Grave Warning to the Junta is Now Needed [Multimedia/Commentary]
By Kyaw Zwa Moe
The pictures that accompany this article provide a warning of what could occur if the Burmese regime decides to break up the current nationwide wave of peaceful demonstrations by force.
The pictures are from the 1988 uprising, when an estimated 3,000 unarmed protesters were massacred.
The memory of that disaster and the fear of an even greater slaughter aren’t preventing an ever increasing number of monks and members of the public from taking to the streets and demonstrating against the hated regime. What began as a series of protests against rising prices has grown into a deafening demand for political change.
The military regime that brutally suppressed the 1988 uprising appears so far to be reluctant to use its muscle. But experience shows that the junta’s patience isn’t unlimited and that it would choose to resort to force rather than relinquish power. It has made no move so far to engage opposition forces in dialogue.
As the protests grew on Monday, the Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks issued a statement alerting demonstrators to prepare for a crackdown.
The thousands of monks, nuns and other protesters on the streets, with no means of protection, are placing themselves in very real danger. In place of weapons, they have only alms bowls, religious banners and the chanted messages of the Buddha’s suttas.
Who will protect them? They can rely on no security force of their own. It’s time for the international community, including the super powers, regional governments and countries like China that have influence over Burma, to consider seriously how to save innocent lives.
Most countries, including Asean members, maintain silence as the situation in Burma grows ever more critical, saying only that events there are being “closely watched.”
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters on Sunday, for instance: “Certainly, we are watching very carefully and the President (George W Bush) has been very outspoken about what is happening in Burma.”
Bush and other world leaders would undoubtedly be very “outspoken” after a repetition of the 1988 massacre. But that won’t help the thousands who would probably die—and it won’t help Burma.
The UN special envoy entrusted with the job of helping achieve a solution in Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, who briefed the UN Security Council on the situation last Thursday, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “very concerned.”
The Burmese people are tired of this diplomatic language, and the endless litany of diplomatic terms like “deeply concerned,” “closely watching,” “monitoring the situation,” “turning a new page,” and “forcefully urging dialogue.”
For two decades, a toothless UN has done nothing to protect the people of Burma and effectively advance their aspirations for democracy. Instead, UN inaction has only protected the generals and their own aspirations to entrench their bloodstained power base.
UN action is now urgently required if innocent blood is not again to be spilt in the streets of Rangoon. Time is rapidly running out—doctors and nurses are reported right now to be gathering at Shwedagon Pagoda in the expectation of a military crackdown.
So what is to be done if a tragedy on the scale of 1988 is to be prevented? What do the superpowers and Europe plan to do? And what about the Asean countries, who are so concerned to protect their non-interference policy?
How about countries with large Buddhist populations, such as Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam? How about China, India and Thailand, whose concern for events in Burma is overshadowed by their trade deals and reliance on Burmese natural resources? Will those interests outweigh their concern to prevent bloodshed in Burma?
A realistic strategy, based on a plan of action, is needed now after two decades of silence.
The strongest possible message has to be sent to the Burmese junta, warning it of grave foreign policy consequences if it engages in a military suppression of the peaceful demonstrations. Such a message would cost nothing, but it could save thousands of lives. The time for grandstanding and paying lip service to the generals is long over.
