Burma is a country in South East Asia sharing her borders with China, Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand. The British took it over in three stages, starting with the first Anglo-Burmese war in 1824. By the third Anglo-Burmese war in 1885, the whole of Burma became a British colony. Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948. Less than a year later, a variety of political parties with differing ideologies began to oppose the then democratic government, some of them joined by dissident Burmese Army units. Some of the ethnic peoples, including a sizable portion of the Karens (my ethnic group), also began armed revolution, demanding self-determination and autonomy from the government, which was naturally dominated by the majority ethnic Burmans.
Although Burma is a country rich in cultural and ethnic diversity, it is also a country still suffering from the distortions of colonial rule. The first military coup was led by General Ne Win in 1962, and the same military government transformed itself to a quasi-civilian government in 1974, along with constitutional reforms.
The only political organization allowed in the ‘new’ government was its Burma Socialist Program Party. The country was ruled by what amounted to a nationalist government that did not tolerate ethnic diversity, and this contributed to the prolonging of a civil war that continued until another military coup in 1988. Thus, Burma was renamed Myanmar and became a military dictatorship for the second time. The military regime, which began as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), became the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in November of 1997.
Naturally, the peoples’ struggle against tyranny did not abate. It has gone on for five decades and, for the most part, can be blamed on the mishandling of ethnic conflicts by, and the selfishness of, the military dictators, which has also resulted in relegating one of richest nations to one of the poorest. &127;The generals’ brutality and failure to recognize people as human beings, has transformed a beautiful land into a state of filth where injustice prevails. This culminated in 1988 when the military cracked down on a peaceful demonstration of students, monks, teachers, doctors and nurses, who were demanding a democratic government with properly elected representatives. In 1990, a surprisingly honest multi-party election was held by the SLORC government. For the first time in 28 years the people of Burma had a chance to freely express their will and choose their government. The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, won over 80% of the parliamentary seats. But, the military regime refused to give up power. As it continues to practice extreme cruelty, and neglects the people and their needs, an increasing number of Burmese have fled the country.
Many daughters of Burma are now in brothels in Thailand. Their terrible lot is compounded by being labeled illegal immigrants by the Thai government, making them subject to frequent arrests. It is also estimated that as of April 1998, there were 120,000 Burmese refugees along Thai-Burma border, predominantly women and children. Some refugee camps consist of plastic sheet roofing with no school for the children or clinic to care for their health. The camps are also often sieged across the Burmese border.
Meanwhile, Burma’s military spending has risen to 42% of the State’s budget and maintains 400,000 soldiers. All this for a country with no external enemy. The enemy is the Burmese people’s struggle for freedom, justice, peace, human rights and dignity. In fact, hundreds of political activists have been jailed in the past few years inside Burma, and the military regime has just arrested not less than 41 members of parliament from the NLD party. At the same time, the military regime has sent its troops to stage major offensives against ethnic insurgent troops and to wipe out the rest of the internally displaced people.
A Karen revolutionary leader once said, "When we are seen as victims, we get sympathy. When we are seen as people who are struggling for justice, we get cooperation. We appreciate sympathy from others, but it will not help us to end the injustice." Since some people in the US are so prepared to engage in business with the Burmese military dictatorship, I would like to call on those whose principles are based on justice and freedom to start engaging in the struggle of the people for freedom, justice and peace with human rights and dignity.
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