The Military Occupation of Burma

In this article we study diverse ways and means by which the military controls and oppresses the people, Burman and other ethnic groups, in the name of achieving the Tatmadaw’s (Burmese military’s) three main national causes, ‘non-disintegration of the union, non-disintegration of national solidarity, and perpetuation of national solidarity’. We explore the ways the State uses their power to dominate civilian life and forms of resistance to this. State power is not uniformly practiced but occurs at different spatial scales of body, family, home, and village. Understanding the instrumentality of the State acts of violence through study of interrogation of political prisoners, offers ways to recognize the broader aspects of State pressure in the form of destruction of homes, villages, and means of livelihood. The private space of the body, home and the public village meant to shelter it has become the focus of Burmese State attempts to control the population.