To our dear friends in the Saadh Sangat,
This is from all three of us collectively, Vini, Suni and Mai.
It has been a part of Sikhi from the very beginning to stand against injustice and fight for the weak and helpless. Today, in Burma, the government are acting in a way we Sikhs can unfortunately relate to, attacking and killing their own citizens. If we on the outside sit back and do nothing, these brave people who are opposing oppression in their country are doomed. There is little that we as individuals can do, but we can all sign this petition (below).
We ask everyone reading this post to please take this one small action.
By the way, the current military government renamed the country as Myanmar. As we do not recognise them as a legitimate government, we continue to call the country Burma.
Much love and hope,
Dharma Kaur Khalsa
Vini, Suni and Mai
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WHY TRY TO FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT?
This is from all three of us collectively, Vini, Suni and Mai.
It has been a part of Sikhi from the very beginning to stand against injustice and fight for the weak and helpless. Today, in Burma, the government are acting in a way we Sikhs can unfortunately relate to, attacking and killing their own citizens. If we on the outside sit back and do nothing, these brave people who are opposing oppression in their country are doomed. There is little that we as individuals can do, but we can all sign this petition (below).
We ask everyone reading this post to please take this one small action.
By the way, the current military government renamed the country as Myanmar. As we do not recognise them as a legitimate government, we continue to call the country Burma.
Much love and hope,
Dharma Kaur Khalsa
Vini, Suni and Mai
Dear friends,
Burma's generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters -- but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks' color red, and on the internet-- where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.
People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we'll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven't already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php?cl=21253053
The pressure is working - already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.
The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We're broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let's do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team
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WHY TRY TO FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT?
thank you for posting on the situation in Burma. very distressing to see the oppression of such a peaceful people.
ReplyDeletethe craziest thing is, they have been living in this oppression since the current government took over so many years ago - but doing so quietly. as you know its only when the monks peacefully took the streets that they were able to highlight the issue to the global issue it has now become.
if the USA can clamp down on Iraq for their dictatorship and for the 'good of the people' living there, surely they can do the same for the people of Burma!
might be different dictator, language, religion but the underlying principle of democracy (if it isn't just an excuse to invade other countries) should be upheld
please keep up your brilliant work of posting on this blog. i think (from personal experience) that although people might visit your blog every single day they rarely have the time to comment, sometimes all they do is smile and thank you silently for taking the time and energy to brighten their day.
don't ever stop!
You bring a smile to my face, in fact, I think, to all our faces. I personally have been concerned that the quality may be diminishing as I have not been writing so much about personal experiences, but concerning myself more with current events.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if you want the personal stories, my personal blog, sometimes - 2- it's in the links list - is much lighter and frankly more fun than this blog.
If this blog is sewa to the sangat, I will keep it up as long as I am physically and mentally able.
We all know, of course, the US government couldn't care less about even its own people - vetoing ing medical care for children! - and Iraq is about personal vengeance ('He tried to kill Daddy!') and, dare I name it, OIL.
Personally, I would be terrified at what would happen to the good people of Burma if the US decided to intervene.
And again, old friend, whoever you are, thank you for the encouragement!
"Personally, I would be terrified at what would happen to the good people of Burma if the US decided to intervene."
ReplyDeletehaha mother ji, i totally forgot about that - lets pray they are able to get a democracy going without the intervention of such a country.
i've signed the petition, its a shame we as a Sikh Nation aren't more organized and we're too busy fighting amongst ourselves.... i was day dreaming a few days ago, its exactly moments like this when the Khalsa should be going to help innocent people in need who are being oppressed but looking at the state of our people(myself included) we're not even close to that stage... yet.
If Guru Sahib blesses us more, hopefully we'll be able to help in some small way - even if it was just organizing mass relief/shelter type aid... (and then we can slowly work up to creating a Khalsa peace keeping force!)
The dream of the Khalsa Army showing up to aid the oppressed people brings a tingle up my spine. Unfortunately, it's just a dream for now. Thank you for signing the petition. That, at least we can do!
ReplyDeleteWe need to grow up and quit squabbling like a bunch of schoolyard bullies. Did you see the post in sometimes - 2where I - me, little Mai, I, me - chastised the nihangs for those killings? I'm getting perhaps overly bold these days.
Guru Sahib will bless us exactly as much as we can receive. That is my personal belief.