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Suu Kyi on Karen Massacre (r)



Reply-To: Khin Ni Ni Thein <nin@xxxxxx>

Dear down star,

	On her letter no(2) of 1997, she mentioned the Karen flag and the
	Karen's song and many other national and union related issues.
	I enclose herewith the letter No(2)/1997 from Burma by Daw Aung
	San Suu Kyi.

	Particularly on the ongoing Karen massacre, I am sure she is
	thinking about it. Or she might have been written about it.
	But as you know, information flow in and out are far more 
	difficult than in the past. It is just a matter of time.
	One can not see it as if there is nothing. There may be surely
	something. It is just a matter of time and
	communication difficulties.
	
	:-) we all know who repress the communication means, don't we ?
	I will send it to you as soon as I receive one.

	Sincerely,
	NN

	Please read the following.
============================================================================

Letter from Burma No. 2 , 3 Feb. 1997
By Aung San Suu Kyi

Regime denying right to celebrate independence: 
>From Independence to Union

Independence Day should be a time for celebrating the liberation of a nation from bondage. To
restrict the observance of such an occasion is a denial of the basic concept that the independence
of a nation should be linked to the freedom of its people. It is the policy of the National League
for Democracy (NLD) that our offices throughout the country should commemorate
independence day in fitting manner. The authorities on the other hand, seemed determined to
prevent us from observing the occasion of our independence. In many townships the local Law
and Order Restoration Council officially forbade the NLD from holding an Independence Day
ceremony. Perhaps it was because they thought that officialdom alone had the monopoly on
independence; perhaps they disapproved of the practice of political parties demonstrating their
commitment to freedom; or perhaps the very idea of independence was repugnant to them. 

The road to my house had been blocked by the authorities since the beginning of December and
as Jan. 4, Independence Day, approached, it became a matter of some speculation whether
anybody would be let through to participate in our commemoration ceremony. However, we went
ahead with our plans to observe that most important day in the political calendar of our country:
In doing so we would simply be carrying out our duty and if the authorities tried to put obstacles
in our way_well, that would be their business. It was fairly obvious that they were not eager to
allow us to observe the day of our national freedom in too marked a manner, that they wanted to
limit the scale of our celebrations. We, on the other hand, believed in the right of our people to
express fully, at least once a year, their views of what independence meant to them. 

Negotiations had to be conducted over the numbers who were to be let through to my house for
our Independence Day ceremony. A rather uncertain compromise was reached and on Jan. 4, our
guests found they had to wend their way through serious ranks of barricades and security forces.
Neither inanimate nor animate barriers deterred our supporters but some guests, including Asian
diplomats, who arrived a little late were denied access to my house. This was more of an
exhibition of pettiness than of punctuality and sad reflection of the small mindedness that has cast
such a blight on our country and detracted from the full flavour of independence. 

For our celebrations, we had a singing competition, which provided us with an opportunity for
an airing of songs, both old and new, intended to raise courage and commitment to the cause of
freedom in the hearts of listeners. Next there was a performance by a dancer and four comedians
in traditional mode and we were all reminded of Daw Hnin Pa Pa, U Par Par Lay and U Lu Zaw,
who had entertained us so gallantly last year and who are all now prisoners of conscience. There
was lastly a one act play based on the peasant uprising of 1930. There were striking similarities
which the audience were quick to seize upon with humorous appreciation. 

As soon as Independence Day had passed, it was time to look forward to Union Day. Another
circle of political events was here on us again. Fifty years ago, a conference had been held at a
small town in the Shan State, a conference which had been crucial in deciding the shape of the
future Union of Burma. In the half century that has passed since then, the quest for a nation that
is indeed a true home for all our peoples has not yet ended. The vision of a union based on mutual
trust and goodwill has eluded successive generations. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the
Panglong Agreement [an accord between all nationalities in the former British colony of Burma
to form, with some stipulations, one Union of Burma, it is time to assess how far we have come
along the road to unity. In the opinion of 15 ethnic nationality organizations which held a seminar
at the beginning of the year, we have not come very far. 

In the statement brought out by the seminar it is said that "since the time of independence in
1948, successive regimes in power have violated the right to 'equality of all citizens irrespective
of race,' as provided for in the Panglong Agreement. Armed subjugation by successive regimes,
practising racial chauvinism, for the last 49 years, has been a disastrous experience of suffering,
unprecedented in history, for the ethnic nationalities. Brutal suppression of the ethnic
nationalities by armed might is still continuing."  

The behaviour of those who impose their will over defenceless peoples has done much to make
the ethnic nationalities question whether they could ever receive justice under a government
dominated by the majority Burmese. A few weeks ago, the Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy (SNLD) complained to the chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC) that one of their members had been forced to resign from the party by an army officer.
The day after an altercation with a couple of soldiers, the party member concerned and two others
were taken away to a military camp without any explanation. The next day they were subjected
to a tirade by an officer:  Did they belong to the Burmese Communist Party?  Did they belong to
the All Burma Students Democratic Front?  Were they hardcore supporters of insurgents?
Did they know they could all be killed as there was no law in the army?  The member of the
SNLD was further asked if he was one of those clinging to the skirts of Aung San Suu Kyi,
accused of beating a soldier and of preaching politics for half an hour, and asked if he were trying
to defy the army. When he tried to explain what had happened, the officer threatened to kill him
and, after showing him a copy of the penal code, to charge him under several sections of the law.
When he replied that he had not committed any crime and that he was an official delegate to the
National Convention, the officer retorted that the National Convention was quite meaningless,
full of prostitutes, drug abusers and drug runners. The hapless convention delegate was beaten
and, later that day, made to send off letters of resignation to his party and to the National
Convention in exchange for his freedom. (This National Convention was begun in January
1993, ostensibly to lay down the basic principles for a state constitution, and has been
dragging on ever since in between long recesses. Nobody quite knows what it is really
meant to achieve and when it will be concluded. The NLD was expelled by the National
Convention Convening Committee in November 1995. "How fortunate that we are no
longer part of it," was the comment of one NLD member after he read the army officer's
opinion of convention delegates.) 

The treatment meted out to that one member of the SNLD was not so much a sign of racial
discrimination as a reflection of the basic lack of justice within the country. Such treatment, and
worse, is daily fare for members and supporters of the NLD: many of our organizers and elected
members of Parliament have been forced to resign through systematic persecution. The realization
that we are all suffering from the same lack of basic human rights is a basis from which we could
create bonds of friendship and understanding that could lead to a true Union. Friendship between
the majority Burmese and the other ethnic nationalities is essential to the welfare of our nation.
Friendship and love cannot be left to chance. We have to work to foster a state of understanding
and sympathy especially when there has been such a long history of suspicion and bitterness. 

The NLD holds that we all have a duty and a right to try to promote goodwill between all the
peoples of Burma. In December 1995, the NLD brought out a statement on the occasion of the
Karen New Year. It was a simple message stating the need for sincerity, unity, equality, mutual
respect and basic human rights and emphasizing the importance of promoting the languages,
customs and traditions of the ethnic nationalities. We urged the Karen and other ethnic peoples
to join together to work for national reconciliation. Such an innocuous message aimed at the
solidarity of the Union, should not have offended anybody who has an interest in promoting the
national good. However, the authorities reacted to it as though it was an incitement to unrest. The
joint secretary of the Myaungmya NLD was placed under arrest for reading out the message at
a Karen New Year gathering. Within six months he was dead in Myaunmya jail, still awaiting
sentencing. To penalize a man so heavily for an act aimed at promoting national unity is the
extreme of viciousness and demonstrates an alarming lack of vision. 

This year the Karen New Year came a few~ days after Independence Day. We brought out
another New Year message and commemorated the occasion with Karen colleagues by raising:
the Karen flag in our garden. The flag consists of horizontal red, white and blue bars and a red
and blue rising sun at one comer with a drum superimposed on it. The words of a Karen song: 

There's nothing quite so lovely as our flag. 
The white signifies purity
The red, boldness.
The blue is for loyalty,
And there are nine rays of sunlight
And a golden Karen drum. 

The drum is an important symbol for the Karen people. It is usually referred to by the Burmese
as a frog drum because it has small frogs on its face and elephants lumbering down the flank. It
is said that the frogs signify the unity of purpose that will lead the Karen people to victory over
even the biggest enemy. Such drums are to be found in many parts of Southeast Asia. The only
ornament in the room where I receive guests is one of these drums, dark with age, which has been
in my home for many years. 

As the Karen New Year is traditionally held after the harvest, it is usual to serve steamed
glutinous rice on this occasion. In Burma there is a deep purple, almost black, glutinous rice as
well as the more common, white variety. Large dishes of steaming black and white mounds of 
rice sprinkled with crushed sesame seeds, accompanied by cups of boiling green tea is a fine
display of hospitality very much in keeping with the spirit of rural Burma. It evokes images of
villages wrapped in early morning mist and villagers wrapped in rough cotton blankets sitting
down to their first meal of the day as the sun appears hazily through jungle fronds. The simplicity
of our Karen New Year feast, shared with Karen --  and non-Karen colleagues dressed in bright
red, traditional tunics, was enormously satisfactory. 

During World War II, there were many bloody conflicts between the Burmese and Karen
communities of the Irrawaddy delta. The resolution of the conflict brought together leaders of the
Karen community with the leaders of the Burmese independence movement. It could be said that
this was the prelude to the Union that was agreed upon at the Panglong Agreement and as soon
as the independence of Burma was declared in January 1948 Karens who did not believe they
would receive fair treatment under a Burmese government rose up in rebellion. Thus the Karen
insurgency movement constitutes the longest-standing armed conflict within the country and much
remains to be done to establish the understanding and goodwill between the Burmese and the
Karens. 

Then there are the Chins and the Arakanese in the west, the Kachins in the north, the Shans and
the Karennis in the east, the Mons in the southeast and the many other peoples who make up the
rich diversity of our country. In Panglong fifty years ago the first step taken towards turning this
diversity into strength. But not enough has been done to keep the spirit of Panglong alive. Our
ethnic nationalists still harbor a deep feeling of mistrust of the majority Burmese, a mistrust
natural to those who have not been accorded justice and fair play. In trying to build up a strong
union, our greatest challenge will be to win the confidence of those who have only known
repression and discrimination. 

The road that some countries have to travel from statehood to nationhood is a long and difficult
one. All too often one recalls to mind the words "such a long journey ahead -- not a question of
imagination but of faith." To travel a long rough road, with no companion other than faith is at
times a wearisome task. But for some of us it is an unavoidable trial, a trial of strength and
endurance. It was with bright hopes of a better, happier future that the generation of those who
came to maturity between the two world wars trod the path to independence. It was the dream
of our fathers that a free nation should be a fit home for a free people. It is the tragedy of Burma
that independence has not meant the realization of the hopes and dreams of those who lived and
died for the ideal of freedom, that it has not resulted in the true flowering of the spirit of
Panglong. 

It is out of human suffering that new societies are built. The price of justice and freedom have
never been small, nothing of lasting value ever came cheap. We must decide for ourselves whether
we are prepared to pay the price demanded of us. For some, the price may be too high, so high
it seems beyond the paying capacity of normal human beings. Yet there have been many who have
paid without stint or reservation for a strong, just, democratic Union of Burma. On the 50th
anniversary of Union Day, let us hope that we may be able to do full honour to such noble
generosity.   [Manichi Daily News , February 3, 1997]
 ...............................................................................................

NOTE

>From Nov. 1995 till Nov. 1996, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had published weekly letters in
Manichi Daily News, Japanese newspaper. Hence there were 52 letters published in total last
year. These letters were translated to several languages. On 21 Feb. 1997, an honorary
doctorate of letters was awarded from the University of Technology, Australia. She had doubly
been honoured by this particular award because previous 30 numbers of awards were provided
by the various societies but a technological society. She sent out the message by way of award
receiving speech, it was said that "... good academic institutions which seek to expand
human knowledge and to uphold high standards of scholastic endeavour represent a
beacon of hope for those who are experiencing the evils of a lack of good education".

Due to the communication  restraints (her telephone is tagged) repression on the publishing
right of NLD (Slorc censorship), and other military intelligence networking to restrict Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi's activities, sending out the manuscript to the press in Japan is extremely difficult.
Therefore, in 1997 the letters can be published only once a month. It is note worthy that the
honorary consul Mr. James Leander Nichol's tragic death in custody is directly  linked to the
letters (this kind of letters and the others) smuggling in and out of Burma and being a close friend
of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Note presenter:  NiNi