It looks like there is
about to be a revolution in Burma (Myanmar),
led by buddhist monks. There may also be a horrific
crackdown by the military regime.
This post isn't meant to start a discussion (not much to
discuss) but to alert you'all. The pro-democracy leader
is an old friend of mine, and I've been following
events there for decades. You might wish
to watch this.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_re_as/myanmar
Burma
-
Jack
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I have a co-worker from Burma* who is a Christian (one of the many currently strongly persecuted minority groups) and her father, a Burmese pastor, was exiled under threat of murder by the Buddhists there, for the crime of holding church services. It's a viscious place. When you call the revolution "peaceful," I have to ask -- peaceful for whom?
*She insists you say "Burma." She refuses to say "Myanmar." It's an ethnic issue (there are lots of small ethnic groups who don't like the designation of "Myanmar" for different historical and cultural reasons), but I don't really understand it beyond that.
*She insists you say "Burma." She refuses to say "Myanmar." It's an ethnic issue (there are lots of small ethnic groups who don't like the designation of "Myanmar" for different historical and cultural reasons), but I don't really understand it beyond that.
Here is a slide show, extraordinary photos, and more info.
If you click on the arrow the photos start.
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070922/481/ ... wA6Aj9xg8F
If you click on the arrow the photos start.
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070922/481/ ... wA6Aj9xg8F
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Jack
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I've seen a lot of pictures of Burma. It's a beautiful place with a lot of messed up people (the same could be said about most countries, I think).
Since you've followed the events for decades I wonder can you explain to me why some Burmese people refuse to use the name "Myanmar?" I asked my co-worker about ten times but I still don't really understand. Does it have to do with whether or not you're Buddhist (that's my hunch)?
Since you've followed the events for decades I wonder can you explain to me why some Burmese people refuse to use the name "Myanmar?" I asked my co-worker about ten times but I still don't really understand. Does it have to do with whether or not you're Buddhist (that's my hunch)?
'The current government came to power in 1988 after brutally suppressing mass pro-democracy demonstrations that had sought and end to military rule that began in 1962. Thousands were shot dead by solders, effectively terrorizing much of the country's population into submission.'
From the first newstory, above.
The military dictatorship that came to power in 1988 renamed
the country 'Myanmar.' People reject the name because
they reject the dictatorship.
From the first newstory, above.
The military dictatorship that came to power in 1988 renamed
the country 'Myanmar.' People reject the name because
they reject the dictatorship.
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JS
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I found a very interesting book, Finding George Orwell in Burma, by "Emma Larkin"--a pen name for a journalist who wouldn't endanger her sources or her work in the country by using her real name. The book traces Orwell's experience as a colonial policeman in Burma, looks at his continued influence as a writer there (in a culture where reading is both important and dangerous), and proposes the Burmese government as an excellent example of the totalitarian model GO would explore in 1984. And its very disturbing--the success of a low-tech but incredibly pervasive repression.
Here's the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Finding-George-Or ... 1594200521
I just reread Homage to Catlonia. What a fine and essential book!
Here's the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Finding-George-Or ... 1594200521
I just reread Homage to Catlonia. What a fine and essential book!
Last edited by JS on Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Furthermore he gave up coffee, and naturally his brain stopped working." -- Orhan Pamuk
Orwell is amazing. One can learn a good deal about
prose writing from him, too.
The thing about the Burmese military dictatorship
is that it's crazy. When they took power in 88,
they devalued the currency. Why? Because
they thought the number they were fixing
as the new value was magical. This
pretty well impoverished everybody.
They just raised fuel prices 500 percent....
Burma has been called 'The Hermit of Asia'
because it hasn't had much to do with
other countries. It's between Cambodia
and Thailand. This means that other
nations have little leverage over Burma,
it's this impoverished isolated country,
run by the army which will kill whomever
protests.
Clinton, then Bush, have vigorously tried to isolate
the regime, but the thing drones on and on.
This may be the end, or there may be
another blood bath as happened in 88,
or......
I met Suu and her husband and two sons in India.
Was close to them for a long time. It's simply
heart rending watching this woman, with whom
I drank tea and went for walks, live her life
for decades under house arrest.
Michael, her husband, was an Oxford Tibetologist,
the kindest, gentlest man imaginable. Handsome,
so aristocratic that he was, in fact, humble.
Think of Peter O'Toole in The Last Emperor
and you have him. Michael was the teacher
of the prince of Bhutan, in fact.
And he loved his beautiful Burmese wife, Suu,
as few people ever love anybody.
When she was arrested in Burma he wrote
to me from Oxford that 'a dark cloud has
passed over my life, and I don't know when
it will lift.'
Michael was diagnosed with prostate cancer
in the 90s. He was dying and he appealed to
the Burmese government to let him come
to Burma to say goodbye to his wife, who was under
house arrest in Rangoon. They refused to
let him in, but they said it would be fine if
Suu visited him in England. Of course they
would not have let her back into Burma.
She couldn't let that happen.
He died on his 54th birthday,
without seeing her again, or she him.
prose writing from him, too.
The thing about the Burmese military dictatorship
is that it's crazy. When they took power in 88,
they devalued the currency. Why? Because
they thought the number they were fixing
as the new value was magical. This
pretty well impoverished everybody.
They just raised fuel prices 500 percent....
Burma has been called 'The Hermit of Asia'
because it hasn't had much to do with
other countries. It's between Cambodia
and Thailand. This means that other
nations have little leverage over Burma,
it's this impoverished isolated country,
run by the army which will kill whomever
protests.
Clinton, then Bush, have vigorously tried to isolate
the regime, but the thing drones on and on.
This may be the end, or there may be
another blood bath as happened in 88,
or......
I met Suu and her husband and two sons in India.
Was close to them for a long time. It's simply
heart rending watching this woman, with whom
I drank tea and went for walks, live her life
for decades under house arrest.
Michael, her husband, was an Oxford Tibetologist,
the kindest, gentlest man imaginable. Handsome,
so aristocratic that he was, in fact, humble.
Think of Peter O'Toole in The Last Emperor
and you have him. Michael was the teacher
of the prince of Bhutan, in fact.
And he loved his beautiful Burmese wife, Suu,
as few people ever love anybody.
When she was arrested in Burma he wrote
to me from Oxford that 'a dark cloud has
passed over my life, and I don't know when
it will lift.'
Michael was diagnosed with prostate cancer
in the 90s. He was dying and he appealed to
the Burmese government to let him come
to Burma to say goodbye to his wife, who was under
house arrest in Rangoon. They refused to
let him in, but they said it would be fine if
Suu visited him in England. Of course they
would not have let her back into Burma.
She couldn't let that happen.
He died on his 54th birthday,
without seeing her again, or she him.
-
anniemcu
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My heart and prayers are with the people of Burma. It takes incredible courage to stand up in the face of a military regime. May they prevail and have their nation back.
anniemcu
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070923/ap_on_re_as/myanmar
part of an AP story this morning.
20,000 march in Myanmar against junta
YANGON, Myanmar - Riot police and barbed wire barricades blocked hundreds of monks and anti-government demonstrators from approaching the home of the detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday, in a new show of force against a rising protest movement.
Led by Buddhist monks, some 20,000 people protested against the junta on Sunday and shouted their support for Suu Kyi, who made her first public appearance in four years on Saturday when a crowd of monks and sympathizers was permitted to pass her house.
On Sunday, a small crowd of about 400 — about half of them monks — split off from the main demonstration and tried to approach Suu Kyi's home again but abandoned the attempt after their path was blocked by riot police and barbed wire barricades.
The monks carried carried a large yellow banner that read: "Love and kindness must win over everything."
The demonstration was the largest since 1988, the year Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Gen. Aung San, took up leadership of a pro-democracy movement. Then, the military fired on peaceful crowds, killing thousands and terrorizing the country.
On Saturday, a group of more than 500 monks and sympathizers walked to Suu Kyi's house, where she greeted them from her gate. One of the monks later said she looked "fit and well."
A photo posted Sunday on several blogs of Myanmar political activists showed her in traditional Myanmar dress in a doorway in the gate to her compound, behind police with riot shields facing the crowd.
The monks on Sunday shouted support for Suu Kyi, while about 10,000 people protected them by forming a human chain along the route. One monk gave a speech Sunday calling for Suu Kyi's release and national reconciliation, the witnesses said, squarely positioning their cause with her long-running struggle for democracy.
..............................
The story goes on to say that a number of Burma watchers
expect a violent crackdown. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 92, by the way. Her son Alexander accepted it
for her, as she was under arrest in Burma.
part of an AP story this morning.
20,000 march in Myanmar against junta
YANGON, Myanmar - Riot police and barbed wire barricades blocked hundreds of monks and anti-government demonstrators from approaching the home of the detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday, in a new show of force against a rising protest movement.
Led by Buddhist monks, some 20,000 people protested against the junta on Sunday and shouted their support for Suu Kyi, who made her first public appearance in four years on Saturday when a crowd of monks and sympathizers was permitted to pass her house.
On Sunday, a small crowd of about 400 — about half of them monks — split off from the main demonstration and tried to approach Suu Kyi's home again but abandoned the attempt after their path was blocked by riot police and barbed wire barricades.
The monks carried carried a large yellow banner that read: "Love and kindness must win over everything."
The demonstration was the largest since 1988, the year Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Gen. Aung San, took up leadership of a pro-democracy movement. Then, the military fired on peaceful crowds, killing thousands and terrorizing the country.
On Saturday, a group of more than 500 monks and sympathizers walked to Suu Kyi's house, where she greeted them from her gate. One of the monks later said she looked "fit and well."
A photo posted Sunday on several blogs of Myanmar political activists showed her in traditional Myanmar dress in a doorway in the gate to her compound, behind police with riot shields facing the crowd.
The monks on Sunday shouted support for Suu Kyi, while about 10,000 people protected them by forming a human chain along the route. One monk gave a speech Sunday calling for Suu Kyi's release and national reconciliation, the witnesses said, squarely positioning their cause with her long-running struggle for democracy.
..............................
The story goes on to say that a number of Burma watchers
expect a violent crackdown. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 92, by the way. Her son Alexander accepted it
for her, as she was under arrest in Burma.
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SteveShaw
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- Contact:
I am moved by your posts, Jim. We intervene where we don't urgently need to, yet we allow these other awful things to run on and on. Zimbabwe is another. I shall follow the Burma story in the coming days far more than I otherwise would have as a result of your posts.
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
I met Suu at the Indian Institute for Advanced Studies
in Simla, a hill station in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The Institute was run out of the old Viceroy's Lodge,
where the British Government worked in the
summers to escape the heat in Delhi.
She was very beautiful and very clever.
Her father had been the founder of modern Burma
and he had been assassinated, along with his
entire cabinet, when Suu was 2. That would have
been in 1946.
She looks like him and whatever political genius he
had she inherited. She was on a hair-trigger,
there was something fierce about her, and
on several occasions she tried to bite my head
off for saying something she thought mistaken
or silly. I was glad she was a Buddhist!
She needed an adversary worthy of her; it seemed
her whole life
had prepared her for a terrible struggle.
When I returned to the USA in the summer of 87,
Suu, her husband Michael
and their two sons returned to Oxford. Soon after
word came that Suu's mother had suffered a stroke.
She flew to Burma to care for her.
A spontaneous uprising happened in Rangoon in 88,
the protesters looked about for a leader, and there
was Suu, the daughter of the founder of modern
Burma, this beautiful, brilliant woman,
rarin to go. The army shot dead thousands of
people, Suu was placed under house arrest, which
probably saved her life, because now they couldn't
kill her without it being plain they had done it.
International outrage forced the junta to hold elections
in 90, which Suu won overwhelmingly. The junta
refused to accept the result and she continued under
house arrest for most of the time since.
She had told Michael that one day
her duty to Burma might divide them.
This battle is her destiny, she waited for it
her whole life until it came. But eighteen years
under house arrest! She's now 62. If you find her
pictures you will see that she is still beautiful.
The newstories report that she greeted the monks
'with tears in her eyes.'
It is very strange knowing somebody at the center of
something like this. I know what this has cost her
and her late husband and her children.
I want her to win.
Here are pictures of Suu and her two sons,
Alexander and Kim. The one on the bottom
is of Suu and Michael in 1973. It speaks a thousand
words of what was lost.
http://www.ibiblio.org/freeburma/assk/assk.html
in Simla, a hill station in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The Institute was run out of the old Viceroy's Lodge,
where the British Government worked in the
summers to escape the heat in Delhi.
She was very beautiful and very clever.
Her father had been the founder of modern Burma
and he had been assassinated, along with his
entire cabinet, when Suu was 2. That would have
been in 1946.
She looks like him and whatever political genius he
had she inherited. She was on a hair-trigger,
there was something fierce about her, and
on several occasions she tried to bite my head
off for saying something she thought mistaken
or silly. I was glad she was a Buddhist!
She needed an adversary worthy of her; it seemed
her whole life
had prepared her for a terrible struggle.
When I returned to the USA in the summer of 87,
Suu, her husband Michael
and their two sons returned to Oxford. Soon after
word came that Suu's mother had suffered a stroke.
She flew to Burma to care for her.
A spontaneous uprising happened in Rangoon in 88,
the protesters looked about for a leader, and there
was Suu, the daughter of the founder of modern
Burma, this beautiful, brilliant woman,
rarin to go. The army shot dead thousands of
people, Suu was placed under house arrest, which
probably saved her life, because now they couldn't
kill her without it being plain they had done it.
International outrage forced the junta to hold elections
in 90, which Suu won overwhelmingly. The junta
refused to accept the result and she continued under
house arrest for most of the time since.
She had told Michael that one day
her duty to Burma might divide them.
This battle is her destiny, she waited for it
her whole life until it came. But eighteen years
under house arrest! She's now 62. If you find her
pictures you will see that she is still beautiful.
The newstories report that she greeted the monks
'with tears in her eyes.'
It is very strange knowing somebody at the center of
something like this. I know what this has cost her
and her late husband and her children.
I want her to win.
Here are pictures of Suu and her two sons,
Alexander and Kim. The one on the bottom
is of Suu and Michael in 1973. It speaks a thousand
words of what was lost.
http://www.ibiblio.org/freeburma/assk/assk.html
Last edited by jim stone on Tue Sep 25, 2007 3:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
From a since passed-away colleague I heard horrific first-hand witness stories of some of the countless acts perpetrated by the military regime against the peasant farmers in the hills on the Burmese-Thai border in the 1980's. These stories involved the murder of scores of innocent men, women and children. I shudder to think of the untold similar stories that must exist in this country of 55 million citizens from the past 40 years.
I believe that regardless of how it unfolds, this represents the best chance for change the people of Burma have had in recent years. I believe that Burmese Buddhist monks have now withdrawn spiritual services from military personnel. They have cleverly placed the Junta in a 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't' position.
Jim, my thoughts are with your friend (Nobel Peace Prize laureate) Aung San Suu Kyi and with the brave monks and civilians who are turning out for these protests. I will continue to follow this story closely.
I believe that regardless of how it unfolds, this represents the best chance for change the people of Burma have had in recent years. I believe that Burmese Buddhist monks have now withdrawn spiritual services from military personnel. They have cleverly placed the Junta in a 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't' position.
Jim, my thoughts are with your friend (Nobel Peace Prize laureate) Aung San Suu Kyi and with the brave monks and civilians who are turning out for these protests. I will continue to follow this story closely.