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‘Refused to shoot’: Myanmar constable who fled from a coup
On March 1, the police lance corporal said he left his home and family behind in Khampat and travelled for three days, mostly at night to avoid detection, before crossing into India’s northeastern state Mizoram.
When Tha Peng was ordered to shoot at protesters with his submachine gun to disperse them in the Myanmar town of Khampat on February 27, the police lance corporal said he refused.
“The next day, an officer called to ask me if I will shoot,” he said. The 27-year-old refused again, and then resigned from the force.
On March 1, he said he left his home and family behind in Khampat and travelled for three days, mostly at night to avoid detection, before crossing into India’s northeastern state Mizoram.
“I had no choice,” Tha Peng told Reuters on Tuesday, speaking via a translator. He gave only part of his name to protect his identity. Reuters saw his police and national ID cards, which confirmed the name.
Tha Peng said he and six colleagues all disobeyed the February 27 order from a superior officer, whom he did not name. Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.
The description of events was similar to that given to police in Mizoram on March 1 by another Myanmar police lance corporal and three constables who crossed into India, according to a classified internal police document. The document was written by Mizoram police officials and gives biographical details of the four individuals and their account of why they fled.
“As the Civil disobedience movement is gaining momentum and protest(s) held by anti-coup protesters at different places we are instructed to shoot at the protesters,” they said in a joint statement to Mizoram police. “In such a scenario, we don’t have the guts to shoot at our own people who are peaceful demonstrators,” they said.
Myanmar’s military, which staged a coup on February 1 and deposed the country’s civilian government, did not respond to a request for comment.
Around 100 people from Myanmar have crossed over a porous border into India since the protests began, according to a senior Indian official. Several have taken shelter in Mizoram’s Champhai district.
Ngun Hlei, who said he was posted as a police constable in Mandalay, said he had also received orders to shoot. Ngun Hlei said he was reprimanded for disobeying orders and transferred.
He sought help from activists online and found his way by road to Mizoram’s Vaphai village on March 6.
