UPDATE: Myanmar

March 14, 2021

A work from Ko Z that says it all

While events darken in Myanmar, I remain hopeful that the people will win, order will be restored and justice served. What strikes me as different about what’s happening in Burma right now is that the world is watching with more eyes than ever, and that there is more of a concerted to increase pressure on corporations to cease doing business with the military, various governments importing sanctions, and calls for the military to stand down.

That said, military juntas are characterized by bull-headed stubbornness and rarely back down until they can vividly see the handwriting on the wall. There’s a larger discussion to be had about how coups by armed forces should be addressed; but right now, the people of Burma are doing it themselves and paying a huge price.

Another aspect of the responses I’ve seen to the coup is that it gives me hope that we might see similar attention paid elsewhere with the same degree of emphasis and hopefully, results in the form of tangible change. Admittedly, change is not happening quickly enough in Burma, but it is happening.

Many years ago, Simon Billenness and I were discussing our “special interests”; his being Burma, mine Tibet. Simon wisely pointed out that a free, democratic Burma would be good for Tibet, as well. Not immediately directly, but it would mean one more incidence of a people throwing off the yoke of dictatorship. When Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD won the first time, I believed - and still do - that the people of Myanmar secured their right to self-determination. While I have immense misgivings about her, she is responsible for helping lead a movement toward independence.

It’s also important to recognize that outside of any country struggling under the heel of oppression, we can still help out. There are other places in the world, sadly, that are suffering in a similar way and degree. We support each according to our capacity.

Following are some reports from friends of mine in Yangon form their Facebook posts (I don’t use Twitter, so sorry about that) and again, links to organizations and agencies that you can support to lend some assistance to.

Last thought: the people are not the “revolutionaries” here. In a democracy, they are the voice of the country. It is very much the military that is provoking (their own) revolt. The military is the insurrection or as my friend Myo Wyn Aung would say, the terrorists.

Posts from friends:

All of the posts and articles following are from the past couple of days (around Thursday, 11 March 2021 to today, Sunday, the 12th).

Sonny Nyein's post about litigation against the military being taken up; this gives one hope.

Myo Wyn Aung has been keeping up posts via Facebook and Twitter.