Showing posts with label Burma uprising 07. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Burma uprising 07. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Burma's Only Real Hope....

1. At the Port of Yangon 2. At a noodles shop in Chinatown, Yangon







UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ( source: UNIC Yangon ) 2 days ago.
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of Aung San who is still regarded by most Burmese as the real hero of their nation. After successfully negotiating Burma's independence from the British in 1947, he was tragically assasinated that same year when Suu Kyi was only 2.
Suu Kyi was educated both in Burma and abroad.
In 1990, the military junta agreed to have the 1st free election in the country. Under her leadership, her party which she founded the NLD ( National League for Democracy ) won a major landslide victory at the polls. According to protocol, she would have been the Prime Minister. But the military, who also participated in the elections, were soundly beaten and following that humiliation , declared the election results "null and void". She was again placed under house arrest and has been in detention ever since.
The junta led by Sr General Than Shwe refused to hand over power and was widely condemned by all quarters of the international community.The military crooks pulled the carpet from right under her. And since then, the country has gone downhill. In her most famous Speech, "Freedom From Fear " her 1st sentence begins.......
"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those subject to it. "
In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful, non-violent struggle against the military dictatorship.
She remains Burma's only real hope for reversing the country's fortune and putting her on a path of democracy.
Some recent reports have pointed out the similarity between the Philippines People Power struggle that eventually toppled then President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. That too was led by a lady, Corazon Aquino., who assumed the presidency after Marcos fled.
The People Power movement was strongly backed by the nuns,priests,bishops and cardinals of the respected and powerful Catholic Church.
At the height of the demonstrations against martial law imposed by Marcos, he vowed to crush the protesters with his tanks.
But where the protests in Burma failed, time and time again, the one in Manila succeeded owing
to one major,critical factor. And what was that? Gen Fidel Ramos was the head of the Philippines Constabulary( Police ). He threw his weight and that of the entire police legions behind the Church and effectively behind the protesters.
He became a new hero of the Filipino struggle against oppression and tyranny.
But here in Burma, the picture is quite different.
The military regime controls the Senior monks who are appointed by them to control and oversee all monks in the country. They have no independence of control.
Those who do not cooperate are removed.
This is common knowledge among Burmese people.
After all, the evil generals run a totalitarian system.
Latest reports today stated that the P M Gen Soe Wein has died of luekemia [ Mizzima.com ].
[ However on 5/10/07 Mizzima.com apologised on their site for the earlier inaccuracy. Apparently the ailing PM is still alive but in a critical condition and is not expected to pull through. ]
There will be some re-shuffling of the 12 merry men of Than Shwe.
Yes....there are 12 in the ruling junta.
All should PRAY hard that one day, in the not too distant future, one or two of these"dirty dozen" will be
another Fidel Ramos....and he will be the new hero of democratic Burma!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Latest.... Burma's Killing Field. Shocking if true!



1.Betel nut seller 2. Ferry crossing at Yangon river
3. Poor boy selling cold water










According to the latest Daily Mail (UK ) News, 2nd Oct 2007, a senior Intelligence officer working with the Ruling Junta has decided to defect after he refused to be involved in the clandestine dirty work, now going on deep inside Burma's jungle in the north. According to HLA WIN ( his name ) he was to accompany thousands of detained monks and other protesters taken into the deep jungle and there shoot and bury or dump them. He could not bring himself to do so and taking his son with him, fled to the refugee border of Thailand to escape and seek refuge. He reported that all the monks and protesters had been shackled and dragged deep into the jungle. There they were all killed and their bodies dumped.

It does not come as a surprise to me that the evil regime has chosen the deep jungle as the new "Killing Field "for those who oppose them. The jungle's canopy provide the perfect cover against any spy satellites overhead. Some satellites have already captured clear images of their fortress-like bunker Hqrs at Naypyidaw. Obviously they wouldn't want such mass killings to be recorded and shown to the outside world. Brutal killing, heinous torture and state -sponsored terrorism against their very own people is the signature trademark of Than Shwe and his murderous clowns.

Many more horrific and brutal stories are posted on the internet. I am reminded of the "mad and murderous" reign of Idi Amin of Uganda after he deposed President Milton Obote while the latter was in Singapore for the Commonwealth Heads of Govt Conference.

A BBC team visited 7 monasteries and found no monks in any. Now, at least we know where they could have ended up. But they won't kill all monks. Those released were defrocked and sent home to their villages or communes. Others will remain locked up and languish in the regime's jails for a long time as punishment and warning to all in Burma.

Latest Update:
This piece of news made it to the top stories on BBC news tonight, 3rd Oct 2007, on TV.
I caught the whole story. The BBC reporter was interviewing this defector. He said he was a major and was i/c of a unit of men who were given orders to massacre the monks in deep jungle. He spoke in his own voice, pointing to details on a map. His face was hidden for security reasons.
I do hope that the UN and other international bodies that have the power to investigate further take notice and launch some preliminary fact-finding before the evil generals erase all evidence of their monstrous crime.