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Persisting tyranny



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               PERSISTING TYRANNY

The Hindu (New Delhi)
November 2, 2000

IT IS AMAZING and even incredible that while almost everywhere else in
the world authoritarian regimes are on the run, the military junta in
Myanmar has been digging itself in and has remained wholly insensitive
to international condemnation of the repression it has been letting
loose on its helpless people. The latest U.N. report on the military
junta?s suppression of democracy and political activity in Myanmar and
the snuffing out of human rights is a shocking revelation of how the
mindset of the regime has remained stuck in the earlier centuries when
tyranny was the way of life for rulers.

It is a tragedy that democracy has not been allowed to strike roots in
Myanmar, which won independence in the same year as India, in 1947 from
British rule. Almost right from the moment it had emerged as a free
country, Myanmar was giving itself the image of a killing field. The
Myanmar freedom fighter, Gen. Aung San, was brutally assassinated in
March 1947 when he was being sworn in as Prime Minister of his country
by his political rivals among whom was U Saw who was later executed for
his part in the killing. If, half a century later, the generals remain
in position in Myanmar, apart from the tragedy of it, it is also
ridiculous that the brass hats are stepping out of the barracks, where
they should have stayed, to run Governments for which they are ill
qualified.

The generals of Myanmar do not seem to realize that while the jackboot
could go on grinding underfoot freedom for a while, it wears down under
its own weight to give out a piteous and clumsy picture of itself.
Thought the tragic scene in Myanmar presented in the U.N. report might
seem to rule out hopes of a civilian Government returning to throw out
the military regime in the near future, the people of Myanmar who have
been courageously rebelling against the military rulers under the
leadership of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi would not have lost hope about the
scene brightening up much faster than they perhaps think.

The happenings in Myanmar presented in horrifying detail in the U.N.
report could actually be the latest updated edition of the proceedings
of the notorious Star Chamber of the 17th century, which resorted to
arbitrary justice for the political victims of the monarchy. How else
does one understand a state policy of the ?enforcement of laws, orders
and administrative action specifically designed to criminalise normal
political activity?? The intimidation by the leadership of the National
League for Democracy and the imposition of severe restrictions on
movement outside a particular locality, apart from giving an idea of the
ruthlessness they could resort to, should also be seen as a clear
indication of the state of desperation in which they find themselves. It
is doubtful whether while tracing the records of even the Star Chamber
proceedings one could find a parallel for the large-scale relocation of
the ethnic areas accompanied by forced labour and inhuman treatment to
which the U.N. Commission has drawn attention while reporting on human
rights violations in Myanmar. The 17th century was indeed a very bad
time for whoever was living then but it was happily free from the
?fruits of progress? the world was going to see in the coming centuries.
The ethnic relocation of areas resorted to by the Myanmar regime is
aimed at the forcible shifting of labour for depriving insurgents of
food, funds and resources. The military rulers obviously believe that
such terrorizing of insurgents will kill the urge for freedom. It is
more likely that the ranks of the insurgents will only increase and
recall the writing of a historian of the French Revolution about
Frenchmen in uniforms joining Frenchmen in rags for throwing out the
tyrants.



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<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<blockquote><b><font size=+2>PERSISTING TYRANNY</font></b></blockquote>
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<p><br><b>The Hindu (New Delhi)</b>
<br><b>November 2, 2000</b>
<p>IT IS AMAZING and even incredible that while almost everywhere else
in the world authoritarian regimes are on the run, the military junta in
Myanmar has been digging itself in and has remained wholly insensitive
to international condemnation of the repression it has been letting loose
on its helpless people. The latest U.N. report on the military junta?s
suppression of democracy and political activity in Myanmar and the snuffing
out of human rights is a shocking revelation of how the mindset of the
regime has remained stuck in the earlier centuries when tyranny was the
way of life for rulers.
<p>It is a tragedy that democracy has not been allowed to strike roots
in Myanmar, which won independence in the same year as India, in 1947 from
British rule. Almost right from the moment it had emerged as a free country,
Myanmar was giving itself the image of a killing field. The Myanmar freedom
fighter, Gen. Aung San, was brutally assassinated in March 1947 when he
was being sworn in as Prime Minister of his country by his political rivals
among whom was U Saw who was later executed for his part in the killing.
If, half a century later, the generals remain in position in Myanmar, apart
from the tragedy of it, it is also ridiculous that the brass hats are stepping
out of the barracks, where they should have stayed, to run Governments
for which they are ill qualified.
<p>The generals of Myanmar do not seem to realize that while the jackboot
could go on grinding underfoot freedom for a while, it wears down under
its own weight to give out a piteous and clumsy picture of itself. Thought
the tragic scene in Myanmar presented in the U.N. report might seem to
rule out hopes of a civilian Government returning to throw out the military
regime in the near future, the people of Myanmar who have been courageously
rebelling against the military rulers under the leadership of Ms. Aung
San Suu Kyi would not have lost hope about the scene brightening up much
faster than they perhaps think.
<p>The happenings in Myanmar presented in horrifying detail in the U.N.
report could actually be the latest updated edition of the proceedings
of the notorious Star Chamber of the 17th century, which resorted to arbitrary
justice for the political victims of the monarchy. How else does one understand
a state policy of the ?enforcement of laws, orders and administrative action
specifically designed to criminalise normal political activity?? The intimidation
by the leadership of the National League for Democracy and the imposition
of severe restrictions on movement outside a particular locality, apart
from giving an idea of the ruthlessness they could resort to, should also
be seen as a clear indication of the state of desperation in which they
find themselves. It is doubtful whether while tracing the records of even
the Star Chamber proceedings one could find a parallel for the large-scale
relocation of the ethnic areas accompanied by forced labour and inhuman
treatment to which the U.N. Commission has drawn attention while reporting
on human rights violations in Myanmar. The 17th century was indeed a very
bad time for whoever was living then but it was happily free from the ?fruits
of progress? the world was going to see in the coming centuries. The ethnic
relocation of areas resorted to by the Myanmar regime is aimed at the forcible
shifting of labour for depriving insurgents of food, funds and resources.
The military rulers obviously believe that such terrorizing of insurgents
will kill the urge for freedom. It is more likely that the ranks of the
insurgents will only increase and recall the writing of a historian of
the French Revolution about Frenchmen in uniforms joining Frenchmen in
rags for throwing out the tyrants.
<p>&nbsp;</html>

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