

The Kachin youth are eager to learn.

The Chiang Mai based NGO Documentary Arts Asia taught a week long journalism and photography workshop to Kachin youth in November. The Kachin youth are eager to learn and published the 7 projects completed as part of the workshop in a Jingpaw magazine. Documentary Arts Asia gave the best 2 students cameras and left several others for community use. One of the workshop students who showed above average ability and seriousness of purpose is putting the skills he learned in the workshop and the DSLR he received to use by documenting a variety of Kachin traditional festivals. Documentary Arts Asia plans to keep working with the Kachins by trying to publish their photos and stories and teaching another media workshop next year.

a Student showing the other media workshop participants his final project

Documentary Arts Asia considers the media workshop a success but admits that a whole lot more needs to be done. On the path of the sword, it is possible to buy guns and train soldiers to fight well together in a matter of weeks. On the path of the pen, it can take years to forge a group of people who can fight effectively with words and photos.

A KIO community organizer that we stayed with in Free Kachin wants to study a Masters of Public Administration with emphasis on public relations overseas so he can help his people communicate effectively with the international media should it start paying attention to his beloved homeland. He admits "brain drain" is a problem for Kachin now. Most Kachin youth with his qualifications have left Kachin for jobs in other parts of Asia and the world. Being largely undeveloped there are few good jobs and the Kachins face discrimination by the Burmese majority. It is much easier to recruit qualified soldiers than qualified media experts. He gets no salary but stays because he believes in a better future for the Kachin people. Yet brain drain remains a serious problem for Kachin.

The UN cannot help the Kachins, no big power has offered any support. The media is their last hope for a peaceful solution, and perhaps any solution at all. They are really trying the path of the pen and calling on the international media for attention. But they can't do it alone and if no one answers their call they will, ignored by the world's governments and media, return to the sword.