Uprising must never be forgotten

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Bangkok Post, October 1, 1998 
                                 
Commentary

by Sanitsuda Ekachai


 Uprising must never be forgotten

 Ask today's Thai teenagers about the 1973 Students Uprising and  their 
empty looks may make tears flow down the October warriors'  wrinkled 
faces.
 
 After all that fiery passion of youth and idealism. After all that 
blood,  sweat and tears which ended military dictatorship in Thailand. 
Will all  of it simply end and soon be forgotten?

 Nearly, that's why former student activists and their alliances are  
fighting back to give the 1973 uprising a rightful place in history. 

 After 25 years in a bureaucratic maze due to political antipathy, the  
October 14 memorial is taking off the ground, rending futile, state  
attempts to erase this historical landmark from our collective memory.

 Why did it take so long for the memorial to materialise? One reason is  
that state authorities might be afraid that the monument would  
immortalize them as villains in the bloodshed.

 So they resisted the memorial project while preventing the event from  
appearing in history textbooks for school children. 

 Oblivion, after all, has been the state's most common tool to deal with
 dissension.

 Congratulations for those in the behind-the-scene talks which will  
eventually give the October 14 martyrs their long-overdue respect. 

 The monument, according to former student leader Thirayuth Boonmi,  
will be located at the Kok Wua intersection on Rajdamnoen Avenue,  the 
main scene of the uprising.

 According to the blueprint, the memorial comprises open space, a  
library and a monument with a solar-energy eternal flame on top to  
signify the people's struggle for justice.

 It's good to hear that the monument will transcend animosity and focus  
instead on the people's undying spirit of freedom, equality, justice and  
hope.

 As a woman, I am particularly happy to learn that one side of the  
monument will be devoted to women's equal participation in the  freedom 
movement.

 You see, women are second-class citizens even in liberation  movements. 
Women's problems are most always brushed aside for  "more urgent 
priorities." So it's reason to rejoice when women's roles  in the 
movement are not forgotten once again.

 But continuing the October 14 spirit doesn't stop at monuments. More  
important now, is to ensure that the younger generations do not only  
know about the event or understand its spirit, but are also inspired by  
it.

 After all, the fundamental problem of injustice - particularly that of 
the  poor and powerless - which unleashed the uprising is still very 
much  present.

 History is the best tool to keep the October 14 spirit alive. Since 
most  people involved in the uprising are still around, they must tell 
their  stories to prevent the event from being distorted by state 
history.

 We are not talking about student activists. Officials and ordinary  
citizens too. And especially those in the peasants' movement, which  was 
quickly crushed when the October 14 victory finally ended three  years 
later with the October 6 massacre.

 Defeat is a more learning experience. The 1976 massacre deserves a  
memorial of its own. But since history requires an honest, critical look  
at oneself, which is often a very painful process, I doubt if the 
October  6 tragedy will have its rightful place in history in our 
lifetime.

 By the way, let's not allow the October 14 Fund committee to betray  
donors' intentions any longer because families of those killed and  
disabled in the uprising have been receiving only inconsequential  
peanuts from the fund.

 We must pay homage to the October 14 fallen heroes. But we must  not 
forget the living ones. These maimed heroes are struggling with  
disability and poverty without much care from the fund committee.

 They need help.

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