Burmese mark tragedy

The Asahi Shimbun

As the world focused its attention on the opening of the Beijing Olympic games Friday, people from Myanmar (Burma) gathered at many locations around the globe to remind the world not to forget their remembrance of yet another Aug. 8. In Tokyo, Burmese residents of this country protested outside the Myanmar Embassy.

On Aug. 8, 20 years ago, 100,000 students and citizens gathered in the former capital, Yangon (Rangoon), calling for a general strike.

The military indiscriminately opened fire on the demonstrators, and it is estimated that nationwide 3,000 people were killed.

Faced with this situation, Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Gen. Aung San, the "father of modern Burma," made a plea to military leaders, saying they should immediately stop sending troops out to attack the demonstrators. This marked the first step of her political career.

A military junta then staged a coup and assumed complete power. Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest the following year. Since then, she has remained under house arrest, save for a few brief periods of freedom.

1988 was also the year of the Seoul Olympics. It was an era of democratization in South Korea and the Philippines, as waves of democracy swept over the nations of Asia that were undergoing economic change. The junta has turned its back on this trend. In the general election of 1990, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a decisive victory.

The people voted against the junta with a resounding "No," but the junta has refused to hand over power to civilian rule to this day. The junta's oppression has been relentless. Nevertheless, last year in September, demonstrations triggered by protests against higher gasoline prices spread around the country.

The junta cracked down on the protests with guns and violence, killing many people. Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was one of the victims.

Burmese monks were up front, leading the demonstrations last year, but it is said that the masterminds behind the scenes were former student leaders of the 1988 movement. Also unchanging behind the scenes is the Burmese people's desire for democratization.

This past May, more than 140,000 people were killed by Cyclone Nargis, yet the junta bulldozed ahead with their schedule to hold a national referendum approving a new constitution.

The junta's aim is to hold a new general election under the new constitution, thereby nullifying the results of the 1990 election which gave the national mandate to the NLD. No doubt it wishes to erase its bloody image and announce itself as a "legitimate government."

However, there is no way we can accept this. The beginnings are all wrong. First off, it must begin dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and others. Then it must release her, and as many as 2,000 other political prisoners.

Oppression alone is never going to give the government any kind of legitimacy or stability. That is the simple truth we have learned from two decades of military rule in Myanmar.

We hope the U.N. secretary-general's special envoy will tenaciously continue the mediation efforts. Myanmar's neighbors of Southeast Asia, as well as Japan, should also demand more from the junta.

China, now caught up in Olympic excitement, wields the greatest influence over the Myanmar junta. We urge the country to fulfill its role as a responsible world power, so that dialogue can take place.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 9(IHT/Asahi: August 11,2008)