FREE BURMA - BLOGS FOR FREEDOM

Help the People of Burma -- Post this Meme on Your Blog!
Sep. 30th, 2007 at 12:41 PM

Note: This is a new kind of online protest that uses blogs to spread a petition globally. To participate, just add your blog by following the instructions in this blog post.

These are Burmese Buddhist nuns, called 'The Keepers Of Virtue,' marching for freedom. They have disappeared. No one seems to know what has happened to them.

This not an issue of partisan politics, this is an issue of basic human rights and democracy. Please help to prevent a human tragedy in Burma by adding your blog and asking others to do the same.

By passing this meme on through the blogosphere hopefully we can generate more awareness and avert a serious tragedy. As concerned world-citizens this something we bloggers can do to help.

How to participate:

1. Copy this entire post to your blog, including this special number: 1081081081234

2. After a few days, you can search Google for the number 1081081081234 to find all blogs that are participating in this protest and petition. Note: Google indexes blogs at different rates, so it could take longer for your blog to show up in the results.

3. If you know how to add tags to your blog posts, add the Technorati tag 1081081081234 to your post as well. This will make your post findable sooner in Technorati.


THE SITUATION IN BURMA AND WHY IT MATTERS TO ALL OF US

There is no press freedom in Burma and the government has started turning off the Internet and other means of communication, so it is difficult to get news out. Individuals on the ground have been sending their day-by-day reports to the BBC, and they are heartbreaking. I encourage you to read these accounts to see for yourself what is really going on in Burma. Please include this link in your own blog post.

The situation in Burma is increasingly dangerous. Hundreds of thousands of unarmed peaceful protesters, including monks and nuns, are risking their lives to march for democracy against an unpopular but well-armed military dictatorship that will stop at nothing to continue its repressive rule. While the generals in power and their families are literally dripping in gold and diamonds, the people of Burma are impoverished, deprived of basic human rights, cut off from the rest of the world, and increasingly under threat of violence.

This week the people of Burma have risen up collectively in the largest public demonstrations against the ruling Junta in decades. It's an amazing show of bravery, decency, and democracy in action. But although these protests are peaceful, the military rulers are starting to crack down with violence. Already there have been at least several reported deaths, and hundreds of critical injuries from soldiers beating unarmed civilians to the point of death.

The actual fatalities and injuries are probably far worse, but the only news we have is coming from individuals who are sneaking reports past the authorities. Unfortunately it looks like a large-scale blood-bath may ensue -- and the victims will be mostly women, children, the elderly and unarmed monks and nuns.

Contrary to what the Burmese, Chinese and Russian governments have stated, this is not merely a local internal political issue, it is an issue of global importance and it affects the global community. As concerned citizens, we cannot allow any government anywhere in the world to use its military to attack and kill peacefully demonstrating, unarmed citizens.

In this modern day and age violence against unarmed civilians is unacceptable and if it is allowed to happen, without serious consequences for the perpetrators, it creates a precedent for it to happen again somewhere else. If we want a more peaceful world, it is up to each of us to make a personal stand on these fundamental issues whenever they arise.

Please join me in calling on the Burmese government to negotiate peacefully with its citizens, and on China to intervene to prevent further violence. And please help to raise awareness of the developing situation in Burma so that hopefully we can avert a large-scale human disaster there.

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Aung San Suu Kyi Named Honorary Canadian

CBC News

Amid all the gloom and horror of the Ludhiana bombing, I at least need some postitive news. Although I read recently that we Sikhs are Canada's most disliked minority - the Jews are the most popular - I nontheless remain a Canadian and am glad to see something good come out of my native land. This is as close as I can come to good news out of Burma.

Burma's democratic heroine named honorary Canadian

Parliament on Wednesday unanimously passed a motion to designate Burma's democracy advocate, Aung San Suu Kyi, an honorary Canadian citizen.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented the motion in the House of Commons, calling her a "symbol of the desire of the Burmese people for political freedom."

Burma's pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, was named an honorary Canadian citizen Wednesday in the House of Commons. Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, has been held under house arrest since 1989 for her political views.
(Canadian Press)

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been held under house arrest in Burma — also known as Myanmar — for the past 18 years by the military junta governing the impoverished southeast Asian country.

"All Canadians know that what is happening in Burma is an attack on the values we hold dear … and an attack on the values of civilization itself," Harper said, following a standing ovation.

Peaceful anti-government demonstrations in Burma, which were led by the country's revered monks over the last few weeks, were met with violent force from soldiers and riot police.

Pictures and video footage from the country showed monks and protesters being beaten in the streets as part of an effort to crush dissent.

According to the military junta, several demonstrators were also gunned down, and state-controlled media said the country was holding 500 demonstrators in prison.

In the midst of the humanitarian crisis and in spite of being confined to house arrest since 1989, Harper said Suu Kyi has shone as "the embodiment of [democratic] ideals and an inspiration for all of us."

"More than anyone else, she has focused international attention on the plight of her people. This is why we are bestowing honourary citizenship on Aung San Suu Kyi," Harper said.

Larry Bagnell, the Liberal MP for the Yukon Territory, recognized Suu Kyi for her "courage to sacrifice her life in order to give life to an entire nation."

Other foreigners who have been granted honorary Canadian citizenship include the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

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India's Identity Crisis In Burma

This is the United Nations speaking,

But it might as well be India

No, our dear Sisters and Brothers of the Saadh Sangat, we are not letting up on Burma.

As the time of our remembrance of what is variously called The Anti-Sikh Riots, The Delhi Pogroms and The Second Battle of Delhi approaches, it would dishonour our beloved shaheeds to turn our back on these brave people who so much need our help. Perhaps all we can do is raise a big stink. If that is the case, then raise a big stink we shall. As we say about the massacres of 1984, as was written about the Black American experience,

It must be told, endlessly told

And you must hear it

More on India's complicity in this horror in Burma

BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL

October 14, 2007

WHEN ARGUING for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council or assuring the Bush administration that India can be trusted with American nuclear technology - even though it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - Indian officials recite the mantra that India is the world's biggest democracy. But India's shameful collaboration with the military junta in Burma that has been arresting and killing Buddhist monks and civilian protesters raises a serious question: Is India betraying its democratic values for the sake of its great-power ambitions?

There is no mystery about the reasons for India's complicity with the Burmese generals. There are purely commercial motives, a thirst for access to Burma's oil and natural gas reserves. There's a desire to gain the junta's cooperation in crushing insurgent groups that have been crossing from Burma into India's northeast to mount guerrilla operations. But above all, India has abandoned solidarity with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues because Indian policy makers are obsessed by their strategic competition with China.

There is a tragic dimension to India's practice of realpolitik in its contest with China. Domestically, India is the antithesis of China. The communists in Beijing rule a hierarchical one-party state; India's multiparty system accommodates many disparate interests. The regime in Beijing throws reporters in jail for revealing state secrets if they publish news about high-level appointments before those promotions are officially disclosed. India boasts a diverse and cantankerous free press.

But when India sets out to compete with China in a 21st-century version of the Great Game once played by European colonialist powers, India transforms its outward appearance into a mirror image of China. In Burma, India's betrayal of its ownmost national identity has become an embarrassing spectacle.

India had once been Suu Kyi's most ardent supporter. She lived in India for several years with her late husband; her mother once served as Burma's ambassador to India. And of course Buddhism sprang from India.

But when Human Rights Watch called last week for a Security Council arms embargo on the junta, it named India along with China and Russia as "nations supplying Burma with weapons that the military uses to commit human rights abuses." Human Rights Watch described "a vast array of military hardware" India has supplied to the junta, including artillery, aircraft, tanks, and helicopters for use against minority ethnic groups in border areas and citizen protesters.

In other words, India sells some of the world's most vicious dictators weapons to kill people in Burma who yearn for democracy. This is not the behavior of a true democracy.

© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

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A Sikh Burmese Protest Leader!

For those who still insist that the Burma uprising is not a Sikh issue, I offer this, from an Australian newspaper, The Age.

I do not know if this gentleman, Surinder Karkar Singh Ji, is a Khalsa, but he looks like one and he acts like one. Until I have information to the contrary, that is enough for me.

We dream of the day when our Khalsa army will be able to ride to the assistance of the oppressed. It seems that at least one individual is not content to just dream, but has taken what action he can.

Can you imagine? He led 100,000 people through the streets of Rangoon protecting at least 5000 monks. It appears the Khalsa spirit is alive and active, after all. We can take great pride in the courageous action of our brother! The least we can do is to sign the petition supporting the monks and the people of Burma. We are posting the link once again in this post.

Please Sign This Petition!!

Burma protest leader blasts UN

Connie Levett
October 11, 2007

Protest leader U Pancha is now in exile.

An organiser of the protest movement in Rangoon has blasted UN special envoy
Ibrahim Gambari for bowing to the Burmese regime and achieving nothing in his
visit to Burma.

Surinder Karkar Singh, also known as Ayea Myint and U Pancha (the Punjabi),
helped organise the civilian protection circles that ringed the monks as they
marched through the streets of Rangoon for eight days.

"Nothing was achieved. I am fed up," the Sikh Burmese man said.

"He (Mr Gambari) plans to come again in November. Whatever the regime told
him, he did. While he was there, we were being shot, we were being detained.
After he left, there was more rounding up of people.

"He saw Aung San Suu Kyi (the detained pro-democracy leader) but gave no
press conference. He should announce what she said. This regime is full of lies.
Gambari reports to the UN what the regime says, not what Aung San Suu Kyi says."

U Pancha is now in Mae Sot, Thailand, where many Burmese opposition groups in
exile are based. He gave a rare insight into the first days of the protest and
how the organisers responded as the movement grew.

"I participated in 1988, then I retired. I took up the protest again because
prices were rising and people were starving around me," he said. "I was not at
all frightened. I participated in the forefront. I was prepared to die."

He met monks and a few civilians at the Shwedagon pagoda, the most important
Buddhist temple in Rangoon, on September 17 to plan protests.

"The idea was to bring down petrol prices, to get dialogue and an apology for
the way the monks were beaten at Pakokku," U Pancha said.

"There were only about 100 to start with. We let the monks lead. I was in
charge of surrounding the monks for protection.

"On the 18th, we were very anxious, we were worried whether people would
follow us, but from the beginning they joined in. We were very encouraged. That
night we had a hurried meeting because of the support and made three streams of
people to go to different points in the city. On the 19th the groups exceeded
100,000."

That night, they got word the military had issued a shoot-to-kill edict.
After a heated meeting they elected to proceed.

"In the midst of our marching, Battalion 77 refused to take the order to
shoot to kill," he said.

From September 21 to 25, the protests were peaceful and the crowds increased.
On the night of 25th, the military command changed from 77th battalion to 66th
battalion, he said.

He remembers the 26th and 27th as the most bloody days, with bloodshed on the
roads.

"When three monks went to beg them not to use violence, they started beating
the monks and shooting," U Pancha said.

"On the 26th, I led 100,000, with 5000 to 6000 monks. People were not scared.
I thought we were winning. In the midst of flying bullets we were able to march.
We had people in side streets with stones and rocks ready to give protection to
the protesters."

On the 27th, the monks were gone, and the crowd dwindled to 2000 to 3000.

"Many people were scared on 27th," he said. "When the Japanese (photographer)
was shot, they (knew) the Government would shoot even foreigners."

By the 28th, the movement had all but disintegrated.

U Pancha waited in Rangoon, in hiding, until October 4 to see the outcome of
the UN mission. Bitterly disappointed, he fled to Thailand.

He is determined to fight on. "I am still a leader, we have leaders inside
and outside," he said. "We are only pausing, not
surrendering."

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FREE BURMA!

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WORLDWIDE BLOGGERS PROTEST - 4 OCTOBER 2007

FREE BURMA

WORLDWIDE BLOGGER PROTEST

4 OCTOBER 2007

This the 100th post in this blog, and what could be more fitting than the protest calling for the freedom of an oppressed people!?







http://www.free-burma.org/

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India Suggests An Inquiry

Another Gem from the Hindu

I laughed until tears coursed down my cheeks when I read how India suggests the thug government of Burma handle the recent uprising there:

Consider probe into crackdown, India urges Myanmar

New York, Oct. 2 (PTI):

Amid a
global outrage over a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Myanmar,
India has suggested to its military regime to consider a probe and hoped its
process of "national reconciliation" will be taken forward expeditiously.

External Affairs Minister,
Pranab Mukherjee, conveyed India's concern over the situation to his Myanmarese
counterpart, U Nyan Win, during a meeting here in the first level contact
between the two neighbouring countries since the crisis broke out in Myanmar.
The meeting took place Monday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly
summit.

Mukehrjee "suggested that the
(Myanmar) government could consider undertaking an inquiry into recent incidents
and the use of force," said a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry...

It goes on, of course.

India, as we know, is the Master of Masters at using inquiries as a cover up. No on knows that better than us Sikhs, eh? Some things just don't change.

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India Must Keep Good Relations With Myanmar

What can one expect of a country that slaughters its own citizens, the same group of citizens that fought and died for that country's independence in the first place?


This article appeared today. in The Hindustan Times

New Delhi, October 02, 2007

First Published: 02:56 IST(2/10/2007)

Last Updated: 11:26 IST(2/10/2007)

INDIA MUST KEEP GOOD RELATIONS WITH MYANMAR

MUST KEEP MYANMAR TIES: ARMY CHIEF

The Indian Army's new chief Gen Deepak Kapoor said on
Monday that India should maintain its good relations with Myanmar. The
happenings in Myanmar are an internal matter of that country, Gen Kapoor said in
response to a question on the political situation there.

"We have good relations with Myanmar and we should
maintain these," he said. The new chief was speaking to reporters shortly after
inspecting the guard of honour to mark his taking over the reins of the Indian
Army. The cooperation and support of Myanmar's military is considered vital to
India's counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast.

Despite pressure from the West to condemn the crackdown
on pro-democracy protestors, India has been guarded in its approach. The
external affairs ministry earlier gave a statement, after protests broke out
against the ruling junta, which merely expressed "concern". It came at a time
when most other countries were condemning the attacks on protesting monks as
brutal.

"As a close and friendly neighbour, India hopes to see a
peaceful, stable and prosperous Myanmar, where all sections of the people will
be included in a broad-based process of national reconciliation and political
reform," said an Indian foreign office statement released earlier.

Till the mid-1990s, India was openly supporting
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In October 2004, New Delhi welcomed military
leader Gen Than Shwe during his visit to the capital, signaling the change in
course to balance China's growing influence in the region.

© Copyright 2007 Hindustan
Times

Please. Take a look at these pictures. This is a human being. A dead human being with the marks of torture on his body. This reminds me of some of the Operation Woodrose pictures I have seen.

Now. Please go to yesterday's post and sign the petition in the link there. Thank you.

Burma - Not Myanmar

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

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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