Be with Burma by risa
Have you been following the swelling peaceful protests in Burma, the monks with their world trembling calls for Dialogue? The way they first asked the people not to join them out of a concern for safety and then, when the movement had grown and the monks were filling the streets and the people couldn’t be stopped from joining them, they nearly fell into each others arms. I tear up every time I read anything about it because the sweet and understated Buddhist call for communication in the face of one of the most repressive regimes in the world is as close as one might come, I think, to Good or Godly.
The monks led the crowd in chanting: “May we be free of torture, may there be peace in hearts and minds as our kindness spreads around the world.”
source: the age.
Put this public cry for communication alongside the reality in Burma in recent decades if you can:
The junta’s efforts to quash free expression continue. A 1996 SLORC decree provides up to 20 years’ imprisonment for anyone publicly opposing the junta’s policies. Under the 1996 “Computer Science Development Law;’ unlicensed possession of a fax machine or modem is punishable by I 5 years in jail. These are among many repressive measures enforced without regard to international standards or Burma’s own constitution. In Burma, the law is what the generals say it is; it can and does change from day to day.
As the demonstrations have grown from 1000 to 100 000 people asking for open conversation the military junta have been wary, and they’ve moved carefully so far, but today they sent troops out into the street and as this marks a step toward rising tension, potential collision, I think we need to join our voices with the demonstrators as loudly as we can to make sure the “leaders” know the world’s heart and support - billions of people - are on the side of the monks and citizens realizing this beautiful, peaceful, large scale gesture.
Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world. For decades the Burmese regime has fought off pressure–imprisoning elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy activists, wiping out thousands of villages in the provinces, bringing miseries from forced labour to refugee camps.
But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, revered in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread—now they’re growing by tens of thousands every day, as ordinary people, even celebrities and comedians join in.
Peaceful protesters numbered 20,000 on Saturday, 30,000 on Sunday, 100,000 today. This week, they could win a new life for their country. In the past, Burma’s military rulers have massacred the demonstrators and crushed democracy. This time it can be different—but only if the world stands with the Burmese.
Global leaders are gathering now in New York for the annual United Nations summit. In speeches and press interviews, we need them to show Burma’s military junta how grave the consequences will be if they crush the protesters with violence this time. Click below urgently to sign the emergency petition supporting the peaceful protests in Burma, it’ll be delivered to UN Security Council members and the UN press corps all week:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK
Signing this demonstration sends a plea to the UN but specifically to India and China, the two voices the Junta might listen to, calling on them to stand for the people’s rights. Governance is a social contract - we as citizens give over some of our power and money to leaders and in turn they organize, protect, provide space and tools for prosperity and peace. When they do not keep up their end of the bargain, then people will reject the bad deal, consider the contract void and take their power back. When a tidal movement like this comes along that is miraculously peaceful and sensible every nation in the world that claims to stand for anything good had better step up and support them, I figure, or be shown for hypocrites and face the mounting tide themselves.
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