Monday, August 5, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

ABSDF Signs State-Level Ceasefire Agreement

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 05:09 AM PDT

All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) chairman Than Khe, left, and Minister Aung Min shake hands after the signing of a preliminary ceasefire agreement on Monday. (Photo: Nyo Ohn Myint / The Irrawaddy)

The All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), a once outlawed student army, signed a state-level ceasefire agreement with Karen State government representatives on Monday, three days before Burma marks the 25th anniversary of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.

Than Khe, chairman of the ABSDF, told The Irrawaddy that the accord, signed in Rangoon, was a preliminary step toward broader national reconciliation.

"We will continue discussions to move forward on a nationwide ceasefire and to establish a political dialogue," he said.

The state-level ceasefire agreement was signed with Karen State's border affairs minister, Col Aung Lwin, as well as State Chief Justice Thein Lwin and senior officials from Burma's southeastern military command. The two sides agreed in principle to allow ABSDF members to travel freely within specified areas controlled by the group's ethnic allies.

The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in the Karen State capital Pa-an on Sunday, but the ABSDF changed the meeting's date and location due to recent heavy rains and flooding that have displaced more than 30,000 residents across the state.

The ABSDF formed in November 1988 after student activists fled to border areas to fight against Burma's military regime. Its members are based in the northern, western and southern border areas of the country. In the north, they have forged alliances with ethnic Kachin rebels, and in the southeast with ethnic Karen rebels.

The group had held two formal discussions and three informal gatherings with the government prior to Monday's meeting.

The signing of the preliminary ceasefire agreement was witnessed by Border Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Thet Naing Win, President's Office Minister Aung Min and Immigration Minister Khin Ye. Parliamentarian Thein Zaw, who serves as deputy chairman of the government's peace team, and 88 Generation leaders Min Ko Naing and Mya Aye were present as well. International observers from the Nippon Foundation, and the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies also attended.

"We understand that we have not reached our goal in this long journey, which began in 1988," said Than Khe, the ABSDF chairman. "But we need to move forward to win democratic gains and achieve a federal system for ethnic autonomy, by working together with other colleagues. A ceasefire does not mean we are going to lay down our arms."

He said he hoped the ceasefire agreement would be a step toward more inclusive political dialogue between the government and ethnic minority groups.

ABSDF members this week will join the Silver Jubilee of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, which will be commemorated in Rangoon and nationwide. The group will continue discussions concerning a Union-level political dialogue on Saturday.

Burma’s Journalists Hit the Streets as Concern Over Media Reform Grows

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 04:44 AM PDT

A Burmese monk signs a petition in support of greater media freedom in Rangoon on Sunday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Burmese journalists are putting a dent in the feel-good narrative of their country's media reforms, which have been widely praised for permitting unprecedented press freedoms after decades of repressive censorship under the former military regime.

At storefronts and on public buildings in Burma's biggest city over the weekend, a group of journalists plastered walls with stickers calling on the government to allow for more media freedom, "for the people to know the truth." The journalists, including some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the statement, "Stop Killing Press," delivered the stickers to passersby and asked for signatures in support of their movement.

Their mission? To raise public awareness about their growing unease with the direction that media reforms in the country appear to be taking. At issue is a publishing bill, drafted by the government, which critics say gives the Ministry of Information (MOI) overly broad powers to issue and revoke publication licenses. The bill was passed by Parliament's Lower House last month and is set for consideration by the Upper House before it can be passed into law.

There is also another point of contention: Burma's interim Press Council has submitted its own, separate Press Bill to Parliament—with the goal of defining reporters' rights, promoting media ethics and boosting overall press freedom—but the group has run into opposition from the Ministry of Information over more than a dozen recommendations included in the draft legislation.

"We have collected more than 1,000 signatures in Rangoon over the past two days," Myint Kyaw of the Myanmar Journalist Network (MJN) told The Irrawaddy on Sunday, adding that journalists were also collecting signatures in other cities including Mandalay, Magwe, Myitkyina and Moulmein.

"Our aim is to get the bill drafted by the Press Council passed into law—as it is—and to urge the Upper House to review the MOI's Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill that the Lower House already approved," added the journalist, who is also a member of the Press Council.

The signature campaign is being organized by three journalist associations and local media groups, and Myint Kyaw said the signatures would be submitted to both houses of Parliament after the campaign ends next weekend.

The relationship between Burma's journalists and the Ministry of Information has soured in recent weeks, after the ministry took issue with 17 points from the Press Council's bill.

Ye Htut, the deputy minister of information and President Thein Sein's spokesman, has said that the 17 points failed to meet international standards. Without amendments, he said, the ministry would not be able to submit the bill to the Lower House for consideration.

"If the bill is submitted to the Parliament without amendments, we will object to it until the end because it could harm the public interest and security," he told the 7 Day daily newspaper.

Press Council member Zaw Thet Htwe told The Irrawaddy that the 17 points in contention would soon be announced to the public.

On Sunday, more than a dozen journalists appeared at a busy thoroughfare in Hledan, near Rangoon University, to hand out the stickers to passersby and ask for their signatures. Other reporters did the same elsewhere in the city.

"We are here to collect people's signatures to support the Press Council bill that has been blocked by the MOI," the journalists told pedestrians.

Thura Myo, a journalist volunteering for the campaign, said the public seemed receptive to the campaign.

"Most of the people we ask are aware of what's happening between us and the MOI, so they willingly sign," he said. "Sometimes we have to explain a little bit about what we're doing and why, for their understanding."

Myint Kyaw said the general support of the public indicated that the issue of press freedom was not only a concern for journalists, but for the average Burmese citizen.

"So Parliament should consider the fact that what we are demanding is backed by the people's wishes," he said.

‘It Was a Tragic Scene to See the Dead Bodies of Our Brothers and Sisters’

Posted: 04 Aug 2013 10:10 PM PDT

The iconic photo in which house surgeons Win Zaw (L) and Saw Lwin carry 16-year-old pro-democracy protestor Win Maw Oo to an ambulance after she was fatally shot on September 18, 1988. (Photo: S. Lehman / Visions)

The iconic photo in which medical student Win Zaw (L) and house surgeon Dr Saw Lwin carry 16-year-old pro-democracy protestor Win Maw Oo to an ambulance after she was fatally shot on September 18, 1988. (Photo: S. Lehman / Visions)

RANGOON — Twenty five years ago, the streets of Rangoon swelled with hundreds of thousands of protestors demanding an end to Burma's military dictatorship. After government troops opened fire on them, hundreds were seriously injured. Many would have died if it had not been for Dr Myat Htoo Razak and Dr Win Zaw.

Like many doctors and nurses, the young house surgeon and medical student worked around the clock to save the lives of injured protestors during the hectic days of the 8888 Uprising.

Myat Htoo Rrazak recalled the unforgettable scenes that he witnessed on August 9, 1988, one day after popular, nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations started in Rangoon and other cities across Burma.

"Some of them were shot in their chests, arms and legs," he said in a recent interview with The Irrawaddy. "Two of them were seriously injured; one was shot in his head and another one shot in his eye."

Dr Myat Htoo Razak, 49, recalls saving the lives of injured 8888 demonstrators. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

Dr Myat Htoo Razak, 49, recalls saving the lives of injured 8888 demonstrators. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

The then 24-year-old house surgeon and his team had arrived at the Maternal and Child Welfare Association in Rangoon's North Okkalapa Township shortly before troops began to fire on crowds of peaceful demonstrators, who had gathered nearby.

One monk who made a speech urging protestors to keep marching was fatally shot. Many protestors ran into the building to flee the gunfire, some were bleeding from bullet wounds in their torsos, arms and legs.

The medical team, which came from North Okkalapa Hospital, had already prepared emergency treatment facilities as they feared that authorities might launch a violent crackdown on the demonstrations. Myat Htoo Razak and three other house surgeons (young doctors who are still undergoing practical training) and nurses started treating the many wounded.

But soon, soldiers surrounded the Maternal and Child Welfare Association and two captains entered building to intimidate the demonstrators. "We just used rubber bullets. Or else, you would have all been dead," one of them said looking at injured protestors.

The captain's heartless words infuriated Myat Htoo Razak but he tried to cope with his anger for the sake of his patients. The would-be doctor then asked the officers to transport two seriously wounded patients to North Okkalapa Hospital.

In the meantime, more injured people were coming into the building. Myat Htoo Razak and his small team kept treating the injured until late afternoon. When he got back to North Okkalapa Hospital, the troops were shooting right in front of the building.

"We didn't even need to go too far to carry patients as they were shooting in front of the hospital. The injured people were just carried into the hospital. Inside, we treated many of the injured people," he said.

While the doctors like Myat Htoo Razak worked ceaselessly to operate on the many wounded, pools of blood covered the hospital floors and numerous bodies arrived at the mortuary. "It was a tragic scene to see the dead bodies of our brothers and sisters," he said.

For 10 days, government violence continued and wounded pro-democracy demonstrators filled the wards of hospitals and clinics in Rangoon and across Burma.

When Dr Maung Maung, a civilian, became interim president on August 19 the shootings ended and people from all walks of life joined the demonstrations, which had now spread nationwide, from Burma's big cities to tiny villages throughout the country.

On September 18, the military staged a coup d'état and the crackdown worsened. Troops shot down many more demonstrators, including schoolchildren, students, civil servants and housewives. An estimated total of 3,000 people were killed and many more protestors were injured in August and September of 1988.

For the injured, doctors, nurses and house surgeons like Myat Htoo Razak, provided life-saving care at a critical moment in the country's history.

The 88' pro-democracy movement was the biggest people power uprising that Burma had seen since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. It toppled the country's oppressive authoritarian regime of military strongman Ne Win and his Burma Socialist Programme Party, which had ruled the country for 26 years.

The military coup and subsequent crackdown on the 8888 Uprising, however, would leave the army in charge for two more decades.

Another medical student who helped treat Burma's brave protestors at the time was Win Zaw.

Doctors, nurses and medical staffs not only treated the injured, but also took part in the demonstrations, and 23-year-old Win Zaw joined a group of medical students who staged a hunger strike on September 18 at Rangoon's University of Medicine.

After the army staged a coup at 4 pm that day, it announced that all demonstrators should disperse and leave their camps and the streets.

Dr. Win Zaw, 48, treated numerous injured protestors in 1988. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

Dr. Win Zaw, 48, treated numerous injured protestors in 1988. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

Win Zaw and his fellow students went to Rangoon General Hospital and spent the night helping doctors in treating hundreds of demonstrators who had been shot by troops as they tried to clear the streets of Rangoon.

The next morning, at about 10:30 am, Win Zaw and doctors got news that the troops had again opened fire on protestors. Win Zaw quickly joined a small team that included a surgeon named Win Ko, two doctors and another house surgeon by the name of Dr Saw Lwin.

They drove through the streets collecting the wounded, putting as many as 15 patients into their small ambulance. After two runs to pick up the victims, they heard that shots had been fired at a demonstration near Sule Pagoda in central Rangoon

As they reached the pagoda, it became clear that the troops had committed a massacre.

"It is a scene that I can never forget for the rest of life. There were a lot of bodies and injured people on street," Win Zaw recalled in an interview. "A photo of our Bogyoke [Aung San] was on the street, our fighting peacock flag [the symbol of students' movement] was also down, sandals were scattered and pools of blood were everywhere."

As they looked among the numerous bodies for protestors who were still alive, Win Zaw noticed one young girl who was breathing faintly. He approached and heard her murmur, "Brother, help me."

Win Zaw lifted the girl by her arms while house surgeon Saw Lwin held her legs. Wearing white physician duty coats, they carried her to the nearby ambulance. At that time, he noticed a flash of a camera and heard one of the soldiers bellowing: "Don't take pictures! Or else, we'll shoot!"

At that time, Win Zaw had no idea the picture would become an internationally well-known, historic picture that symbolized just how brutal the army's crackdown on innocent protestors had been. Later, he found out that the young girl's name was Win Maw Oo, a 16-year-old high school student.

On that dark day, September 19, 1988, Win Zaw's team made seven runs to collect the wounded from Rangoon's blood-covered streets. Another ambulance team of Rangoon General Hospital conducted a similar number of emergency rescues.

By the evening, he learned Win Maw Oo was being treated at the intensive care unit and that she was still alive after having suffered gunshot wounds in one arm, one leg and a lung. At 5:35 pm, however, she died.

The medical staff also risked their lives by going out and collecting wounded protestors from Rangoon's streets. Myat Htoo Razak remembers that at least one medical student was shot and killed, while another required a life-saving operation.

Myat Htoo Razak and a senior surgeon, Dr Kyaw Myint Naing, operated on final-year medical student Moe Thu Win for six and a half hours after a bullet had shredded the main artery in his arm. The doctors thought they might have to amputate the limb, but eventually the operation was successful.

During 10 days of bloody repression in 1988, the doctors continuously treated injured protestors, although some of the wounded didn't dare to come to hospitals out of fear that the military would arrest them there.

For some medical staff, their work would have repercussions later. The military had taken note of Win Zaw and Saw Lwin after the photo of their rescue of the young girl Win Maw Oo became famous the world over.

Four years later, the notorious Military Intelligence's unit-6, better known as MI-6, detained Dr Win Zaw for five days and asked him about the details of the events of that day.

For his colleague Dr Saw Lwin the consequences would be far greater, however. The military authorities forced Saw Lwin's father to retire from his position as the director of a government department. This pressure on his family caused Saw Lwin to sink into a deep depression. Years later, he committed suicide.

Until this day, Win Zaw said, Saw Lwin's family cannot bear to watch the tragic picture of their rescue attempt.

For both Dr Win Zaw and Dr Myat Htoo Razak the events of 1988 were life defining moments, and all these years later both say they are still dedicated to establishing genuine democracy in Burma.

"The 88 uprising shaped our lives," said Myat Htoo Razak, who now lives in the United States and has worked on HIV/Aids research and strengthening health care systems in Asia and Africa.

Win Zaw, who is now secretary of the Myanmar Medical Association's General Practitioners Society, said, "In fact, we are still waiting to get what we demanded 25 years ago."

88 Commemorative Painting by Win Pe Sold at Charity Auction

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 03:13 AM PDT

From left to right: 88 Student leaders Ko Ko Gyi and Min Ko Naing hand over the painting to its winning bidder Htet Aung ( in white shirt). (Photo: Kyaw Phyo Tha / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — A painting by celebrated Burmese artist Win Pe commemorating the 25th anniversary of Burma's 8888 Uprising fetched almost US$2,800 at a charity auction on Sunday.

The acrylic painting titled '88 Democratic Revolution' was presented for auction by Min Ko Naing, a prominent student leader of the '88 movement and member of the Convention Committee for the 8888 Silver Jubilee that
organized the event.

The work appears on the cover of The Four Eights Magazine, a 336-page issue published by the committee to mark the jubilee, which will be commemorated during several events on Aug 6, 7 and 8.

Hundreds of thousands of Burmese took to the streets in August and September 1988 to demand democracy and an end to the rule of Dictator Ne Win. The 8888 people power uprising was, however, brutally crushed and the army would continue to rule Burma for more than two decades.

Min Ko Naing said during his opening speech at the Royal Rose Restaurant in Rangoon that the 48'' x 36'' painting, which features abstract human faces, was up for auction by the artist's request.

During the auction, the floor price began at 8888 kyats, but it surged to 2000,000 kyats (about US$2000) within a few minutes when four bidders competed against each other for the ownership of the painting. The painting eventually went to Htet Aung, a fifth bidder who offered 2800,000 kyats (about $2,800).

The 78-year-old artist, who has lived in the US since 1994, had promised editors of the commemorative Four Eights magazine during a recent visit to Burma that he would paint a magazine cover for them.

"He sent the painting from the States on time," said Tun Win Nyein, a member of the magazine's eight-strong editorial team. "He told us he will donate half of the price fetched at the auction to the committee that organizes the 88 Uprising memorial event."

The editor recounted what the artist had said about the work: "Saya U Win Pe explained to us that he had created the painting with all his feelings towards the Four Eights movement… This is the only one painting by U Win Pe about the popular uprising."

A movie director, scriptwriter, novelist, cartoonist and artist, Win Pe has played leading role in the evolution of modern art in Burma. After nearly two decades in exile, he visited his home country for eight months before leaving again in July.

The winning bidder Htet Aung, a Burmese political observer, said he felt happy to own the painting and proud to support the 88 commemorative ceremony. "I thought I would have to pay more," he added.

Sunday's auction was the third high-profile charity auction in Burma in the past year.

In September, an acoustic guitar with hand paintings by 88 Generation Students leaders Min Ko Naing, Pyone Cho and Htay Kywe fetched nearly US$70,000 at an auction held during a fund-raising concert.

In December, two sweaters hand-knit by famous opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi were sold for $123,000 to an anonymous
bidder and a chairwoman from Burmese radio station Shwe FM, during a fundraising event of the National League for Democracy.

Burma’s Internet Delays Continue Ahead of 88 Uprising Anniversary

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 02:04 AM PDT

A map of the subsea Internet cable SEA-ME-WE-3 and its landing points around the world. Burma is No. 21. (Photo: Creative Commons)

RANGOON — After weeks of recurrent Internet breakdowns, Burma's state-run telecommunications said on Monday morning that the latest slowdown would likely be fixed by the evening, but could take up to two days to repair, as the country prepares to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a major pro-democracy uprising.

Myo Swe, chief engineer of the Information and Technology Department at the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), apologized several times for two new problems disrupting the country's connectivity. He said an underground fiber-optic cable near the Irrawaddy Delta city of Pyapon has been compromised. The fiber cable is damaged in one location, he said, while the power supply is down in another.

The 25th anniversary of the Aug. 8, 1988, uprising is only three days away, with a Silver Jubilee celebration in Rangoon set to begin on Tuesday and run through Thursday. The timing of the Internet delays has left some in the country wondering whether the government is attempting to block communication ahead of the celebration.

When asked to comment on the allegation, the MPT's Myo Swe laughed and said the Internet issues were not related to the anniversary celebration, adding that government officials had urged him to fix the problem as soon as possible.  He said he hoped Internet speeds would be back to normal by Monday night but added that the problem might not be completely fixed for a day or two.

The engineer also apologized to businesses in the country for the frequent Internet delays but said there were no plans at the moment to increase robustness.

The high-end Traders Hotel in Rangoon, which has a reputation locally for its fast Internet speed and seemingly unbreakable WiFi, maintained its connectivity on Monday morning, albeit slightly slowed, but some other businesses in the city were not so lucky. The hotel's manager of information and technology declined to comment on why the hotel's Internet connection was so robust compared to other nearby businesses.

Punks Break Burma’s Silence on Religious Attacks

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 01:52 AM PDT

Youths dressed as punks await a punk music show during the Burmese New Year Water Festival in Rangoon on April 12, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)

RANGOON — Punk rockers draw double-takes as they dart through traffic, but it's not just the pink hair, leather jackets or skull tattoos that make these 20-somethings rebels: It's their willingness to speak out against Buddhist monks instigating violence against Muslims while others in Burma are silent.

"If they were real monks, I'd be quiet, but they aren't," says Kyaw Kyaw, lead singer of Rebel Riot, as his drummer knocks out the beat for a new song slamming religious hypocrisy and an anti-Muslim movement known as "969." ''They are nationalists, fascists. No one wants to hear it, but it's true."

Radical monks are at the forefront of a bloody campaign against Muslims, and few in this predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people are willing to speak against them. For many, being Buddhist is an important part of being Burmese, and monks, the most venerable members of society, are beyond reproach. Others are simply in denial, or buy into claims the Muslim "outsiders" pose a threat to their culture and traditions.

The silence is as dangerous as the mobs razing mosques and cheering as Muslims are hunted down and beaten to death with chains and metal pipes, says Michael Salberg, director of international affairs at the US-based Anti-Defamation League.

"It's not perpetrators that are the problem here," he says, pointing to conditions that paved the way for the Holocaust in Germany and the genocide in Rwanda. "It's the bystanders."

After half-century of harsh military rule, a quasi-civilian government installed two years ago has implemented sweeping reforms, releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, relaxing restrictions against peaceful assembly, opening up the media and throwing away the censor's pen.

The same freedoms have also given voice to monks like Wirathu, a charismatic speaker and supporter of 969. His following is growing as he crisscrosses the country calling for boycotts of Muslim-owned shops and a ban on marriages between Buddhist women and Muslim men, and warning that a higher birthrate could one day bring Muslims from 4 percent of the population to a majority.

"All I can really say is, people should look at the teachings of Buddha and ask themselves, is this what he meant?" says Ye Ngwe Soe, the 27-year-old frontman of No U Turn, the country's most popular punk rock band. He wrote the song "Human Wars" after violence against Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State started spilling into other regions. "When I go to some urban areas, I hear talking about 969, hating Muslims, being violent. It shouldn't be this way."

Hate speech experts say the best way to counter people like Wirathu is to seek the voice of moderate Buddhists.

But outside of a handful of monks and civil activists who have gotten together for interfaith dialogues, few are stepping up. Westerners working in Burma are often surprised when their otherwise progressive Burmese subordinates softly defend the monks or say nothing when discussions turn to religious violence.

"I'm sure a lot of them think this is total madness, but they don't dare to say that openly," says Bertil Lintner, a Swedish journalist who has written several books about Burma. "If they do they will be attacked by these new nationalists, religious bigots, accused of being friends with Muslims. … It's a very difficult situation."

Arker Kyaw, a 20-year-old graffiti artist bursting with an electric creativity, has several friends—mostly musicians and DJs—who are Muslims and was very upset about the violence that has wracked their communities in the last year.

He and others of varying religious backgrounds put together a music video expressing solidarity, saying basically, "Don't worry, at least between us, everything will be OK."

But when asked if he isn't tempted to answer to 969 when he sees their stickers and signs on the walls of Rangoon, he says: "No. It's very complicated. On this one, I think it's better to be the audience, not the show."

President Thein Sein, embraced by the United States and others for his reform-minded agenda, banned an issue of Time magazine that splashed Wirathu on the cover and called him "the face of Buddhist terror," and issued a statement saying he supports 969 and considers the extremist monk a "son of Lord Buddha."

With national elections scheduled for 2015, opposition leader Suu Kyi has said nothing, worried, analysts say, there will be a backlash at the polls if she is perceived as anti-Buddhist.

That leaves the punk rockers, who know what it's like to be outsiders.

During military rule, the tiny punk community practiced and performed in secret, often in abandoned buildings, by the railroad tracks or in private, before a small group of close friends. While others were cowed by the constant threat of arrest and imprisonment, they screamed out about abuses at the hands of the army and asked why politically connected businessmen were getting rich while everyone else suffered.

Today they have a new battleground, religious intolerance. And they aren't about to shy away.

Kyaw Kyaw of Rebel Riot likes to say that while he can't change the world, or Burma, or even Rangoon, he can at least influence those around him.

"They can arrest us, we don't care," says this 26-year-old son of a police officer. "Or we can be attacked by certain groups. We don't care, we've prepared ourselves for this mentally. But we want to speak our minds."

Gingerly, Filmmaker Tests Limits of Freedom in Burma

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 02:45 AM PDT

Movie director Zay Par poses for a photo in the editing room in downtown Rangoon on July 19, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — Burma movie director Zay Par is doing what would have been unthinkable two years ago—putting the finishing touches to a film that harks back to a 1988 student uprising brutally put down by military rulers.

Hunched in front of a computer in a cramped room in Rangoon, Zay Par says he is testing the boundaries of newfound artistic freedom that has blossomed since the junta handed power to a hand-picked civilian government in 2011—but very carefully.

"We will show our edit to the censorship board and they will decide whether to allow it or not," the 35-year-old said.

The protagonist of the film is an activist jailed during the student uprising. Now a freed political prisoner, he is looked up to by villagers who have sought his help in a dispute with a Chinese mining company.

As he shares his experience with them, there are flashbacks to 1988.

The movie would have been banned just a couple years ago, when the military ran the country, and the producer and director would have been in hot water. Even today a quasi-civilian government's reforms go only so far and film makers remain reluctant to touch on sensitive subjects.

After 49 years of military rule, President Thein Sein, a former army general, is spearheading sweeping changes that include lifting restrictions on freedom of speech. There has been an explosion of news media, but movies are still light on politics and heavy on action or comedy.

Zay Par's film will be the first to depict scenes of the 1988 uprising, when authorities killed at least 3,000 people and arrested thousands more, holding some for years as political prisoners.

But Zay Par isn't showing soldiers gunning down unarmed protesters. In the scene he's editing, students march and chant slogans while the camera pans slowly across, showing only the back of a soldier facing the crowd.

Zay Par said it's not just government censors he's worried about: He doesn't think the general public is ready yet for graphic scenes of political violence.

Burma's political transformation has yet to bring stability. Ethnic militias still face off against government troops in the hinterlands while clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have killed more than 200 people over the past year.

"In the present situation I decided not to use soldiers shooting students," Zay Par said. "I will show only what I should show."

The Good Old Days

It wasn't always this complicated.

Burma used to have a vibrant film industry, with a movie-mad population and 244 cinemas in the late 1950s, according to the Myanmar Motion Picture Organization.

"We produced about 80 to 100 pictures every year. That was the golden age," recalled San Shwe Maung, a 78-year-old actor and director who is a member of the organization.

The country now makes only 17 to 20 films a year, he said in a colonial-era house that serves as a museum of Burmese cinema, with movie posters of stars and starlets past hanging on the walls.

These days, he said, movies are shot in a couple of weeks or less. In the past it might have taken three years.

Because most cinemas have ageing projectors, new movies have to be converted from digital to film before distribution. But people prefer to shell out 1,000 to 5,000 kyat ($1 to $5) to watch Hollywood and Bollywood films. Thai and Korean movies are also popular.

The number of cinemas has dwindled to perhaps 100 around the country, with about 20 in Rangoon, down from 40 in the 1970s, according to San Shwe Maung.

Rangoon has two theaters that show mainly Western action films in 3D, but most are older places, paint peeling on the outside. Inside, the seats are dilapidated and there is no air conditioning to provide respite from the tropical heat.

The old cinemas are popular with young couples seeking privacy in Burma's conservative society, if they can put up with the mosquitoes, or the mice running around their feet.

Wrecking Ball

As if to underscore the decline of a once-thriving industry, two more cinemas are being demolished in central Rangoon.

But the industry's fall began almost five decades ago when a 1962 coup by military officers turned the country into a police state largely cut off from the outside world.

Wary of any criticism that could stir up the masses, the junta imposed strict censorship. Politics and corruption were off-limits and censors would also chop anything approaching a sex scene, said San Shwe Maung.

Then, in 1968, the government nationalized the film industry. It became difficult to fund productions or even buy film to shoot on.

"After that there were no more good pictures, up to nowadays," San Shwe Maung lamented.

The veteran movie star did manage to make a movie depicting the conflict between the army and ethnic Karen rebels. He played a Karen fighter who falls in love with a nurse treating government soldiers. His character switches to the government side to be with her and is eventually killed for it by his fellow rebels, a plot twist that satisfied the censors.

"We could do it, because at the end I was punished," he said with a laugh.

San Shwe Maung won the award for best supporting actor for that role in the country's Academy Awards in 1974. Winners were chosen by officials at the Ministry of Information until last year, when members of the Motion Picture Organization convinced the ministry to let them choose half the awards themselves.

Zay Par's movie about the 1988 student uprising is another sign the government is loosening up. And the censorship rules have eased considerably. But breaking out of the creative confines of the past is still a challenge, according to the film's producer, Phyo Yadana Thwe.

"I've lived in a box for 25 years. Now the government gives us freedom, but it's hard because we are afraid," she said. "We have no idea of free thinking."

Additional reporting by Aye Win Myint.

Small Bomb Hits Buddhist Temple in Indonesia

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 02:40 AM PDT

People from Indonesian Muslim hardline groups gather during a protest near the Burmese Embassy in Jakarta on May 3, 2013, where some groups called for jihad against Burma. (Photo: Reuters)

JAKARTA — Police and government officials on Monday condemned an attack on a Buddhist temple in Indonesia's capital after a small bomb detonated as devotees inside prayed, injuring one person. Two other devices failed to go off.

The explosion happened Sunday night at the Ekayana Grha Buddhist temple in West Jakarta. The blast went off near the front door of the building, slightly damaging the structure, chief of National Police Detective Lt. Gen. Sutarman told reporters at the scene.

Another bomb placed near the back door emitted smoke, but did not go off and a third device placed inside the temple also failed to go off, added Sutarman, who like many Indonesians, uses a single name. Police were investigating.

"Now, the terrorists may have shifted their target from [Christian] churches to [Buddhist] temples," Sutarman said. "This is possibly triggered by the sectarian conflict in Myanmar."

Muslim militants in Indonesia angered over sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma have threatened to attack Buddhist temples here. In May, two men were arrested with low explosives in a backpack as part of an alleged plot to bomb the Burma Embassy in Jakarta.

The incident occurred days ahead of festivities planned to celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, and most people practice a moderate form of the religion.

Djoko Suyanto, coordinating minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, condemned the attack, and called for increased vigilance against any sign of terrorism.

"Security authorities have been ordered to search and capture the perpetrators who have damaged the peaceful environment of the fasting month," Suyanto said Monday.

Nauru Agrees to Settle Refugees for Australia

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 02:34 AM PDT

Rohingya people perennially leave their homes and families in Burma and Bangladesh, where they face extreme discrimination and are denied citizenship. (Photo: Reuters)

CANBERRA, Australia — The tiny country of Nauru on Saturday became the second Pacific island nation to agree to settle refugees who attempt to reach Australia by boat, in a deal aimed at deterring asylum seekers that was quickly attacked by critics.

Nauru signed the agreement two weeks after Papua New Guinea made a similar deal with the Australian government in return for foreign aid.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hopes to deter an escalating number of asylum seekers who travel to Australia in rickety fishing boats from poor, often war-torn homelands through other countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Rudd is soon expected to call an election for as early as Sept. 7. The surge in asylum seeker boat arrivals in recent years is a major political issue that is hurting the governing center-left Labor Party in opinion polls.

When the Papua New Guinea deal was signed on July 19, Rudd warned that no asylum seekers in boats would ever be accepted by Australia. Rights groups condemned the policy as an abrogation of Australia's responsibilities as a signatory to the United Nations' Refugee Convention.

However, the boats have continued to arrive, carrying around 100 asylum seekers a day.

"No matter where people smugglers try to land asylum seekers by boat in Australia, they will not be settled in Australia. This is our core principle," Rudd told reporters Saturday.

"Those seeking safe haven will have the opportunity to settle and reside in Nauru," he said.

Nauru and Papua New Guinea both host Australian-run immigration detention camps where asylum seekers' refugee claims are assessed. Those in Nauru have been living in tents since the accommodation blocks were burned during a riot last month.

Nauru President Baron Waqa would not say how many refugees his tiny nation—which has fewer than 10,000 people and covers just 21 square kilometers (8.1 square miles)—would accept.

"We will stand by Australia in making sure that this works, and not only that, that all of the refugees or asylum seekers that come through our camp will be treated humanely and with human rights upheld," Waqa said.

Both Nauru and Papua New Guinea are signatories to the UN Refugee Convention, but rights groups doubt they have the financial resources to fulfill their obligations.

Sen. Christine Milne, leader of the influential Australian Greens Party, which argues that Australia should welcome all asylum seekers, attacked the latest deal.

"There's no way that Nauru can absorb a large number of people in a resettlement program, and tellingly the prime minister didn't say exactly how many he expected to be resettled on Nauru, and neither did the president of Nauru because, frankly, it's absurd," Milne said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the deal was aimed at winning Labor the election. He described the likelihood of refugees settling in Nauru as "remote."

The government argues that many asylum seekers from countries such as Iran are economic migrants seeking a better standard of living rather than true refugees.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke said Australia could strike similar agreements with other countries in the Asia-Pacific region to resettle refugees.

"I'm prepared to say there are other countries who have raised this with us as well," he said.

Bangkok Braces for Political Street Protests

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 02:29 AM PDT

Thai riot policemen stand guard outside Government House in preparation for anti-government protests in Bangkok on Aug. 5, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha)

BANGKOK — Thailand's capital braced Sunday for possible unrest in the week ahead, with street protests expected over moves in parliament that could eventually lead to a pardon for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

As many as 2,000 protesters calling themselves the People's Army Against the Thaksin Regime turned up Sunday for a peaceful rally in a Bangkok park. But bigger and more militant protests are expected when parliament on Wednesday begins debating an amnesty bill that would cover people arrested for political activities since the 2006 military coup that ousted Thaksin for alleged corruption and disrespect to the monarchy.

Thaksin was later sentenced to two years in jail on a conflict of interest charge, but escaped punishment by living abroad in self-imposed exile. The amnesty bill would not cover Thaksin, but his opponents fear that if it passes, it would set a precedent and pave the way for another measure pardoning him. The bill was proposed by a lawmaker from the ruling Pheu Thai Party, which is headed by Thaksin's sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The unease caused by the specter of protests reflects Thailand's failure to achieve political reconciliation after the coup, with Thaksin's supporters and opponents battling for power since his ouster. In 2010, about 90 people were killed when Thaksin's supporters occupied part of downtown Bangkok for around two months before being swept away by the army. In 2008, Thaksin's opponents occupied the prime minister's offices for about three months and Bangkok's two airports for a week.

Thaksin is a highly polarizing figure who won large majorities in winning office, especially from rural voters who gained from his populist policies. Critics accused him of corruption and abuse of power, charging he was imposing a "parliamentary dictatorship" and trying to usurp King Bhumibol Adulyadej's constitutional authority.

Even though Thaksin's political allies currently lead the government, they have not been able to push through measures allowing for his free return, thanks largely to opposition by royalists and the military.

While it is not clear how many protesters the opposition can muster, Yingluck's government is taking few chances.

This past week, it invoked the Internal Security Act in three Bangkok districts, citing the possibility of protest violence, and readied more than 30,000 police officers to provide safety at key locations, including the prime minister's office compound and parliament.

The act, in effect from Aug. 1-10, authorizes officials to seal off roads, take action against security threats, impose curfews and ban the use of electronic devices in designated areas. Peaceful and unarmed rallies are allowed under the law.

"We will take care of the protesters and will make sure ordinary people can commute and carry on their daily lives," Yingluck said during her weekly television talk show, aired Saturday morning. "I hope under these circumstances, we can get through the situation smoothly."

Sunday's protest, held in a part of Bangkok far from government offices, was low-key. The so-called People's Army is a fringe group, nominally led by former senior military officers with close ties to the country's royalist establishment. It has little of the organizing skill or appeal of the People's Alliance for Democracy, which led large-scale and effective anti-Thaksin protests before the coup in 2006, and again in 2008, when another pro-Thaksin government was in power. The alliance has not committed itself to taking part in the current round of protests.

One of the People's Army co-leaders, Banawit Kengrian, said Sunday that his protesters would stay overnight and remain as long as needed, adding that he wanted matters to end in seven days.

"Our goal is to unroot the so-called Thaksin regime from our country," he told reporters. "We do not aim to topple the government, but we cannot let them push for the bill by ignoring people's opinions and passing it with the parliamentary dictatorship they have."

Banawit would not say what the next move would be, saying he was afraid the protesters would be blocked by the government, and refused to comment on whether his group would march to parliament. He said, however, that the group had a strategy and would announce its plans 12 hours ahead of time.

Cambodia to Set Up Independent Poll Investigation

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 02:23 AM PDT

Military policemen stand in front of a poster of Cambodia's long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen in central Phnom Penh on July 30, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Samrang Pring)

PHNOM PENH — The two rival parties claiming victory in Cambodia's general election reached an agreement Saturday with the state National Election Committee to investigate polling irregularities, a move that could pave the way to ending the country's political deadlock.

However, in the latest example of how both parties have been maneuvering for advantage since the July 28 election, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party said later in the day that it was not ready to attend a planned Sunday session to organize the investigating committee.

In an emailed statement, the CNRP repeated its desire for representatives from the United Nations and civil society to be members of the committee, rather than just observers, as the NEC said would be the case. The NEC, which is widely seen as biased in favor of the ruling Cambodian People's Party—or at least unwilling to challenge it—would also be part of the investigating body.

After meeting with senior members of the two parties earlier Saturday, NEC Secretary-General Tep Nytha announced an agreement in principle to form an independent investigative body.

The ruling party contends that provisional election results show it won 68 parliamentary seats to the opposition's 55, while the opposition claims there was widespread cheating and that it won a 63-seat majority.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, in power for 28 years, has made clear that he believes the final results, due in mid-August, will favor him and that he will have another five-year term in office. With his overpowering influence over the state apparatus and the judiciary, he is almost certain to have his way.

There had been speculation that opposition lawmakers might try to block the formation of a new government by failing to take their seats in the 123-seat National Assembly and denying the body a quorum, which some interpret to mean the presence of at least 120 members.

However, Hun Sen said Friday that the constitution allows the assembly to open and appoint a new government without the opposition's participation. He said the failure of opposition lawmakers to take their seats could result in their forfeiting them to the ruling party.

"There will be no deadlock for the new National Assembly and the forming of new government. I will be the prime minister for the fifth five-year term of the government," Hun Sen told villagers in Kandal province, which borders Phnom Penh, the capital.

While the establishment of the investigative body is unlikely to have any substantive effect, it could serve as a way for the two parties to reach a face-saving accord and avoid possible chaos if Hun Sen takes office without the opposition's acquiescence.

If the body agrees that there were flaws in the election process, it could initiate reforms for which the opposition could take credit, keeping its promise of fighting a long-haul struggle for democracy.

Hun Sen, for his part, could stake a claim of being willing to compromise, giving the appearance of being reasonable rather than an intransigent autocrat. The gesture might appease foreign critics such as the United States, which strongly called for such an investigation.

The opposition has charged that more than 1 million people may have been unable to vote in the election because their names were not put on voting rolls despite having registered. There are also charges of people being registered despite being ineligible.

It had called for setting up an independent probe, but the agreement reached Saturday falls short of what it wanted, which was the inclusion of Cambodian and foreign civil society groups.

Tep Nytha, the election committee head, told reporters that the investigative body would comprise members of the two rival parties, who would work with the NEC. He said representatives from the United Nations and civil society groups would be invited as observers, not members.

Hun Sen and his government have railed against foreign involvement in the political process, with the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday issuing a statement warning foreign diplomatic missions not to interfere in the country's internal affairs.

Tep Nytha said Saturday's meeting represented progress, with both sides willing to talk and work together. He said the committee's work would give voters confidence about the election results.

The committee's preliminary tally of the popular vote showed Hun Sen's party with 3,227,729 votes and the opposition with 2,941,133. Six other parties that ran far behind shared fewer than half a million votes.

What We Were Fighting For

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 01:20 AM PDT

It was 25 years ago that students led a massive uprising against military rule in Myanmar—an event that has shaped an entire generation and affected virtually every person in the country. After 26 years of disastrous decline under the regime of Gen Ne Win, the people of Myanmar had had enough. Little did they know then, when victory had seemed so near, that it would be nearly the same number of years again before they would finally begin to see the end of the long, dark night of oppression.

As a student at that time, I can clearly remember the exhilaration of knowing that the entire nation was behind us, that we could not possibly lose. But we were wrong. Though people came out into the streets in their millions all over the country, the military would not stand down. Too accustomed to holding power, and believing that only they could lead the way out of the crisis that they had created, the generals gave the order: shoot, shoot to kill.

And so thousands of young lives were mown down, and with them, the hopes of an entire nation. Some fled to the jungle to take up arms or seek allies abroad, while others went underground to defy the new regime from within. For more than two decades, an undeclared war continued to rage—a war on students, on the very people who had refused to lose faith in their country's future.

They knocked on doors in the middle of the night: the military intelligence agents who didn't care about the sobbing parents as they dragged their children away with hoods over their heads. They tortured and imprisoned any who dared to speak out against the regime. And when they couldn't throw everyone who opposed them behind bars, the generals locked the gates to the universities, knowing they were breeding grounds for dangerous ideas, such as democracy and human rights.

Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org.

Of course, students were not the only victims of the violence, which also targeted ethnic minorities and opposition politicians and affected everybody from poor farmers to rich businesspeople who fell afoul of the all-powerful generals. But it was students who were treated with the greatest distrust, because the weapons they wielded were their own minds, which refused to be yield to force.

Later, the junta refined its strategy for dealing with students: while keeping most campuses closed, it created new ones, banishing students to the distant outskirts of cities. Thus the prisons, home to some of Myanmar's best minds, became in some ways the country's most important centers of learning, while the universities, deprived of decent facilities and properly qualified instructors, became little more than holding centers for a dispossessed generation.

Now all of this has changed, or so we would like to believe. Students are no longer vilified in the state-run press, and most of Myanmar's political prisoners have been freed. Some of the '88 activists are now politicians, media people or artists, all determined in their own way to keep their struggle for democracy alive. Those forced to flee have begun to return, looking for ways to help rebuild the country they never really left behind.

There is some hope in the air in Myanmar today, but it is nothing like that of 1988. Then, it was possible to believe that the country could easily return to the days when, before the coup of 1962, it was seen as the most promising in the region. Now, there is half a century of rubble to remove before rebuilding can even begin.

But perhaps it isn't necessary to clear away every remnant of the recent past, as we tried to do in 1988. Perhaps as we reclaim the space that was taken away from us and learn again how to speak openly, without fear of our overlords, we can, in the process, dismantle the legacy of military rule.

Does anybody really believe that the former generals who now rule Myanmar understand the meaning of democracy? Probably not. But perhaps it doesn't really matter, as long as we are all determined to make what use we can of the little freedom we now have to create a nation based on respect for the rights of its people, rather than on dread of its despotic rulers.

This does not mean that we can forget the past, especially when its effects are still very much with us. Those who sacrificed their lives must be remembered, not only by their loved ones, but by the nation as a whole. But this can only happen in a country with real leadership. Until Myanmar has leaders who can acknowledge the past, the road to a better future will be strewn with obstacles.

These days, the way forward looks particularly daunting. Despite numerous ceasefires, conflicts in the country's north remain unresolved because of the current government's refusal to accommodate the desire of ethnic minorities for greater self-determination. Meanwhile, religious riots—evidently backed by some still in power today—are hurting the country's efforts to rejoin the international community after decades of isolation.

Myanmar won't be able to recover from its long years of abuse at the hands of its rulers on its own. It would truly be a tragedy—and a betrayal of the spirit of 1988—if agents of hatred and intolerance succeeded in robbing the people of Myanmar of the respect they have earned in the eyes of the world for their tireless struggle for democracy. Only by continuing to resist the forces of ignorance and brutality will we be able to win the war on students, and on the minds of all Myanmar citizens.

Aung Zaw is the founding editor in chief of the Irrawaddy. This story first appeared in the August 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.
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