
Recently, the social-political status in
Myanmar has been a topic of discussion in the international media. The erratic behavior of the military-based government(shown in action to the right) has resorted to violent tactics to ward off democratic opposition. The actions taken by the government have shocked the world.
Reports of kidnappings and opening fire on crowds of protesters have instilled a sense of fear throughout the country, but it has not stopped efforts for a democratic change. The current leaders of the Myanmar junta have hypocritically claimed that their actions are justified to maintain “stability” within their nation, to me it seems more like a fear of change.
Myanmar has been fighting about democracy for the past forty-five years. The
junta, a military-run government lead by
Than Shwe, has control of the country, fighting against monks and other members of National League for Democracy
(NLD) to keep democracy out of their politics. Last week was one of the largest protests and demonstrations against the junta, who retaliated and opened fire on the protesting crowds and arrested dozens

on site. Inexplicable “disappearances” of pro-democratic leaders have been an increasing trend in Myanmar and have added to the severity of the situation. An observer
quoted, “at least 85 protest leaders, over 1,000 monks, and between 300 and 400 students and activists were arrested". It is an attempt at silencing the voices of change. The government has tried to keep these protests (pictured left) out of international media as much as possible and have reportedly given false details of some of the more recent events. The entire country is under extremely tight surveillance, for
example, “the military rulers have sought to limit news flowing out of Myanmar, with public Internet access restricted and mobile phone service sporadic for a fourth day in a row”. This kind of behavior may be perceived as hiding facts about what may really be happening.
On Sunday, a UN specific envoy,
Ibrahim Gambari, was supposed to meet with leaders of the junta and the leader of the NLD in Myanmar in response to their bloody crackdown last week against the biggest pro-democracy protests in almost twenty years. However, his meetings were postponed due to the protests that had been going on throughout the week. Gambari had intentions of working out a solution to end this political crisis from which this country is suffering. Senior General Than Shwe, who ultimately has the power to change current policies,

has conveniently made himself “unavailable” to meet with the UN envoy. This is a sure sign of resistance to any international pressure to become more democratic. Gambari was, however, able to talk with
Suu Kyi, a major contributor and influence in the NLD, to see what her thoughts on the situation were.(pictured right) She was less than optimistic about coming to a peaceful or immediate agreement with a political power that is so intent on staying just the way that they are. The junta is content on having one major power ruling, much like a dictatorship, versus changing political leaders every few years.
There does not seem to be much hope for any drastic changes in the government, unless the military leaders realize that to achieve stability, there must be a compromise between the two fighting parties. Perhaps, if the UN envoy can influence Shwe to be more open to international suggestion, there would be less turmoil in Myanmar. Gambari is scheduled to meet with more members of the Myanmar government later on this week in hopes of making some progress towards a more peaceful. The members of the NLD and activist have vowed not to quit fighting to achieve democracy in their country.
1 comment:
I found your article on the recent turmoil in Myanmar very intriguing. You did an excellent job of tying in your sources as links and providing pictures that served as visual images, complementary to what you were writing. I really liked how you provided links to the influential people and political groups in Mynamar, making it easy for the reader to retrieve further information on something they are not knowledgeable about. You could make your argument a bit stronger, however, by providing more evidence for some of the opinionated claims you made. For example, your quote, “to me it seems more like a fear of change” is a weak statement because it is phrased as an opinion. It would be stronger if you take out the “to me,” and then give a justification for why it seems like they fear change. In the concluding paragraph you say that there would be less turmoil if Myanmar was open to international suggestion but provide no supporting statements for this claim. Grammatically speaking, the essay flowed nicely and you communicated your points clearly. I found a few punctuation mistakes, however. Make sure, when quoting, that period is inside the quotation marks. Also, parenthesis such as “(pictured right),” go inside the period. I found it interesting how censorship plays such a strong role in keeping the horrible situation in Myanmar out of western news, so your piece was an eye-opening look into a situation I was unfamiliar with.
--SJB--
Post a Comment