According to military sources in Naypyidaw, the terrorist military, following their 2021 coup, has been engaging in deceptive propaganda by recalling former People’s Defense Force (PDF) members who had previously surrendered and making them pose as new PDF defectors in staged ‘light-entering’ ceremonies. This practice emerged following a military meeting held at the Naypyidaw War Office on July 15, where instructions were issued to divide revolutionary groups’ unity, manipulate their leaders, and employ various tactics to demoralize armed resistance fighters. These staged defections are part of a broader strategy to create discord among revolutionary organizations.
The military council’s propaganda campaign has included announcements of multiple defections: between July 17-22, they claimed 4 TNLA members, 15 Mandalay PDF members, and 41 DPLA members had surrendered. Additional announcements followed, with claims of 9 more Mandalay PDF members surrendering on July 23, and another 15 on July 25. However, investigations reveal that these individuals were largely former defectors being forced to re-enact surrender ceremonies. The military council has instructed regional commands and battalions to mandatorily create these surrender ceremonies, leading to local military commands recalling former PDF members to participate in these deceptive displays. The photographs from these ceremonies are intentionally kept blurry, and participants are given security guarantees to participate in these staged events.
This propaganda effort by the military council represents a calculated attempt to weaken the revolutionary movement. The majority of participants in these ceremonies are former defectors who are being coerced through military authority to re-enact surrenders, with only a very small number of genuine new defectors involved. The military council’s primary objective is to sow distrust among revolutionary groups and demoralize the public resistance movement. These staged ceremonies, conducted under military orders following the July 15 meeting, demonstrate the regime’s desperate attempts to create an illusion of mass defections from resistance forces, while in reality recycling the same individuals through multiple staged ceremonies to amplify their propaganda message.
