Monday, April 22, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Military Sues The Irrawaddy for ‘Unfair’ Coverage of Rakhine Conflict

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 05:39 AM PDT

YANGON—The Myanmar military has sued The Irrawaddy News under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law for its coverage of recent clashes between the Army and the Arakan Army ethnic armed group in the ancient town of Mrauk-U in Rakhine State.

The military's Yangon Region Command filed the case against the news agency's Burmese edition editor U Ye Ni on April 12 at Kyauktada Police Station. It is the second time the military has taken legal action against The Irrawaddy in the past three years. In June 2017 a reporter from the news organization and two others from Democratic Voice of Burma were detained by the military and charged under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act during a reporting trip to northern Shan State.

Kyauktada Police Station chief Po Htun told The Irrawaddy on Monday that Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Min Tun of the Yangon Region Command filed the case on behalf of Yangon military commander Major General Thet Pone. The editor was granted bail on the same day.

The secretary of the military's True News Information Team, Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, told The Irrawaddy on Sunday that media coverage of the Rakhine conflict, including The Irrawaddy's, had not been fair, prompting it to take legal action.

Clashes between the AA, which seeks autonomy for the Arakanese people in Rakhine State, and the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) intensified early this year following the rebels' attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine State on Jan. 4. The government announced that there had been 103 incidents of fighting between the Tatmadaw and the AA since January, resulting in the deaths of 12 civilians. The Myanmar Army admitted there had been casualties on both sides.

Since mid-March, the two sides have accused each other of opening fire on civilians. The Tatmadaw claims such incidents occur because AA troops try to mingle with local residents.

The civilian casualties have dominated the headlines of local publications.

The Irrawaddy has reported extensively on fighting between the AA and government troops since the outbreak of clashes in January, presenting views from both sides, as well as follow-ups on local people displaced by the fighting.

The Irrawaddy's U Ye Ni said the agency has exercised its journalistic rights and ethics as stated in the country's Media Law.

"I feel sorry about the military's misunderstanding of us. Journalism dictates that we reveal the suffering of people in a conflict area. Our intention behind the coverage is to push those concerned to solve the problems by understanding the sufferings of the people," he said.

The editor said he had informed the Myanmar Press Council about the charge and requested its intervention.

Meanwhile, the military's ire has not been limited to the news media. It recently charged an activist, a human-rights film director and student activists with public mischief. In 2017, the military sued the editor and a writer from local paper The Voice over a satirical piece.

The post Military Sues The Irrawaddy for 'Unfair' Coverage of Rakhine Conflict appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Five Members of Thangyat Troupe Jailed for Criticizing Military

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 03:20 AM PDT

YANGON—Five members of the Peacock Generation Thangyat troupe were denied bail and sent to Insein Prison on Monday afternoon for criticizing the military during a performance.

Lieutenant-Colonel Than Tun Myint opened cases against the five members of the Peacock Generation satirical performance group—Ko Zeyar Lwin, Ko Paing Phyo Min, Ko Paing Ye Thu, Ko Phoe Thar and Ma Kay Khine Tun—under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code.

Article 505 (a) makes it a crime to engage in activity that is seen to undermine the military. It carries a maximum two-year prison sentence.

During the Myanmar New Year celebrations, the troupe performed a number of Thangyat songs that criticized the military's role in politics. Thangyat is a traditional Burmese performing art in which a group of performers sing satirical songs criticizing the government and the situation in the country, as well as highlighting the difficulties and suffering of the people.

Defamation cases under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law were also opened against the members of Peacock Generation relating to the same event in Yangon, as well as for their livestreaming of a video of their performance in Irrawaddy Region.

Since the second week of this month, senior military officials have opened cases against several critics. On April 12, prominent filmmaker and human rights activist Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi was arrested for a series of Facebook posts criticizing the military-drafted 2008 Constitution and the political role that it grants to the Army. And on April 19, ex-Army Captain Ko Nay Myo Zin was arrested for giving a speech against the military.

The post Five Members of Thangyat Troupe Jailed for Criticizing Military appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thousands of Downstream Villagers Protest Against Myitsone Dam

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 03:05 AM PDT

YANGON—Thousands of residents of Waimaw Township in Kachin State staged a protest on Monday calling for the suspension of Myitsone Dam and other dams upstream of the Irrawaddy River.

The protest was staged just days before State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is due to travel to Beijing for the 2nd Belt and Road Forum, where Chinese investment projects, including the proposed dams on the Irrawaddy River, are expected to be discussed. The public has raised concerns that a resumption of the suspended dam project, which is worth US$3.6 billion (5.4 trillion kyats), would destroy the country's mighty lifeline river and disrupt the water flow downstream.

The organizers of the protest told The Irrawaddy on Monday that they would continue their opposition to the project until the government announced its termination. They also called for an end to all dams on the Irrawaddy River. Waimaw Township, located some 19 km from the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, is one of the most vulnerable areas downstream. The public has been alarmed over reports that the dam, if it broke, could flood an area the size of Singapore, which would destroy livelihoods and displace more than 10,000 people.

Bawm Sau, who led the protest, told The Irrawaddy the protesters shouted "No Myitsone Dam!" and "Completely halt the Myitsone dam and other dams upstream!" during the demonstration.

As they marched, the protesters also held up signs with slogans such as "The people totally reject Myitsone Dam" and "Let the Irrawaddy flow freely forever."

Some 8,000 to 10,000 local residents joined the march, according to the organizers.

Like people all around the country, local residents are eagerly awaiting the government's decision on whether the project should be resumed or terminated. A meeting of environmentalists, academics, politicians and artists in Yangon on Saturday also called for a halt to the dams, announcing a campaign to raise money from the public to compensate China for the scrapping of the project.

"There shouldn't be any dams on the Irrawaddy River and we are waiting for the government's response. We will keep raising our voices until they announce a permanent halt," said U Waw Lay, a Waimaw resident who took part in Monday's protest.

The post Thousands of Downstream Villagers Protest Against Myitsone Dam appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Anti-Myitsone Campaign to Ask Citizens to Pay $1 Each to Compensate China

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 11:51 PM PDT

YANGON—Prominent civil society leaders, environmentalists and film stars have announced a "One Dollar" campaign to collect money from the public to compensate China in exchange for scrapping the controversial Myitsone Dam project planned for Myanmar's lifeline, the Irrawaddy River. The campaign was announced at a forum on Saturday with the aim of giving State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi a message to convey to Beijing from the Myanmar public, and was backed up by an open letter to the Chinese president.

Four days before the State Counselor's scheduled departure for Beijing to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum, a panel discussion under the title "Save the Irrawaddy by Offering Compensation" was held on Saturday at the Novotel Hotel in Yangon. The panel discussion was organized by three of the country's most prominent civil society organizations: the Metta Development Foundation, Paung Ku and the Tharthi Myay Foundation.

In an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, participants said that a dam on the Irrawaddy River is unacceptable to the people of Myanmar.

"So, in line with the [Myitsone project's] contract, the Myanmar people wish to dutifully offer compensation for the official expenditure you have spent on the project," the letter reads.

During her trip, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to discuss a number of controversial Chinese projects in Myanmar, particularly the Myitsone Dam project.

The proposed US$3.6-billion (5.4 trillion kyats) dam on Myanmar's lifeline Irrawaddy River in Kachin State has been suspended since 2011 due to nationwide opposition amid warnings that the project would disrupt the flow of sediment in the country's main waterway, harming agricultural livelihoods, while potentially flooding an area twice the size of Singapore and displacing thousands of people if it collapsed. The then military junta signed a contract on the project with China in 2006, before handing power to a quasi-civilian government in 2011.

However, Beijing's recent efforts to revive the dam have fueled negative sentiment among the Myanmar public. Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang's claim, after a visit to Kachin State in December, that the Kachin people were not opposed to the dam's resumption, prompted a series of protests in major cities calling for the project to be scrapped. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government hasn't made public its view on whether the dam should be resumed or terminated. But recent remarks by the State Counselor suggesting that governments ought to respect the deals made by their predecessors have raised public concerns that the dam project is back on the track.

The Chinese company behind the project says Myanmar will owe it US$800 million in compensation if the government cancels the dam, but could earn US$500 million a year in revenue if it goes head.

Attended by around 700 people, Saturday's forum in Yangon was the latest event called to protest against the project. Panelists included prominent academics, politicians, civil society leaders, environmentalists and film stars. They requested that Myanmar citizens contribute one dollar each to cover the compensation required to scrap the Myitsone Dam. They also plan to send a letter to Xi appealing to him to accept the compensation instead of reviving the dam. A majority of attendees endorsed the idea of offering compensation to China.

It was not the first effort to raise a collective voice against the Myitsone Dam. Prominent environmentalists, writers and civil society leaders on April 1 formed a nationwide committee calling for the total abolition of the project, and warned the government it would face severe resistance from the public across the country if it made the wrong decision.

"There is no time for hesitation. This is the time to make an effort to stop the Myitsone Dam completely," Lahpai Seng Raw, founder of the Metta Development Foundation and a 2013 recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, said on Saturday.

"This is not the time to fear any pressure or threats. The future of our citizens depends on the Irrawaddy River," Lahpai Seng Raw said.

"By offering compensation to the Chinese government from the public, we can save our country's dignity and sovereignty," she said.

U Tun Lwin, the country's best-known meteorologist and founder of Myanmar Climate Change Watch, said, "I cannot accept any dam project on the Irrawaddy River."

In late January, U Thaung Tun, the minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, said the government and a commission were holding serious discussions and considering all possibilities, including downsizing the dam or relocating it.

"The catchment area of the dam is 65 percent to 70 percent of the country. There is no doubt that our sovereignty would be totally surrendered to the Chinese government if we let them build the dam," said U Tun Lwin.

After taking office, the National League for Democracy-led government set up a 20-member commission to review the dam and its likely impacts on the environment and local communities. The commission has produced two reports to date, but the government has yet to make either of them public.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi promised during the 2015 elections that she would make public the project contract signed by the military dictatorship, but has maintained a long silence on her own stance on the dam project.

One of the panelists at Saturday's discussion, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy Secretary U Sai Nyunt Lwin, said, "We all know that the government is facing a crisis. If they make the wrong decision, they will face severe resistance and consequences from the public."

He said, "On Myitsone, we need to be unified. We cannot think about what ethnicity we are, which party we come from. We are just citizens of the Union of Myanmar."

"It is time to protect Myitsone together. I would like to invite all citizens of Myanmar to join the campaign," he added.

Prominent writer Juu said that while manmade monuments can be recreated, natural gifts cannot.

"I want to take back Myitsone no matter what," she said.

Regarding the planned "One Dollar" campaign, the panelists did not reveal how they planned to collect the money from the public.

"We will wait and see how China responds. We will make a move depending on how they react,"

U Sai Nyunt Lwin said.

"Myitsone is under our sovereignty. There is nothing China can do without our [Myanmar citizens'] consent," he said.

Meanwhile, in Waimaw Township, about 19 km from Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, more than 4,000 local people planned to stage a major protest against the dam on Monday. The township is one of the most vulnerable areas should the dam break. Residential areas of the township, which lies downstream of the dam, would be wiped out.

The post Anti-Myitsone Campaign to Ask Citizens to Pay $1 Each to Compensate China appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Day a Pioneer of Care for the Elderly Was Honored

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 09:37 PM PDT

On this day 93 years ago, Daw Oo Zun, the very first Buddhist founder of homes for the aged in Myanmar, was awarded the TPS (Taing Kyo Pyi Kyo Saung), an award for promoting the welfare of the country, by the governor of British India.

Drawing inspiration from Christian homes for the aged in Yangon, the Mandalay-born silk merchant founded her first home for the aged in Mingun, Sagaing Region in 1915 with money she raised by selling her own property. The home for the aged, the first of its kind established by a Myanmar citizen, is located near the historic Mingun Bell.

Between 1915 and 1937 she founded another four such homes in Mon State's Thaton, Bago Region's Paungde, Yangon, and Magwe Region's Pakokku. She herself personally took care of elderly residents of the homes.

In recognition of her endeavors to improve the public welfare, the British government presented Daw Oo Zun with documents allowing her free, lifelong first-class travel via rail or vessel anywhere in the country.

At the age of 62, she renounced the worldly life to become a nun of the Buddhist Order at the Paungde Home for the Aged.

After devoting herself to caring for the elderly for 28 years, she died at her cherished Mingun Buddhist Home for the Aged in May 1944 at the age of 76.

The post The Day a Pioneer of Care for the Elderly Was Honored appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement No Panacea For What Ails Myanmar

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 08:44 PM PDT

Some people, government officials and foreign diplomats in particular, seem to believe that decades of civil war in Myanmar would come to an end if all armed groups were to only sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). They believe that development will make the groups abandon their quest for self-determination.

The international community has spent a great deal of money supporting development and peace talks in Myanmar, though it has been hard to keep track of just how that money has been spent and the peace process has nearly collapsed.

Let’s look at Catalonia in Spain. The region is well developed, yet its people still want independence from Madrid and staged a mass protest last year. What the people want most is to preserve their identity, something development cannot deliver. Development will not help the ethnic minorities of Myanmar preserve their identities either, which is why they need to be able to govern themselves.

The Wa region in northern Shan State shares some similarities with Catalonia and is a good example. Naypyitaw has no influence in the region, which the Wa control themselves and have developed significantly over the past 30 years. Yet they continue to urge Naypyitaw to recognize the region as an autonomous state.

It is time to think about why most ethnic armed groups do not want to sign the NCA, and why the Karen National Union halted formal peace talks with the government.

According to the framework for the peace talks, any important decisions at a Union Peace Conference needs at least 75 percent approval from voting delegates. That makes major decisions hard to approve, one of the reasons the process has stalled.

Some ethnic armed groups complain that their votes do not carry equal weight to those of the government and military on the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee. The committee consists of 48 members — 16 each from ethnic armed groups, political parties and the government, in this case meaning the military and Parliament, so the ethnic armed groups feel outnumbered.

The military and executive often disagree, yet they always find common cause when negotiating with the armed groups.

The government and military want the ethnic armed groups to sign the NCA. Some people criticize the Kachin Independence Army for refusing to sign the NCA, even looking down on its leaders as warlords. They say it is time for the group to join now that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in power.

But some groups are also refusing to sign the NCA because they first want to address security sector reform while the military first wants to settle the matters of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. The groups are negotiating for deals what would let them keep their arms and rule themselves.

Nai Hong Sar, vice chairman of the New Mon State Party, says the Constitution offers only the facade of a federal system and places control firmly with the central government.

In Rakhine State, for example, the Arakan National Party won the majority of votes in the last election yet the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led central government still got to appoint the region’s chief minister. Although the central government has the constitutional prerogative to appoint the chief minister, its decision to install an NLD member upset many ethnic Rakhine.

But under the Constitution, minorities will never get to run their state even if their parties do win. That is why the Arakan Army (AA) enjoys popular support in Rakhine State and why hundreds of young Rakhine have decided to join the rebel group instead of a political party; they believe freedom will only come from the gun.

Some ethnic leaders believe the prospects for democracy in Myanmar are fading and are losing faith in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who promised equal rights for minorities when her party took power. Instead, it has cooperated with the military to try to put down the AA.

But the AA will be difficult to wipe out, and the military has never once defeated an ethnic armed group for good. The military forced the Palaung State Liberation Front to disarm in 2005, but the Ta’ang National Liberation Army soon took its place. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army has had a similar experience.

Understanding ethnic politics in Myanmar means understanding how to solve the country’s armed conflicts. But Myanmar has yet to see a leader who understands ethnic history. And so, as AA chief Tun Myat Naing told The Irrawaddy last week, democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has become not part of the solution but part of the problem.

The post Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement No Panacea For What Ails Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

From Coronation to Commoners, Astrology Everywhere in Thailand

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 08:38 PM PDT

BANGKOK—Pondering whether her job is the right fit and whether her romantic relationship is meant to be, Jarunun Sangjun, 27, does what any typical Thai would do: seek out a fortune-teller for advice.

The fortune-teller, who has a table set up on the side of the road near a temple in Bangkok, asks for the date and time of her birth before drawing up horoscope charts.

"The stars are saying this year you'll change jobs, start a new relationship," says the fortune-teller known as Ajarn Jamras, who said he has been practicing for 30 years.

The roadside divination is a world away from Thailand's elaborate preparations for the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn on May 4.

But astrology plays a key role in the coronation ceremonies this week when the monarch, too, will have his horoscope cast.

The main coronation events from May 4 to 6 will be the first the country has seen since Vajiralongkorn's father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was crowned on May 5, 1950. He reigned for seven decades before he passed away in October 2016.

Thai culture is steeped in astrology and other forms of divination, such as palm reading, tarot cards and Feng Shui, which all sit comfortably in the country’s brand of Buddhism.

Many Thais, like Jaranun, go to fortune-tellers for everything from guidance on career and love to setting dates for important life events like weddings and business ventures.

On Tuesday, royal astrologers will inscribe the king's new name and the horoscope for the new reign on a golden plate. Court astrologers traditionally make predictions about the future at every important transition in the nation's history.

"By showing the horoscope, you’re really showing to those who can read it that this is a legitimate king and this will be a prosperous reign," said Edoardo Siani, a Thai astrology expert and Thailand anthropologist at Kyoto University in Japan.

Thai astrology derives from Brahmanic practices in the royal court and unlike in the West, it is not strictly about planetary alignments but also concerns numerology and omens.

Thais have been urged to wear yellow from May to July, or from the king's coronation to his birthday. Yellow carries a significance in Thailand as it is the color of Monday, the day the king and his father were born on, and also the color of the Sun, which represents the monarch in the cosmos.

Thais already actively wear certain colors on certain days to align with the planets they represent, believing it will bring good luck. They also look for numbers in obscure places like tree trunks and clouds, believed to be signs from the universe, before buying lottery tickets.

Divination in Thailand is also heavily infused with the Buddhist concept of karma, which dictates that when people do good or bad deeds, the universe will treat them back in kind. This makes fortune telling in Thai culture more than just about seeing the future, but also having agency to change it, Siani said.

"Everything depends on positive or negative karma, and by engaging in practices like merit-making, you may always hope to change a negative forecast," he said.

"Seeing the future is just the first part. The services of a specialist are also about providing techniques for dealing with a problematic fortune, or with enhancing good luck."

Some fortune-tellers such as Ajarn Jamras say that is why they are in the business, as helping people is their calling. "Ajarn" in Thai means "teacher" and is used as a title to convey respect.

After Jarunun asked how to make her current relationship last, changing the outcome he previously forecast, Jamras told her to pray at a shrine for Guan Yu—a Chinese god—in Chinatown, and to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays, the day of her birth.

"I'm here to show people the way out of misery so they can make their lives better," Jamras said.

The post From Coronation to Commoners, Astrology Everywhere in Thailand appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka Lifts Curfew after Bomb Attacks Kill 290, Wound 500

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 08:37 PM PDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Authorities lifted a curfew in Sri Lanka on Monday, a day after 290 people were killed and about 500 wounded in a string of bombings that tore through churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday.

There was still no claim of responsibility for the attacks on two churches and four hotels in and around Colombo, the capital of predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka, and a third church on the country's northeast coast.

A government source said President Maithripala Sirisena, who was abroad when the attacks happened, had called a meeting of the National Security Council early on Monday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would attend the meeting, the source said.

There were fears the attacks could spark a renewal of communal violence, with police reporting late on Sunday there had been a petrol bomb attack on a mosque in the northwest and arson attacks on two shops owned by Muslims in the west.

Sri Lanka was at war for decades with Tamil separatists but extremist violence had been on the wane since the civil war ended 10 years ago.

The South Asian nation of about 22 million people has Christian, Muslim and Hindu populations of between about 8 and 12 percent.

The island-wide curfew imposed by the government was lifted early on Monday, although there was uncharacteristically thin traffic in the normally bustling capital.

Soldiers armed with automatic weapons stood guard outside major hotels and the World Trade Center in the business district, where the four hotels were targeted on Easter Sunday, according to a Reuters witness.

Scores of people who were stranded overnight at the main airport began making their way home as restrictions were lifted.

The government also blocked access to social media and messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp, making information hard to come by.

Wickremsinghe acknowledged on Sunday that the government had some prior information about possible attacks on churches involving a little-known Islamist group, but said ministers had not been told.

Sri Lankans accounted for the bulk of the 290 people killed and 500 wounded, although government officials said 32 foreigners were also killed. These included British, U.S., Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch and Portuguese nationals.

A British mother and son eating breakfast at the luxury Shangri-La hotel were among those killed, Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper reported.

One Australian survivor, identified only as Sam, told Australia’s 3AW radio the hotel was a scene of “absolute carnage”.

He said he and a travel partner were also having breakfast at the Shangri-La when two blasts went off. He said he had seen two men wearing backpacks seconds before the blasts.

“There were people screaming and dead bodies all around,” he said. “Kids crying, kids on the ground, I don’t know if they were dead or not, just crazy.”

There were similar scenes of carnage at two churches in or near Colombo, and a third church in the northeast town of Batticaloa, where worshippers had gathered for Easter Sunday services. Pictures from the scene showed bodies on the ground and blood-spattered pews and statues.

Dozens were killed in one of the blasts at the Gothic-style St. Sebastian church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo. Police said they suspected that blast was a suicide attack.

Three police officers were also killed when security forces raided a house in Colombo several hours after the attacks. Police reported an explosion at the house.

The post Sri Lanka Lifts Curfew after Bomb Attacks Kill 290, Wound 500 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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