Studying AA's Commander-in-Chief Twan Mrat Naing's Dialogues

By Admin 07 Nov 2025

Written By Gaung

"Happy birthday, Commander! Long Live Our Leader." Today, November 7, marks the 47th birthday of the Arakan Army (AA) Commander-in-Chief, Major General Twan Mrat Naing.

This essay is less a critique of what he has said than a tracing and analysis of the Commander's political ideas and dialogues-following the footprints of his expressed positions.

Today the Arakan Army has surged like a sun rising from the west, outpacing veteran Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs) and setting records in Myanmar's history of resistance to military dictatorship-in short, it now controls almost all of Arakan.

There is little reason to doubt that this stems from Major General Twan Mrat Naing's modern imagination, institution-building ability, leadership, and his military, political, and strategic vision.

So let's gather his statements on Myanmar politics, Arakan politics, the "Muslim issue," and his dialogues more broadly, to ask: What has come to pass? Why did it happen? And what is likely to happen next-judged against present realities?

Major General Twan Mrat Naing and the "Confederate" Idea

When people hear the term "Confederate," many immediately think of Major General Twan Mrat Naing. I first heard him use it around 2019.

Back then, national political talk circled endlessly around Panglong, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), and "federalism." It still does. In that climate, the Commander voiced a political horizon one notch bolder than other resistance leaders-drawing both attention and criticism.

He declared that "confederate-level" political status would best serve the national interests of all Rakhine. And, true to his words, he has walked a hard road with steady footsteps, step by step.

In a June 6, 2024 VOA interview he said: "We are fighting with the expectation of achieving for Arakan no less than confederate-level political status. Our position won't change. We won't beg from others. If we're denied, we'll fight for it."

To clarify the difference for readers: a federal union shares power between a central government and states; a confederation is a union of fully self-determining states that join together-what one might call a Union of Confederate States. It is not secession, but a union formed by wholly free states.

Thus, rather than a Coming Together Union dominated by a single center at the founding of the Union of Myanmar, the Commander prefers a Holding Together Union-a cooperative living-together of equals.

Today, the AA has built power for a confederate-level status: expanded territorial control and functioning governance mechanisms under its own hands. It is hard to deny that the United League of Arakan (ULA)/AA stands as Myanmar's most powerful de facto state-armed organization.

"The Way of Rakhitta" and the "Arakan Dream"

Another phrase that made Major General Twan Mrat Naing widely known is The Way of Rakhitta and the Arakan Dream.

In essence, The Way of Rakhitta calls on all ethnic communities living in Arakan to shape their own destiny and build new, dignified institutions so that Arakan stands with honor in the world. There are deeper definitions, but that is the gist.

In his words: "The Way of Rakhitta is not a term representing only the Arakan people or only Buddhism; it is a broad path for all peoples living in Arakan-regardless of ethnicity or religion-to journey together toward a free, just, and peaceful future."

To push this forward, the Arakan Dream 2020 was launched-stirring the dreams and hopes in Arakanese hearts. Announced in 2019, it urged each Arakan person to internalize the identity of a free Arakanese citizen and to unite the diaspora under a revolutionary determination.

To amplify the momentum: on April 10, 2019, ten years after founding the Arakan Army in 2009, he rebranded it as the Arakkha Army (AA); and on April 10, 2024, it was renamed back to the Arakan Army (AA) as used today.

Although the Arakan national struggle is distinct, he has also stressed that given global realities it cannot be walled off. The destinies of Myanmar's oppressed ethnic nationalities are intertwined; Arakan cannot be carved out and considered alone.

"We do have our distinctiveness, but we have come to understand more practically that we also need to work for oppressed Bamar people living in the heartland. Therefore, we can no longer think only within a fenced-off Arakan," he told The Irrawaddy.

At present the AA is fighting the dictatorship in practical alliance with Spring Revolution forces in the plains and with Chin, Shan, Kachin and other EAOs.

Dialogues that Mirror the Times

Major General Twan Mrat Naing is an educated modern figure-measured, composed, and courteous in speech. More than a dreamer, he is a practical politician. He keeps strategy close to the chest and executes quietly. He tells hard truths with finesse so as not to unduly hurt the other side, yet he sees through to the core.

Why say this? In 2019 he told The Irrawaddy: "We once saw Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as part of the solution to Myanmar's problems. In today's reality, we see her as part of the problem. She is riding a warhorse that won't heed her orders. Let's try not to fall with her."

After the National League for Democracy (NLD) won the 2020 election, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing seized power on February 1, 2021 and jailed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Later, meeting her son Kim Aris in September, Major General Twan Mrat Naing said he was very concerned about her health and that without her release Myanmar could not build a credible peace.

On relations with the National Unity Government (NUG), he told VOA that he views the NUG as one of the country's most important main actors and holds nationwide expectations for it-but some of its statements, especially on Arakan issues, have been off-key. "We accept that sometimes things must be said, but we hope they won't go beyond what is necessary."

In a recent Irrawaddy interview he added: "It's not entirely true that the NUG failed to mobilize ethnic forces. They tried. Their failure owes something to karma-the results of past deeds. Many still hesitate to follow closely, not from unwillingness to help but because there are many doubts. Because of past political mistakes and ill-intentioned decisions, trust-building is hard. We must prove ourselves with work-gradually."

Taken together, he appears as a courteous yet grounded revolutionary politician.

Another salient point: he has prioritized cooperation with ethnic allies. Except for the Chin National Front (CNF), AA maintains good relations with EROs nationwide-helping when needed and asking for help when needed.

Internationally, despite pressure, the AA does not speak in a one-sidedly hostile way toward China, India, or Bangladesh. He communicates positions with polite restraint-reflecting a union-wide and state-building perspective.

Today, the AA's struggle is no longer solely about Arakan national liberation; in partnership with all oppressed peoples, it fights for liberation from military dictatorship across the country.

I recall him saying: "Rather than asking whether the country would collapse without the Myanmar military, I want to shine a light on the present: what is happening because this military still exists? Are ethnic peoples at peace? Are Bamar at peace? They too are in a civil war," he told The Irrawaddy.

Another memorable, forward-looking remark came in a July 3, 2020 interview with Chin Cable Network (CCN) on Chin State: "We will help so that the Chin flag can be raised on Mount Victoria." Four years later, with AA support, the Chin Brotherhood (CB) forces captured Kanpetlet Township in February 2025-and now the Chin flag flies atop Mount Victoria.

During the 2022 ceasefire period-when the junta was arresting Arakan civilians and blockading roads and rivers-he publicly called out the Western Command chief by name:

"Ko Htin Latt Oo (Western Command commander), stop your swagger. You're losing focus. Don't pretend to care about peace. We'll grind up to wherever you sit," he warned on May 6, 2022. Two years later, on December 20, 2024, the AA seized the Western Command HQ and Ann Township.

Position on the "Muslim Issue"

In the battles for Buthidaung and Maungdaw, the AA faced the Muslim issue at a global scale-and still does. Diaspora organizations like the Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) accused the AA of genocide against some 600 Muslim residents of Htan Shauk Khan village in Buthidaung. Those claims were answered with firm evidence and testimony from those present and directly affected.

On this subject he told VOA: "Overseas Muslim lobbies do not see us in a positive light. Criticism will exist-more so in politics, and even more in war. We must continue doing what we need to do with conviction."

He has also guaranteed that Muslims living in Arakan are citizens of Arakan and, like others under the ULA administration, will receive equal rights and responsibilities.

On repatriation of Muslims displaced to Bangladesh by Tatmadaw atrocities, he told The Diplomat in September 2024: "We generally support refugee repatriation. But it must be voluntary, dignified, and safe under appropriate conditions."

And to The New Humanitarian in May 2024, when asked whether Muslims in AA-controlled areas would receive full rights: "Muslims in Arakan are already experiencing degrees of human rights without ethnic or religious discrimination. Our policy is to assign equal duties in security, justice, health, and education-the fundamentals of social protection."

Today, under ULA/AA control, thousands of Muslims serve in security, police, administration, and justice sectors. The ethnic-religious flare-ups of the past are fading in Arakan.

Back in 2019 he predicted a significant change before 2025. We are now witnessing that dream being made tangible. The examples above show instances where words and work have marched in step.

A Vision for State-Building

Having returned from Laiza, Major General Twan Mrat Naing is now closer than ever to the people inside Arakan. He is pouring energy into state- and nation-building-assessing the strengths and weaknesses of political arrangements for state formation.

If a new Myanmar is to be founded as a union, political equality and self-determination are essential. Without them, state-formation conflicts will recur and civil war will endure. He grasps this well.

Lessons of the Struggle and the AA Commander

Since the fall of the Arakan royal city of Mrauk-U in 1784, generations of Arakanese revolutionaries have sacrificed for the single goal of freedom-leaders from Bo Ching Pyan and De Wun Aung Kyaw Shwe, to Myothu Gyi Aung Kyaw Zan, Sayar San Kyaw Htut, Khaing Moe Linn, and Khaing Raza. Some died on the long road of return.

Major General Twan Mrat Naing appears to have studied why past leaders failed and distilled lessons. One clear marker: from distant Kachin lands he quietly transported tens of thousands of AA troops and weapons into far-off Arakan.

He once declared, "Even if Martians try to stop us, we will reclaim our ancestors' land." In practice, he has advanced without faltering.

Media now assess him as a new-generation national revolutionary leader trusted by many peoples-including Bamar. That stems from his decision-making, critical thinking, and strategic judgment. Until a robust, country-wide federal democratic charter emerges, he foresees Myanmar wandering in circles beneath pretty words about "federalism."

A careful reading of the dialogues above shows he carries a coalition mindset, a union-wide outlook, and a state-building vision.

In today's political landscape, this essay approaches the stance of an ERO leader-or the steward of Arakan-from a crucial angle, extracting and evaluating his positions.

His maxim-"Less talk, more doing"-will, I believe, continue to serve today's and tomorrow's revolution well. And so: "Happy birthday, Commander-Long Live Our Leader."