Burma

When I checked my Facebook account early this morning, I was startled to see that my first two messages were from people currently being held in prison. (Or, more precisely, they were from people writing on their behalf.) Since both persons are being incarcerated for acts of conscience, and since tomorrow is International Conscientious Objectors Day, I want to lift up their witness.

One of the posts was about the lead story in today's news: yesterday's incarceration of Aung San Suu Kyi by the Burmese military government. I find the headline at the top of today's online global edition of The New York Times (and International Herald Tribune) somewhat comedic. It says:

One year ago this week, long-time Fellowship of Reconciliation leader Richard Deats returned from a week-long trip to Rangoon, Burma. Traveling as a tourist, he gave a series of nonviolence workshops to a number of Burmese people who sought to learn about the practices and ideology of active nonviolent resistance while living in an autocratic, repressive state. Richard's writings about the experience have been published in Fellowship, Beliefnet, Sojourners, Common Dreams, and elsewhere.

Tibet protest on the Golden Gate BridgeThis week, two peace actions in the San Francisco Bay Area are showcasing the ability of peace activists to organize creative and highly-visible symbolic events -- even at a time when some people claim that activism (esp

Our friends at the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (an affiliate of FOR) have just conducted a delegation to Burma, where thousands of monks and laypeople are still unaccounted for, and where the humanitarian crisis is still deepening - to say nothing of the egregious anti-democratic policies of the ruling junta.

Members of the delegation, who posed as tourists to be able to enter the country, collected a wealth of first-hand evidence that the situation in Burma has become even worse since the September peace marches undertaken by Buddhist monks. In particular, delegates gathered information indicating that at least 70 people have been killed in the government crackdown over the past two months, more than double the number given in a United Nations report released earlier this week.

I've noticed that aren't seeing Burma in the headlines any more, just a month after the world was shocked by the brutal represssion of the democracy movement there. There have been a few reports of diplomatic meetings, but nothign to suggest that the situation has improved at all for the people of Burma. I went to the Buddhist Peace Fellowship's special page on Burma and found this recent news:

For the first time since late September’s military crackdown in Burma, hundreds of monks marched peacefully through the streets of Pakokku in Upper Burma on October 31, chanting the Metta Sutta and the slogan, “No persecution man by man.”

200 miles down; 10 to go.

I just spoke with Tayza Yeelin, a young Burmese man who is walking more than 200 miles from upstate New York to the U.N. headquarters in Manhattan. Tayza and several other Burmese exiles -- all of whom fled their native land in the 1980s and 1990s due to the repressive military regime -- are part of the International Campaign for Freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma.

You have to wait much longer these nights before you can see the light in the sky. And there is less and less of the rich silver that showered upon us at the peak of the month, just a few days ago. It puts a person in mind of that wisest of ancient sayings, "All things must pass." Perseverance in hard times depends on this solid truth. So do moderation and justice when life grows lush. Ephemerality underlies morality.

From Buddhist Peace Fellowship board member Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey:

If you haven't heard much about Burma in the news during the past few days, its because the Burmese military junta has successfully managed to cut most lines of popular communication with the outside world. This has enabled the regime to crack down on democracy activists under a veil of near darkness. Reports of horrendous violence on lay people and on the monastic community have confirmed the fears of the continued willingness of the regime to degrade, brutalize and murder their own citizens.

Making sure that the world can witness what is going on within Burma is one of the only means we have of keeping the activities of the government under check and bring power back into the hands of the Burmese people. There is a dire need to get video equipment and transmission equipment back into the country and into the hands of democracy activists so that the world can once again bring its attention to the needs of the people of Burma.

Today we will only publish one blog entry in observance of the International Bloggers' Day for Burma. There are literally many thousands of particpants around the world also taking this action to bring people's attention to the crisis in Burma.

Following are some good sources we've found for up-to-date information, we'll be back to the blog tomorrow.

• Wikipedia: 2007 Burmese anti-government protests
• Ratchasima.net
• Buddhist Peace Fellowship: Burma information
• BuddhistChanel.tv: Myanmar news
• Mizzima News
• BBC News: Special Reports - Burma
• Amnesty International

If you haven't yet, please sign this petition from AVAAZ to Stand with the Burmese Protesters. On Thursday, we will participate in the International Bloggers' Day for Burma. And on Saturday, the worldwide vigils will continue. Find one near you at the Budddhist Peace Fellowship web site.

The Buddhist Channel has eyewitness reports of ongoing atrocities as monks are being jailed, tortured, and killed!