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The BurmaNet News: July 21, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: July 21, 1999
Issue #1319

Noted in Passing: "Eventually, Burma will become isolated and, naturally,
its rulers cannot sustain the country in such a state for very long." -
Samai Charoenchang, Chairman of the House Committee on Parliamentarian
Affairs, Thailand (see THE NATION: MPS PUSH FOR BURMA DRUG TALKS) 

HEADLINES:
==========
RADIO MYANMAR: OFFICIAL CALLS TO "REMOVE AND CRUSH" 
THE NATION: AUNG SAN FORGOTTEN ON MARTYRS' DAY 
THE NATION: MPS PUSH FOR BURMA DRUG TALKS AT ASEAN 
THE NATION: INVESTING IN BURMESE DEMOCRACY
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RADIO MYANMAR: OFFICIAL CALLS ON PEOPLE TO "REMOVE AND CRUSH" "INTERNAL
REACTIONARIES" 
18 July, 1999 

(Excerpted and translated from Burmese.)

Lt-Gen, Tin Oo, secretary 2 of the State Peace and Development Council,
accompanied by ministers, deputy ministers, and responsible officials left
Yangon at 0745 [local time] yesterday for Magwe, where they attended a
ceremony to open a division office of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association [USDA]... 

After attending the ceremony, Lt-Gen Tin Oo and party visited the places
where undergraduate and graduate computer diploma courses were being
conducted in conjunction with the Mandalay Institute of Computer Science.
The secretary 2 and party then visited the fuel briquette factory operated
by the Magwe Division USDA... 

Secretary 2 Lt-Gen Tin Oo attended a ceremony to commission the Ngamin Dam
in Taungdwingyi, Magwe Division, at 0845 today. Speaking at the opening
ceremony, Lt -Gen Tin Oo explained that the Ngamin Dam, which is capable of
irrigating 4,000 acres of land, would also provide water to farmers for
crop cultivation and drinking water for the town of Taungdwingyi... 

He said, private entrepreneurs were currently participating in the state's
agricultural sector by using modern machinery and equipment to reclaim
fallow and virgin land. He said nine groups of private entrepreneurs were
currently reclaiming 230,000 acres of land to cultivate crops suitable for
the region. He said local farmer's land was not being affected as the
private entrepreneurs were reclaiming fallow and virgin land. He said the
land development programme of private entrepreneurs would create new
employment opportunities and help improve and modernize traditional methods
of cultivation... 

Lt-Gen Tin Oo explained that the country's economy would improve further as
the agriculture sector develops. Currently, the government and the people
were endeavouring for national and regional development, he warned the
local people pursuing their livelihoods to be vigilant and wary of internal
reactionaries who are under the protection and influence of external
elements and who favour confrontation and antagonism over peace and
stability. He called on the local people to remove and crush these
reactionaries. He said as the local people learned from their life's
lessons to discern progress from regress, construction from destruction,
and good from bad, they were punishing the destructive elements throughout
the country. 


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THE NATION: AUNG SAN FORGOTTEN ON MARTYRS' DAY
20 July, 1999 by Moe Aye 

By tarnishing the image of Aung San, Burma's revered national hero, the
military junta hopes to undermine public support for his daughter.

The late General Aung San, national hero and founder of Burma's Tatmadaw
(army), once said the military must be a servant of the country. The
country, he said, must never be the servant of the military. 

At present, not only is Burma the servant of its military, but the image of
the founder of the Tatmadaw has been systematically tarnished by the ruling
military junta. From the time of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP)
to the current ruling military clique, no top military leader has paid
respects on Martyrs Day which falls on July 19. This is the day General
Aung San and other national leaders, including a number of ethnic leaders,
were assassinated. 

In the past, Burmese people anxiously awaited the sound of sirens, which
would sound on Martyrs Day at exactly the time when General Aung San was
shot dead. This allowed them to pay their respects to their national heroes
and to observe one minute silence. Under the rule of the junta, there are
no more sirens. 

Since independence, the government had held a national religious ceremony
of sorrow at Rangoon City Hall. State leaders and high government officers
would invite monks to come and pray for the national heroes. The families
of the national heroes also joined in the religious ceremony. But now, only
the Rangoon governor attends the ceremony. 

One low-ranking government officer who works at the City Hall and declined
to be named, said, "Last year my boss and I were preparing to hold the
ceremony at the City Hall. At that time two top junta generals phoned my
boss and told him to come immediately to Myodaw Golf Club. They ordered him
not to forget to bring his golf clubs." 

His words clearly highlight what the generals think of Martyrs Day and
Burma's national heroes. The generals always claim that the Tatmadaw is the
only institution that can protect the country's sovereignty, that the
Tatmadaw has successfully led an independent country, and that the
Tatmadaw's main objective is national unity. However, although there are
many slogans about the Tatmadaw and national unity, there are none about
General Aung San and other national heroes. 

"We have never heard the name of General Aung San in the generals'
speeches. They never speak of the role of our national heroes. We only hear
the name of General Aung San when the generals attack Aung San Suu Kyi,"
said one university lecturer who also refused to give his name. 

It is really sorrowful for the founder of the Tatmadaw. His name is only
used by the junta when his brave daughter is being personally denigrated by
them." 

In the past, the portrait of Aung San was printed on all Burmese bank notes
as a sign of honour. Since the BSPP, the portrait has slowly disappeared
from all but the lowest currency note - one kyat. 

Why does the junta try to reduce the importance of General Aung San? 


The answer may be that he was the father of Suu Kyi, the leader of the
National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the May 1990 poll. The junta
seems to think that the public support Suu Kyi not because of her ability
but because of her father. Foolishly, it hopes that by tarnishing the image
of the father, the role of the daughter would automatically diminish. 

In 1989, General Myo Nyunt, who was supposedly kicked out of the junta in
1997, said that the NLD is taking advantage by using the photo of General
Aung San. 

Another answer is that General Aung San was the chairman of Rangoon
University Student Union before he became a national hero. During the 1988
popular uprising, many students wished to emulate his words and deeds. His
student life inspired the students to rebel against a wrong system, and to
fight for democracy and education. 

These days the life of General Aung San is given a cursory mention in the
school curriculum. His student and revolutionary life is woefully missing.
Even the soldiers in the junta's military know little successfully led an
independent country, and about the life of the Tatmadaw's founder. 

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THE NATION: MPS PUSH FOR BURMA DRUG TALKS AT ASEAN 
20 July, 1999 

A House committee is to recommend to the Foreign Ministry that evidence of
Burma's involvement in methamphetamine trafficking in Thailand be discussed
at the Asean forums. 

Referring to Burma as Thailand's western neighbour, the chairman of the
House Committee on Parliamentarian Affairs, Samai Charoenchang, said
yesterday the move is to be made to expose Burma misbehaviour to other
Asean members, and to use the international forum as a means of pushing for
a solution to this increasingly critical problem. 

"Once the Asean countries learn about these facts, they will definitely not
be willing to befriend a country which allows its ethnic minorities to
produce "goods", or drugs, that genocidally kill mankind," Samai claimed. 

"Eventually, Burma will become isolated and, naturally, its rulers cannot
sustain the country in such a state for very long," he said. 

Samai said trafficking of the drug from Thailand's western and northern
neighbour is growing at a critical pace. He quoted statistics of the Office
of Narcotics Control Board, that between two and three million tablets of
metaphetamines flood Thailand yearly, which takes between Bt3.4 and Bt5.1
million out of the economy. One tablet of the drug costs about Bt17. 

Samar said the committee will hold a meeting on July 22 with the chiefs of
policy-making and concerned law enforcement agencies to discuss the
situation. 

Those attending the meeting will include the Secretary-General of the
National Security Council (NSC), Khachadpai Burusapatana, chief of Narcotic
Suppression Bureau Pol Lt Gen Khomkrit Patpongpanit and representatives of
the Foreign Ministry and provincial police. 

He said there were photographs and personal accounts to back up the charge
that Burmese rulers condoned drug production and trafficking. 


Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, who had been scheduled to attend the
meeting, will however leave for Singapore on July 21 for the Asean foreign
ministers' annual meeting, scheduled for July 22-28, during which
discussion of future cooperation on ways to combat transnational crime is
to take place. 

Asean, which includes Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia Laos, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has never criticised Burma
openly about its drug record. 

Asean's partners in dialogue, the US in particular, have always taken Burma
to task during annual consultations, which are held back to back with the
Asean ministers' meeting. Other western countries have also accused Rangoon
of not doing enough to combat narcotics problems within its borders. 

Asean recently came under fire for allowing Rangoon to host the group's
annual meeting on transnational crimes, saying that' such a move
effectively means recognition of the ruling junta, which has been
repeatedly lambasted for its poor human right record and scant
anti-narcotic efforts. 

Meanwhile, PM's Office Minister Jurin Laksanavisit, who oversees the ONCB,
said it had been found that more than 200 government officials in the South
and another 300 in the North had been involved in the amphetamine trade. 

*****************************************************

THE NATION: INVESTING IN BURMESE DEMOCRACY IS IN THAI INTEREST 
20 July, 1999 by Sai Wansai 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

This is a response to Deputy Foreign minister MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra's
"Burma, Asean, Democracy, Dreams And Realities" (The Nation, July 16). His
presentation could be summed up as follows: 

Democracy is the best form of government, despite its imperfections.
Thailand is ready to lend moral support for all those aspiring to achieve
democracy but could not go beyond that. Thailand would wish those striving
to achieve democracy well but could only champion democracy for itself. 

Economic sanctions never work and the ordinary people are the hardest hit
by such undertakings. 

Thailand is open to all parties regarding the promotion of Burma's national
reconciliation. 

Asean's political, social and cultural differences make the grouping
ineffective. 

The dividing line between purely domestic and international issues -
environmental disasters and problems of drugs, diseases and illegal
migration -becomes a blur due to the recent financial crisis. 

"Non-interference" is the glue that holds Asean together. 

Thailand could only opt for engagement with the Burmese military for it
does not have the "luxury of distance". 

Considering the points above, one could only have the impression that
Thailand couldn't do much to foster democracy in Burma, apart from giving
it "lip-service". 

Again, it is astonishing to notice that in mentioning the bluriness between
domestic and international the Thai deputy foreign minister failed to
include "ethnic cleansing, genocide, forced relocations and all forms of
human rights violations". 

These are "moral issues" for which the West has gone to war in Kosovo, and,
like it or not, the oppressed peoples the world over are gladdened by the
outcome. 


One also couldn't help feel that the "engagement" the Thai deputy foreign
minister is talking about might, in reality, mean a peaceful cohabitation
with the brutal Burmese military regime, at the expense of the Thai interest. 

It is an open secret that the Burmese military is trying to overwhelm
Thailand with all sorts of drugs directly or indirectly. On top of that,
the repeated violations of Thai sovereignty over the years are still a
fresh reminder of the Burmese military's attitude towards Thailand. 

Finally, the only meaningful engagement Thailand could implement would be
to foster the climate of democratisation in words and deeds, clearly,
loudly and openly. Unless democratic institutions are allowed to flourish
in Burma, the woes of having to shoulder the spilled-over-effect of the
Burmese and non-Burmans' miseries, such as illegal immigration, refugees
and narcotics, would never stop to burden and haunt Thailand. It is a
long-term investment, but the only one available which is capable of
delivering a lasting solution for all parties involved.

SAI WANSAI
SHAN DEMOCRATIC UNION,  GERMANY 

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