Turning a blind eye to the rights v

[gawdech@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Turning a blind eye to the rights violation;
Thongbai Thongpao.

Bangkok Post reported last week that Burma's ruling junta has arrested and
detained Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for
Democracy(NLD), while she was on her way to attend a NLD meeting upcountry.
 Although what she was trying to do is a very normal political activity and
is not considered a threat from a democratic point of view, the military
junta apparently found it offensive and denies its dissidents such
opportunities. However, what Burma's dictatorial government has done came
as no surprise as it is typical of dictatorships, the enemy of freedom and
human rights.
 years back, convinced it could control the opinion of the people as well
as the fate of Burma, the junta allowed for a general election to be held.
To their surprise, Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory. This forced the
junta to reverse its democratic attempt by refusing to respect the opinion
of the public who had   already decided they wanted as their leader Suu Kyi
and her NLDr 

 The jnuta arrested her and other key members of the party and limited all
the political movements of the party. Suu Kyi is alive only in her home.
She can't move 
without prior approval from the junta.
 If they could kill her, they surely would. But the whole world is standing
by her side. The worlds human rights organization shows its strong support
for Suu Kyi, for democracy principles and for her respect of human rights.
It is the democratic world and the Burmese people who have saved her and
her democratic party.

what is interesting is the role of Asean, including Burma's close neighbour
Thailand. Although no one agrees 
with Burma's junta, neither does it dare do anything,even to talk or
criticise,not to mention taking more concrete moves to protect human rights.
 Asean holds fast to its resolution"not to interfere with Burma's internal
affairs."It continues to turn a blind eye to human rights violation in the
country for the sake of the so-called "constructive policy."It allows the
stronger to prey on the weaker and destroy the rights and freedoms of human
kind as if it couldn't care less.
 Its reaction reminds me of an old folk tale of the Northeasterners when I
was young. The tale is about a hermit,a large snake,and a frog. The story
goes like this:
 In a large forest, while a hermit was praying in seclusion, he heard a
frog screaming in pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw that a large snake
was eating the small frog.The snake was slowly swallowing the frog alive
while the poor frog was struggling out of its 
deadly mouth.Unable to witness such a cruel scene, the hermit closed his
eyes while praying for them both. Although he felt pity for the frog, he
could not help it
because that would mean obstructing the interests of the snake. Resolving
this, the hermit closed hie eyes and prayed for the snake to hold on tight
to its prey while at the same time praying for the frog to succeed in its
struggle. finally, he felt relieved when the screaming of the frog died
down.He opened his eyes again in time to see the large snake to crawl away
happily with the 
frog in its stomach.
 The Asean and other human rightists react to the suppression of the junta
just like the hermit who closed his eyes to the scene right under his nose.
Bangkok Post, Perspective. 7-19-1998.