Another thing I couldn’t help but blog about. This is a tribute to the people of Myanmar, who are currently defying tear gas, battons, bullets, and arrests as they fight for democracy for their country.
On the 15th of August, 2007, the military junta that forms the government of Myanmar sharply increased fuel prices, hitting people on the ground hard. This lead to a wave of unrest in the country. This unrest has slowly been building up all throughout the month. Slightly over a week ago, it reached a stage that began to sorely worry the junta, as thousands took to the streets in protest.
The protests were spearheaded by Burma’s revered Buddhist monks, whom even the junta often gives donations to, so as to keep up an image of being pious. The monks started their protest by refusing to accept donations from the junta. Why is this a big deal? Well, in Burma, people often give donations to the monks in return for the spiritual service they provide to society. If a monk were to refuse the donations, he would be denying the donor an opportunity to increase his spiritual credit; "the strongest possible penalty that can be expected from a Buddhist," says Myint Swe of the BBC Burmese service.
That was just the beginning. Since then, monks and ordinary citizens alike have taken to the streets to protest not just the fuel price hikes, but to demand democracy and reform in Myanmar, and among other things, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. Aung San Suu Kyi is a pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), an opposition party in Myanmar. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, for her peaceful, pacifist struggle to bring democracy to Myanmar. She says the manner of her struggle was inspired by that of the struggles of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. She is currently under house arrest and has been detained by the junta in some form or other for about twelve years now. But for all these years, she has still managed to be nothing short of an inspiration to the people of Myanmar, and many people the world over.
Back to the protests: I should note that they have been mainly in the form of marches, and started out non-violently, being led after all by Myanmar’s monks. The initially peaceful nature of the protests was confirmed by Mark Canning, the British ambassador to Burma.
On Tuesday, the 25th of September, 2007, the military began a crackdown on all protests. They banned any assembly of people that is more than five in number. They have raided six Buddhist monasteries according to the BBC, most notably the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, which has been a hot spot of action. The International Herald Tribune quoted the Associated Press reports on how monks were beaten during these raids. Many monks have been arrested.
Riot police have been using shields, batons, and tear gas, as well as firing shots, to try and disperse the crowds, who have been defiant against the junta’s ban on assembly. People began throwing sticks and bricks at the riot police in retaliation. State media reported that nine have been killed so far from protests within Yangon, including a Japanese AFP video journalist. State media adds that eleven demonstrators and 31 soldiers were injured.
It seems that now fewer monks are seen protesting on the streets, afraid as they are of arrests and beatings. Which is does not bode well for the rest of the civilian protestors. The junta would think twice before using force on the country’s revered monks, but would be more trigger-happy with fewer of them on the streets.
Here are some pictures of the events thus far.
Bicycle taxi drivers struggling through traffic outside a city market in Yangon. Fuel price hikes left many facing choices of having to sell furniture and jewelry in order to eat.
Buddhist monks marching in protest against the military goverment in Yangon on Monday.
Riot police waiting for the protesting monks at a checkpoint near Aung San Suu Kyi’s house on Monday.
Myanmar soldiers blocking a road leading to the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon on Wednesday.
A group of monks sitting in protest after being halted by riot policemen and military officials as they attempted to proceed to the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon on Wednesday.
Security forces fired warning shots and tear gas canisters while hauling Buddhist monks away in trucks on Wednesday as they tried to stop anti-government demonstrations in defiance of a ban on assembly.
About 300 monks and activists were arrested across Yangon after braving government orders to stay at home, according to an exiled dissident group.
(Note: All the above photos and captions were taken from the International Herald Tribune at http://iht.com/slideshows/2007/09/26/asia/26myanmar-slideshow.php)
These protests are the first time since 1988 that the junta has faced such strong civilian opposition. We can only hope that there is no repeat of the 1988 tragedy. You see, those protests ended in thousands of the demonstrators getting shot. The junta is thankfully less likely to do that now because China has been telling them to "show restraint". Though I wouldn’t want to depend solely on that, if I were a Burmese citizen.
China is probably the Burmese junta’s biggest ally in the outside world. Being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, it uses its veto power to block any resolution to place sanctions on Myanmar, along with Russia. The US and the EU have so far been the only ones imposing sanctions on Myanmar, and US President, George W. Bush, said the US would tighten sanctions due to this crackdown on the protests. Of course whether these sanctions actually do anything besides hurt people on the ground is a different story entirely. But why do China and Russia help Myanmar so?
Mainly because of the trade and economic relations that the two countries have with Myanmar. China is even planning to build an oil pipeline from Myanmar into its territory, so it can harness the latter’s natural resources, at a time when the world is desperate for any extra source of oil. Even India has trade relations with Myanmar for the sake of countering China’s regional influence.
China uses its leverage in the UN to stave off any action they might propose to take on Myanmar. But China’s leverage has its limits, as demonstrated when they finally allowed peacekeeping forces into Sudan. So the Burmese junta would probably think twice before pissing China off. Already China and Russia have blocked a move by the UN to condemn Myanmar over the junta’s reaction to the protests, but backed the proposal to send in UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to negociate with the junta, if they allow him to enter the country.
ASEAN has also been useless for decades in dealing with Myanmar, mainly because of its non-interventionist policy. ASEAN has been totally silent on these protests as well, refusing to condemn the junta’s crackdown thus far. When we look at Malaysia in particular, The Star reports Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar as saying that the crackdown in Burma "is an internal matter" and Malaysia’s position is not "to interfere". I am ashamed by this lack of condemnation, and apologise to the Burmese people on behalf of Malaysians. For what it’s worth, we’re with you in spirit. Know that the people here condemn the junta’s actions, even if the government doesn’t.
And the government here doesn’t condemn what’s going on for similar reasons to China. I just found out that the national oil and gas giant, Petronas, has had dealings with the Burmese junta since 1997. I ask the forgiveness of the people of Myanmar, because Malaysians have benefitted from your wealth while helping to support the junta.
In any case, the world watches, and waits, and does little else, as these events play themselves out in Myanmar. How will they end? When will they end?
Our hearts and prayers go to the people of Myanmar. I pray that the violence may end soon, and the casualties be kept to a minimum. But as far as the long term is concerned, I pray that the current protestors may have their dream of a free Myanmar realised within their lifetimes.
Before I end, I’d just like to dedicate this post to my two Burmese friends, Aung Naing Htoo and Sian, as well as to Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Myanmar as a whole. Below is the music video of the song "Unplayed Piano" by Damien Rice, featuring Lisa Hannigan. They have dedicated this song to Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recepient.
(Note: For an up to date summary of the events as they unfold, go to the BBC website’s page: "Accounts from inside Burma". Click here to view a BBC video of the protests. Also read The Economist’s excellent (as always) overview of things here and here. Finally, do visit the ActionBurma website shown at the end of the above video.)
References:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7010202.stm, retrieved September, 2007.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7016608.stm, retrieved September 2007.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/09/27/asia/nations.php, retrieved September, 2007.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7014173.stm, retrieved September, 2007.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7015526.stm, retrieved September, 2007.
http://iht.com/articles/2007/09/26/news/myanmar.php, retrieved September, 2007.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7014702.stm, retrieved September, 2007.
http://ghostline.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/solidarity-burma-petronas-money-helps-buy-burmese-bullets/, retrieved September, 2007.
http://ghostline.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/solidarity-the-people-of-burma/, retrieved September, 2007.
http://actionburma.com/, retrieved September, 2007.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/27/nation/19001769&sec=nation, retrieved September, 2007.
Ahimsa part 2 brother. May the will of the people prevail.
When people start to get violent against monks… You realize how truly unjust the government and system can be in their craving to maintain power over the people.
Hey bro,
That was one superb post man! Really loved it and the way u meticulously wrote every detail of the protests.
But why does the military regime call themselves the junta? And who is actually spearheading this junta?
And bro, do you think through this event, Burma will gain their independence in being a democratic country?
U should have been a reporter man!
Take care!
sukhbir: “junta” (pronounced hoon-tah) is a word which has been borrowed from spanish, and absorbed into english. it is usually used to refer to any military government that has come into power through a coup. so for example, you would also call thailand’s current government a junta. the current leader of the junta is a general named than shwe. read the following bbc article to find out more about general than shwe and the rest of the leaders of the burmese junta:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3755684.stm
will the current protests lead to a burmese democracy? i don’t know, but i’m not very optimistic about it.
Great work.