For his contribution to the resistance, Ven Detta is seeking inspiration from Vladmir Lenin, spending the last several months studying the history of how soldiers are coaxed to defect during insurrections. He notes that during the 1917 Russian Revolution, “The military just stopped following orders.”

Being intimately familiar with Burmese military culture, Ven is far from naïve concerning the challenges of this work. He understands the Tatmadaw’s insular culture, and how brutality and cruelty are celebrated as virtues. He also acknowledges that military families live in military compounds, effectively making them hostages should any soldiers desert.

The work is dangerous, as anyone caught with anti-military literature or is found to even be in the possession of a printer faces extreme consequences. The military can shoot first, and doesn’t even need to ask questions later. And yet for Ven, this threat of excessive response on the military’s part only points out just how vulnerable they believe they are.

Ven feels that a key part of this campaign is to get defections happening in large numbers. The more soldiers defect or desert, the less the military can respond to individuals. This is of course easier said than done.  Ven also believes that having some organization soldiers could defect to would be a critical component to a successful strategy, and towards this end he is eagerly awaiting the formation of the planned Federal Army.

Finally, Ven minces no words in explaining the role the monkhood should play. “Many people…will no doubt listen to what a monk will have to say. And there are several dozen monks who have immense sway over public opinion. And I think they need to stand up [and] speak from a religious perspective.”

Will the popular movement’s humanistic ethics that value each individual life and guarantees inherent freedoms overcome the Tatmadaw’s emphasis on discipline, along with distrust of critical, independent thinking? Ven believes in the righteousness of his side, but also knows this is a story still being written.

To support Ven’s defection mission, please consider making a donation for his cause.