28th September, 2007

ADAM KELSALL

The human hunch is a powerful indicator that things are not right. And so it was when our group stepped across the border from Thailand into Burma. It was my first trip overseas and I had been confronted with HIV, leprosy and poverty in Thailand along with the exuberant smiles and graceful hospitality of the Thai people.

At the border we were met by heavily armed security. There were obvious language barriers but our guide spoke and we were motioned forward. Without really thinking about the ramifications, I passed over my passport which was studied and then kept. We stepped into Burma and there was the hunch, the taste in the mouth, the tightening of the neck muscles, the narrowing of peripheral vision.

I questioned why our passports were not returned - “If something happens, they will be destroyed and we were never here” my friend replied. My breath shortened and I start to notice the humidity and heat like the pressure of something heavy.

We made our way into a market and were greeted by a woman who is nothing but bones. The little skin she had sagged as though the muscles had given up a long time ago. Her hand was held out towards us and even that small effort seemed to tax her body enormously. She wanted money. Despite it being only my first trip, I was already hardened to the beggar’s requests. Physically it’s so easy to turn away.

The man must have thought we had left. He did not look like a bad man. Quite the opposite, his eyes held charisma and charm. He spoke in tones that clearly niggled the old woman, and then, with the skill acquired from an action repeated many times over, he lashed the old beggar with the blunt end of his umbrella. We had heard stories and this was hard evidence of the pimps who yield power by physically maiming the beggars who work for them, mostly children or old women.

This week I am taken back to Burma. Images from the city of Rangoon and protest marches involving thousands of Buddhist monks appear on the TV news.

The country of Burma has been ruled by the military junta since 1962 when General Ne Win led a military coup, abolishing the constitution and establishing a military government with socialist economic policies.

In March 1988, students in Rangoon began protesting against the military regime and worsening economic situation. By August these protests had escalated as more and more people joined the students. The military responded by killing more than 1,500 protestors.

In September of the same year, there was another coup and General Ne Win's Burmese Socialist Program Party was overthrown by a new ruling junta called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) which suspended the constitution. In an effort to end the demonstrations, SLORC sent the army into the streets.

An estimated 3,000 were killed, and more than 10,000 students fled into the hills and border areas. More than 1,000 “critics” of the militia have since been jailed. Most famous among them Aung San Suu Kyi, who in 1990 was democratically elected leader of Burma with a massive 392 of 485 seats. She is still under house arrest and has been told she can leave any time she likes - on condition that she leaves the country. She chooses to remain under house arrest to draw attention to the situation in Burma.

The conflict that has stained Burma’s history has arisen again this week as the people fight to end the military junta’s reign. Led by Buddhist monks, tens of thousands of people protested on the streets of Rangoon.

The military have taken responded by barricading streets, raiding monasteries and arresting up to five hundred monks. Nine people have reportedly been killed including a Japanese photographer who was shot while photographing the troops as they beat protesters with batons. The country of Burma is poised for more violence.

In Australia, candle light vigils have taken place and the Government is being urged to use it’s relationship with China to apply economic pressure to the Burmese Government.

Please pray for Burma - that a resolution will occur without further violence or loss of lives.
 

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