Woops…where does the time go.
It’s been a good five weeks and I have no real excuse. Perhaps its the thesis which seems to get neglected and then emerges as my other – loathed and loved all at once.
But I’ve raised my head to realise that Aung San Suu Kyi has just been handed her eleventh year of house arrest.
It’s heartening to see it hasn’t gone unnoticed in the international arena, but then it rarely does go unnoticed when Aung San Suu Kyi’s involved.
I think far more interesting is the grassroots movement I’m hearing about.
- NLD supporters praying for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release at Chauk Htat Kyi Pagoda in Rangoon.
- Prominent activst Su Su Nway in hospital/or prsion depending on reports, for undertaking a similar prayer campaign.
- More than 40 other activists arrested for similar campaigns calling for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest.
- Supporters releasing more than 1,000 balloons at the Shwedagon Pagoda, despite the presence of mobs of USDA members.
- The start of a free Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners campaign.
- The increasing strength of the peace-focused Generation 88.
It’s very Rangoon heavy though. Has anyone heard of movements that exist outside of Rangoon, or even other major cities.
Because lets be a little realistic. Aung San Suu Kyi is just one person in the complex society that is Burma. It’s going to take a lot more than this one incredible lady to bring Burma back from the brink. That’s why the presence of these other voices is quite encouraging.
This is a bit of a late comment, I’m not sure if I missed this post initially or was just too busy with other things. I read Narinjara News’ stories more than any other service, so my knowledge of events like this is probably tilted more towards Arakan than other states, but, I have noticed that whenever there are these sort of events in Rangoon, there is a lot of backlash in Arakan. Backlash in the sense that the military always seems to take pre-emptive steps to prevent ‘untoward incidents’. After this most recent prayer campaign, law enforcement teams were stationed at major temples to question everyone about why they are there. But, there is still actually a fair amount of participation in these campaigns in Arakan, from what I can tell.
There are also incidents of individual or indepedent action by small groups. Not always peaceful, but still noteworthy and indicative of a level of resistance. I imagine there are similar stories in other parts of the country as well, we either just aren’t able to see and read all those stories, or, they are overshadowed by bigger events. Western Burma has no active insurgency, so perhaps they have are better able to cover these ’small’ stories. Though in my opinion, the sum of these small events is quite significant.