THE NATION: EDITORIAL: Fear still s (r)

[osolnick@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Dear Suriya
I appreciate your effort.
Usae it for thinking [ we need you to think - think - OK ] than posting
what all can  and have read in the normal postings.

At 09:08 PM 8/8/98, you wrote:
>Editorial & Opinion 
>
>      EDITORIAL: Fear still
>      stalks Burma 10 years on 
>
>      FOR many Burmese, the eighth day of the
>      eight month of the year 1988 remains
>      gravelly portentous. On that day, thousands
>      of protesters, emboldened by the
>      resignation of strongman Ne Win, poured
>      into the streets to demand democracy. 
>
>      The military responded with such brutality
>      that when the bloodletting ended seven
>      days later, thousands were dead. 
>
>      August 8, 1988, in fact, marked the
>      beginning of a new reign of terror. It
>      sparked an exodus of fearful Burmese
>      students and pro-democracy activists to the
>      border, many of whom later fled into exile.
>      But from the midst of Burma's latest
>      dictatorship, there emerged a new hope in
>      the form of Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of
>      independence hero Gen Aung San. Over
>      the past decade, this flower of democracy
>      has consistently proved to be a thorn in the
>      side of the military clique. 
>
>      On Saturday, the 10th anniversary of the
>      8-8-88 uprising, the military remains
>      unmoved, but it is facing mounting pressure
>      to bow to the wishes of the people. Clearly,
>      there is much for the junta to worry about. 
>
>      While major unrest is not expected in the
>      streets of Rangoon on Saturday, the junta is
>      nevertheless bracing for sporadic protests.
>      Students -- the foot soldiers of the
>      democracy struggle -- are currently sitting
>      exams despite that universities have been
>      closed since December 1996. The exams
>      will be over by next week, and if there is to
>      be any confrontation, it will be after Aug 21
>      -- the deadline which Suu Kyi and the
>      National League for Democracy (NLD)
>      have set for the ruling State Peace and
>      Development Council (SPDC) to convene
>      parliament. 
>
>      Suu Kyi has called on the government to
>      allow the 1990 elected parliament to
>      convene by that day or she ''couldn't be held
>      responsible for the consequences''. She
>      did not specify what actions would be taken
>      should the junta refuse to budge, but
>      patience is running thin and tension is high.
>      Burma, to put it bluntly, is at boiling point. 
>
>      Last week, the military forcibly ended Suu
>      Kyi's defiant headline-grabbing protest
>      which began when she was stopped at a
>      wooden bridge near a village outside
>      Rangoon and prevented from driving to
>      Bassein to meet supporters. For six days
>      she refused to budge from her car until the
>      military ended the deadlock by ejecting her
>      driver and two fellow passengers, and
>      drove her back home. 
>
>      But this is not the only problem confronting
>      the military junta. The man who sparked the
>      8.8.88 uprising is reported to be on his
>      deathbed. Rangoon-based diplomatic
>      sources say Ne Win, the country's ruthless
>      dictator since 1962, has been in Rangoon's
>      Military Hospital No. 2 since mid-June,
>      apparently too sick to be flown to
>      Singapore where he normally goes for
>      medical treatment. 
>
>      The influential former leader, now believed
>      to be 87, is rumoured to have suffered a
>      debilitating stroke. The possible demise of
>      Ne Win is likely to ignite a new round of
>      political sabre-rattling in the divided military
>      leadership. Should Ne Win die, his protege,
>      intelligence chief and senior junta member
>      Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, could face an uncertain
>      future. 
>
>      Already, as Ne Win counts his last days,
>      Khin Nyunt's authority is being challenged
>      by his political rivals. Last November, Khin
>      Nyunt ordered the incarceration of a
>      number of ministers for corruption following
>      a reshuffle in the ruling council. But within
>      days of Ne Win's hospitalisation, the
>      government, apparently on the orders of
>      Vice Chairman Gen Maung Aye, released
>      the jailed former cabinet members. 
>
>      To add to the junta's woes, the economy is
>      in a tailspin and the Burmese kyat has
>      plunged into a currency black hole. With the
>      Asian economic crisis still taking its toll in
>      the region, few investors are interested in
>      Burma. Occupancy rates at the capital's
>      four and five-star hotels have slid to a
>      worrying 10 per cent because of a dearth of
>      tourists. The government, in fact, is so
>      desperate for hard currency that it went cap
>      in hand to the Singaporean government to
>      help inject capital into the cash-strapped
>      economy. Other than Singapore, there is
>      nobody else the military can turn to for aid. 
>
>      Clearly, the junta is caught between Suu Kyi
>      and the deep blue sea. Suu Kyi, whether
>      the generals like it or not, is here to stay.
>      The junta does have a choice, however. It
>      can negotiate with Suu Kyi and the NLD for
>      a peaceful transition to democracy. Or, it
>      can turn the clock back 10 years and
>      ''annihilate'' the lady and the pro-democracy
>      movement. 
>
>      The latter scenario is hardly likely, however.
>      Because of Burma's isolation at the time,
>      few outside the country knew of the
>      massacre that began on that fateful day of
>      Aug 8, 1988. This time the whole world is
>      watching. 
>
>      The Nation
>
>
>
>