Today (October 4) is Free Burma Day, a day when bloggers and other folks from around the Internet decided to call attention to the plight of the Burmese people.
We are doing it by posting nothing but articles about Burma. Of course, around here at SnS, one post a day is actually above average productivity. And given how little I know about Burma, I think one post will do it.
Here's what I know about Burma: it's been run by one military dictatorship or another for decades. It's one of the poorest countries on Earth. Thanks to the ongoing policies of their government, it is also one of the most isolated countries on the planet. According to the CIA Worldbook entry, Burma has a constitution, but it's been suspended since 1988. The BBC has put together a brief timeline of Burmese history if you want to get caught up.
Despite its isolation, Burma has received more attention recently. Dead monks floating in a river tend to grab people's attention. Buddhist monks have something of a tradition of protesting the actions of their governments. Crackdowns have started, killing, among others, a Japanese journalist. Both India and China have been reluctant to provide more than oblique support for the protests. Several countries, including the United States, have ongoing economic sanctions against Burma. Japan is threatening to cut off aid following the death of its journalist.
Peaceful protests, in short, have been brutally punished there. The degree to which countries are trying to protest Burma's behavior seem to be inversely proportional to their chance of affecting Burma. A reader wrote Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic:
If freedom is to be gained in the near-term, the Burmese junta need to be dealt a death blow that can only be administered through military defeat. Satyagraha merely provides the reason for an SPDC soldier to pull a gun out and blow someone's head off for defying an order to provide labor, food, possessions, sex slaves, or whatever is demanded by the junta. Perhaps over the longer term the strategy of non-violent resistance could work, but this presumes that the Burmese junta and its allies such as China will come to value and honor the will of the people, which seems unlikely.
The Limits Of Non-Violence In Burma
I certainly hope it doesn't come to that, because Burma's military appears to have no armed rivals in its own country. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot else anyone can do, except try to rally world opinion. Burma's government stays isolated for a reason, and part of that reason is that they don't want what they're doing to their own people to be seen. But thanks to the Internet, one thing we can do is let the world know.
So please, if you haven't already signed the MoveOn petition supporting the Burmese people, please do so. Let Burma know that we haven't forgotten.
UPDATE: As of 8:10 AM Pacific time, there are more than 8800 participants listed at the Free Burma site. That's up from about 5000 yesterday morning.
5 comments:
excellent post Cujo.
thanks.
Cujo, excellent post. The Burmese junta is afraid of information because it makes it much harder to control the population. As access to information gets better within Burma the junta becomes that much more insecure.
The junta will eventually fall to the people, but unfortunately, there may be a lot of bloodshed along the way.
For our part we need to keep the pressure on and also pressure and financially punish those that feed this regime - mainly China and India, and the whole host of arms suppliers to Burma. It is all about economics so we need to ensure that the cost of doing business with Burma becomes prohibitive.
Thanks, yellowdog jim.
Mash, I agree that putting pressure on the regime's allies and enablers is probably the best approach at this point. What their own people think of them doesn't seem to matter to them very much, as long as they stay quiet. What will hurt them is loss of aid and weapons. I hope your optimism is justified, because there is certainly bloodshed.
As for pressure on China. This is the best time to do it since their precious Olympics are coming up.
The Economist seems to agree with you, Robin. China certainly seems to have more influence over Burma than any other country does. Whether that's enough or whether China can be moved to care is another question.
Post a Comment