The lottery selection for military service was canceled because the villagers in Pumkone village, Myan Aung village tract, Ingapu Township, Irrawaddy Region protested against the village administrator since his relatives were not selected in the list of military service draw, according to local residents.
A woman aged 40 said that 25 young people aged between 24 and 30 from Pumkone village were selected for military service, but none of them were relatives of the village administrator, U Thein Soe.
“Yesterday, the village administrator called 25 people who were draft lotters to his office. Out of those 25, 2 must be drawn to join the military service first. At that time, the villagers did not vote because none of the administrator’s relatives were included in the list of those 25 people. They (villagers) argued with the village administrator, so the raffle plan was canceled. So far, the village administrator hasn’t said anything back. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she explained.
There are nearly 400 houses in Pumkone village, and people who are now on the military service list are those who participated in the previous protest against the military coup, according to a man on the military service list.
“He (village administrator) said that he did not select those people on the list, but it is listed by the junta’s immigration. He said it was not related to him. But we don’t believe it. No one of his relatives is listed. Those draft lotteries are all the young people who participated in the strike against the junta. It is like it’s been done intentionally,” said a man on the military service list.
The villagers _ in Kanyin village in Ingapu township _ also had arguments with the administrator group that came to explain the conscription law in early March, a man aged 30 said.
“Villagers cannot join the military service. They argued with the village administrator that they wanted to stay calm, and they could not enter the war without any claim. At that time, the village administrator called the police. They (villagers) were going to beat up the police there, so the elders of the village dispersed those villagers and sent them back,” he said.
The pro-junta propaganda telegram channels are writing that many young people in the Irrawaddy region are enlisted for military service according to their wishes.