HURFOM: Nine women teachers from Theinzayat town, Kyaikto Township, Mon State, were briefly detained and warned by resistance forces after they travelled to attend a Junta election training, according to local sources. All were later released the same day.
On the morning of 16 November, the teachers left Theinzayat in a hired vehicle to attend a poll station officer training at Basic Education High School No. 1 in Kyaikto. They were stopped and detained near Kam Ni Village in Kyaikto Township, an area under the control of allied revolutionary forces.
“The teachers rented a car and went for the poll station officer training. They were stopped and taken near Kam Ni. Because they are known teachers from Theinzayat, they were treated more leniently. They were released the same day with a warning,” a resident from Theinzayat told HURFOM.
Those released reportedly include Daw Ri Ri Win, a senior teacher at Theinzayat Basic Education High School, along with several headmistresses from basic education schools in the town. The nine were detained by forces from the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 1, Thaton District, including the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied People’s Defense Forces (PDF), and released later that day after being questioned and cautioned.
Kam Ni Village is located in a zone controlled by revolutionary allied forces and is considered an area where the junta-appointed Election Commission will not be able to open polling stations. On 26 September, KNU Brigade 1, Thaton District, publicly declared its opposition to the junta’s planned “election” and stated that it would work together with others who oppose the process to disrupt and dismantle it.
For teachers and civil servants across Mon State and nearby areas, this incident reflects the difficult position they are in: caught between pressure from the Junta to participate in its election process and warnings from resistance forces who reject the legitimacy of the vote in a country still at war.
