Burma police arrest prominent Kachin activist

Bawk Ja (also spelled Bauk Gyar and Bauk Ja) was arrested on Thursday night in southern Kachin state, according to a friend of the family.

The Kachin Legal Aid (KLA) confirmed the well-known Kachin land rights activist's arrest but don't have any more information, including even why she was arrested.

"At the moment, we can confirm she was arrested in Mohnyin. We are still trying to find out about her," a KLA lawyer told the Kachin News Group today.

The Kachin Peace Network is very concerned about Bawk Ja's fate suspecting that the arrest is related to politics, according to  Daw Hkon Ja, who is the general secretary.

Bawk Ja, currently serving as the Kachin state chairperson of the National Democratic Force (NDF), first rose to national prominence 4 years ago, after leading a group of 150 farming families that sued the Yuzana corporation and Chairman Htay Myint - now an MP from the ruling USDP- for expropriating their land in the fertile Hugawng Valley (also spelled Hukawng or Hukaung).

Ultimately court actions taken against Yuzana failed. Bawk Ja was briefly forced to go underground in January of 2011 after Northern Regional Command Brig-Gen Zeyar Aung issued a warrant for her arrest. It was an apparent attempt to stymie her efforts to seek redress for the farmers whose lands was confiscated.   The bravery Bawk Ja showed in repeatedly standing up to Burma's central government despite facing intimidation has won her many fans across the country and internationally.

Bawk Ja traveled to the US in February of last year at the invitation of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a US government funded democracy promotion group. During her visit she met with then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Bawk Ja ran during last year's round of by- elections as an NDF candidate. However she was denied a chance to contest after polling for the three seats up for grabs in Kachin state was called off, obstinately for security reasons.

Bawk Ja also ran as an NDF candidate in the November 2010 national election. While many people expected her to win a seat at the time, Bawk Ja lost to a candidate from the military backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) after 13,255 votes were controversially declared invalid.

Bawk Ja initially challenged the final vote count in the Hpakant consistency that gave the USDP candidate Ohn Myint 29,426 vote to her 21,633. But Bawk Ja dropped her it in June the following year after Ohn Myint resigned his lower house seat to become the Federal Minister for Cooperatives. Ohn Myint, who served as Northern Regional Commander in the Burma army, played a huge role in  assisting the Yuzana seize land in the Hukaung valley and considered close to Chairman Htay Myint.

http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/burma-police-arrest-prominent-kachin-activist/