BURMA JUNTA SPEAKS OUT NLD SPLIT AS A 2010 CAMPAIGN

The Commander of the Northern Military Command Maj-Gen Soe Win, during a recent meeting, told his fellow army commanders and officers that a faction is likely to emerge from a rift in the NLD to form another political party under a different name to contest the election.

According to the document, a copy of which is in Mizzima's possession, Soe Win made the comment while speaking positively of the junta's plan to go ahead with its roadmap to democracy.

But Nyan Win, spokesperson of the NLD dismissed the possibility of the NLD splitting saying, the junta is voicing its hidden wish.

"They [the junta] wishes that NLD would split," said Nyan Win, refuting any possibility of a break.

Nyan Win further said, the NLD has not even taken up 2010 election as an agenda in their meetings and does not consider it necessary as yet.

"We do not see the necessity of discussing the election," he added.

However, earlier on January 2, party members from Magwe Division branch in a letter urged the NLD central committee in Rangoon to call a meeting.

Khin Saw Htay, vice-chairman of the Magwe NLD branch said they sent a letter urging the central party executives to call a nation-wide meeting to discuss the stance of the NLD for the forthcoming elections.

"The letter urged the central party to call a meeting of party members from the whole country and to discuss how to face the period in 2010," Khin Saw Htay told Mizzima.

She said party members want to have a clear understanding of the NLD's stand on the election.

With party leader Tin Oo and Aung San Suu Kyi imprisoned, Khin Saw Htay said, the NLD has a record of suddenly changing its political stand in the past.

"In the past, the party said it will not take part in the 1990 election but it did. Again they said they won't attend the national convention but it did," she said.

However, Khin Saw Htay said the request for a nation-wide meeting does not mean a break up, rather the members want to stick to a single policy.

NLD, led by detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, posted a landslide victory in Burma's last general election in 1990. But the ruling junta refused to hand over power and detained several of its leaders.

FOOD SHORTAGE FOR NARGIS VICTIMS: UN

Rice production in the cyclone-affected areas of Ayeyarwaddy and Yangon, the largest city and former capital of Myanmar, is expected to be 50 percent of last year's, according to the report issued by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP).

Rat infestation in western's Myanmar's Chin State has also contributed to the food shortage, the report says.

"Access to food remains the critical challenge for the poorest people and for vulnerable populations in remote areas of Myanmar," Chris Kaye, WFP's representative for Myanmar, said in a written statement. "And for many of those affected by Cyclone Nargis, who are engaged in rebuilding their lives and livelihoods, the limited delta harvest means they will continue to rely on assistance to meet their food needs."

Although rice production is expected to be adequate this year because of strong crops in other areas of the country, access to food remains a serious challenge to Myanmar's poor, especially in the delta region, the report said.
More than 5 million people fall below the food poverty line and emergency food aid is still needed in cyclone-affected areas, the report said. The cyclone also hurt the cattle and fishing industries, contributing to the food crisis.
Humanitarian assistance has not restored the production capacity of small to medium-sized farms," He Changchui, FAO's Asia-Pacific regional chief, said in a written statement.

"Farmers and fishers are unlikely to self-finance their needs this year, thus entering into a spiral of pauperization of the delta."

1/2009 ANNOUNCEMENT OF 8888GSE (USA)

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Tensions Between Wa, Junta and chin people persecuted

Tensions between the Burmese military and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) have been mounting since a 30-member Burmese delegation led by Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the chief of Military Affairs Security, was forced to disarm during a visit to Wa-held territory in Shan State on January 19, according to sources in the area.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese analyst based on the Sino-Burmese border, said that the visiting Burmese military officials and accompanying soldiers were told to disarm as they entered Wa-controlled territory to attend a meeting with the UWSA at their headquarters of Panghsang.

According to Mai Aik Phone, who observes Wa affairs, the purpose of the visit was to allow Burmese military leaders to learn how to launch an effective election campaign in the area in 2010. However, sources said that discussions were limited to plans to develop the local economy.

Since last year’s referendum on a military-drafted constitution, the Burmese regime has been sending delegations to different parts of the country to drum up support for an election slated to be held in 2010. The regime claimed to have won overwhelming approval for its new charter, despite charges that the referendum was rigged.

As part of its plans for the future, the junta has stepped up its efforts to persuade ceasefire groups to disarm. However, the Wa have been particularly resistant to this idea, putting renewed pressure on a ceasefire agreement that was reached 20 years ago.

On December 5, Brig-Gen Kyaw Phyoe, the Burmese Army’s regional commander in the Golden Triangle area of Shan State, met with the commander of the UWSA’s 468th Brigade, Col Sai Hsarm, in Mongpawk, south of Panghsang, to pressure him to withdraw troops from the area and “exchange arms for peace.” The Wa leader rejected the demand.

Earlier this month, the UWSA proposed a plan to designate territory under its control as a special autonomous region. Although the Burmese military hasn’t responded to the proposal, the UWSA has already begun to refer to its territory as the “Wa State Government Special Region” in official documents.

The Wa area has been known by the Burmese military as “Shan State Special Region 2” since the UWSA entered into a ceasefire agreement with the regime in 1989.

In 2003, when the United Wa State Party, the political wing of the UWSA, attended a junta-sponsored national constitutional convention, it asked to be allowed to form a Wa State.

Wa political observers estimate that there are 20,000 UWSA soldiers currently deployed along Burma’s borders with Thailand and China, while an estimated 60,000 to 120,000 Wa villagers inhabit areas of lower Shan State.


MYANMAR'S CHIN PEOPLE PERSECUTED

The New York-based Human Right Watch said as many as 100,000 people have fled the Chin homeland into neighboring India, where they face abuse and the risk of being forced back into Myanmar.

"The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India," a report from the group said. The report said the regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, continues to commit atrocities against its other ethnic minorities.

Myanmar's ruling junta has been widely accused of widespread human rights violations in ethnic minority areas where anti-government insurgent groups are fighting for autonomy. The government has repeatedly denied such charges. An e-mailed request for comment on the new report was not immediately answered.

Chief Secretary Vanhela Pachau, a top official for India's Mizoram state, said he had not seen the report and could not comment.

"(The police) hit me in my mouth and broke my front teeth. They split my head open and I was bleeding badly. They also shocked me with electricity," the group quoted a Chin man accused of supporting the insurgents, who are small in number and largely ineffective.

He was one of some 140 Chin people interviewed by the human rights group from 2005 to 2008. The group said the names of those interviewed were withheld to prevent reprisals.

A number of people spoke of being forced out of their villages to serve as unpaid porters for the army or to build roads, sentry posts and army barracks.

Amy Alexander, a consultant for Human Rights Watch, told a news conference that insurgents of the Chin National Front also committed abuses such as extorting money from villagers to fund their operations.

Alexander said Myanmar's government, attempting to suppress minority cultures, was destroying churches, desecrating crosses, interfering with worship services by forcing Christians to work on Sundays and promoting Buddhism through threats and inducements. Some 90 percent of the Chin are Christians, most of them adherents to the American Baptist Church.

Ethnic insurgencies erupted in Myanmar in the late 1940s when the country gained independence from Great Britain.

Former junta member Gen. Khin Nyunt negotiated cease-fires with 17 of the insurgent groups before he was ousted by rival generals in 2004.

Among rebels still fighting are groups from the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin minorities.

At least half a million minority people have been internally displaced in eastern Myanmar as a result of the regime's brutal military campaigns while refugees continue to flee to the Thai-Myanmar border. More than 145,000 refugees receive international humanitarian assistance in Thai border camps.

Alexander said that some 30,000 Chin have also sought refuge in Malaysia while about 500 were living in Thai border camps.

POISONING IN FORT-WAYNE MYANMAR REFUGEES AND SENSORED IN BURMA FOR OBAMA

The Allen County Healthy Homes program, which has an office in the Community Resource Center for Refugees, has about 25 Myanmar children on its caseload, said Director Amy Hesting. Fort Wayne is home to thousands of expatriates from Myanmar, also known as Burma.

A recent spike in cases of lead poisoning among Burmese children has led officials from the program and an investigator from the State Department of Health contracted with the Centers for Disease Control to visit the children's homes looking for possible sources.
The team has mostly ruled out the usual sources, like lead-based paint, The News-Sentinel reported. Investigators now are looking at medicines, toiletries or household products that may have been imported from countries such as Thailand where the refugees lived before coming to the United States.

"We're getting as many products as we can and starting to analyze them," Hesting said. She said investigators were starting with items to which refugee children have the most exposure.

Samples are analyzed in Indianapolis by the state health department, but it can take weeks before results are sent to Fort Wayne.

Hesting said the CDC also was helping the group determine if the lead poisoning is limited to refugees.

OBAMA SPEECH CENSORED IN BURMA
Sources said that the censorship board decided not to allow the publishing of parts of Obama’s inauguration speech that included sensitive political messages.

A part of the speech that was cut was: “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

Burmese inside and outside the country circulated this part of the speech through the Internet and it was widely interpreted as a message to dictators, including Burma’s rulers.

A journalist in Rangoon said that Burma’s censorship board ordered the speech to be removed from the front page of The Voice, but it allowed the journal to publish stories and pictures of Obama in its inside pages.

Burma’s privately owned magazines and journals have widely covered news of Barack Obama since the presidential election campaign began.

According to media sources in Burma, there was originally little harassment or any serious warnings from the notoriously fickle censorship board. But all publications have reportedly been careful not to cover sensitive material about the strained US-Burmese relationship.

Burma’s top military leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, formally congratulated the US president on his election victory.

Last week, the Agence-France Presse (AFP) news agency reported that the Burmese junta hopes that the new US president will change Washington's tough policy toward the military regime and end the "misunderstandings" of the past.

“Our two countries' relations have had some misunderstandings in the past with the Bush administration. Mr Obama needs to study our country's real situation so that he can change policy,” a Burmese official reportedly told AFP.

“There have been many mistakes in the past [in relations between the countries]. We have had misunderstandings. But now we are expecting good intentions,” he said. The official also accused former President Bush of making "one-sided" decisions.”

In spite of media restrictions, many people inside Burma watched the live televised coverage of Obama’s inauguration on satellite television.

Rangoon-based media sources said that the PSRD was acting under the instructions of the Ministry of Information. The censorship board did not permit the publishing of articles related to Obama’s speech in other weekly journals, including The Yangon Times and True News.

CHILD LABOR IN BURMA AND USDA DOES NOT HAVE TO ENTER 2010 ELECTION

Child Labor Widespread in Delta
A member of a non-governmental organization in the delta who requested anonymity said that children aged 10 to 15 are valued sources of labor for Burmese businessmen, fishermen and farmers, because they work for much lower wages then adults—between 300 and 1000 kyat (US $0.25—0.85) per day for children, compared to wages of 1,500 to 3000 kyat ($1.25—$2.50) per day for adults.

“Many fishing boat owners now prefer to hire children because of the difference in wages. Kids are willing to work for 300 kyat and meals,” he said.

Sources said that businesspeople in the delta also see children are easier to control and hard-working. Nowadays, children as young as eight can be found working on fishing boats, in restaurants, construction sites and with agriculture.

Myo Min lost his mother when Cyclone Nargis slashed through southwestern Burma on May 2-3. He now lives with his brother and works full-time aboard a fishing vessel in the delta.

10-year-old Myo Min said, “I’m tired, but I’m just grateful to be able to survive.”

Po Po, 11, lost his father and his elder brother in the cyclone. He then left school to work in a restaurant in Labutta Township. He washes dishes and earns about 5,000 kyat ($4.20) per month.

He admitted that he cries every night because he misses his mother.

According to a schoolteacher in Konegyi village in Labutta Township, many children are unable to continue their education because they are orphans or live with families that are struggling economically.

An estimated 400,000 children did not return to school after the cyclone, according to leading relief agency Save the Children Fund. Of those, Save the Children said they helped about 100,000 children get back to school.

The INGO estimated that about 40 percent of the 140,000 people who were killed or disappeared in the cyclone disaster were children. Many who survived were orphaned or separated from their parents, the agency said.


USDA will not contest in 2010 election:
An official in the USDA office in Hakha, capital of Chin state, said that there has been no decision to fight the elections that the Burmese regime has declared to hold in 2010.

"So far, we have no information from above to prepare for a transformation of the organization into a political party," an official in Hakha's USDA office, who declined to named, told Mizzima.

"We have not held any political campaigns," the official said. "Till now we are only engaged in activities related to rural development work."

The official told Mizzima that the USDA in Chin state will keep staying out of political campaigns but focus only on regional development work in the area.

"The USDA is a civilian organization. It will continue to function as a civil society," he added.

However, other sources in Hakha town said that USDA had actually selected a few individuals to be candidates in the ensuing elections.

"Most of the candidates are delegates who had attended the national convention," the source told Mizzima.

According to the source, USDA has selected national convention delegates U Thatmang, and U Lakung and another independent U Ngikung, a retired Township administration official as candidates.

The USDA official, however, denied nominating candidates for the forthcoming poll saying, "We did not nominate any one as a candidate but I can't say if the people will pick up individuals from USDA for their organization in future."

The USDA was established by Burmese military Supremo Senior General Than Shwe in 1993, and is the largest civil society in Burma with a membership of over 20 million.
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Centennial birthday of Myanmar's former UN chief marked

amid reports that UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari will visit the country soon. The birthday anniversary celebration was organized by the U Thant Institute and Aye Aye Thant, daughter of U Thant, who is also the president of the institute.

UN representatives, foreign diplomats, a Myanmar foreign ministry representative attended the event, sources said.

Bishow Parajuli, the resident UN humanitarian coordinator, read out a message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the ceremony.

Such events require official permission in Myanmar, which is ruled by a military junta. The permission to hold a party commemorating U Thant's centennial anniversary came amid reports that UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari has planning a four-day visit to the country starting January 31.

Western diplomats at the U Thant ceremony confirmed the visit.

Gambari's last visit in August, 2008, proved a diplomatic disappointment, as he was denied meetings with both junta chief Senior General Than Shwe and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May, 2003.

The UN has made little progress in pushing the junta towards freeing Suu Kyi and over 2,000 political prisoners and introducing democratic reforms.

U Thant, one of the few Burmese to reach international stature, remains a controversial figure in military-controlled Myanmar, also known as Burma.

U Thant served as the third secretary general of the United Nations, from 1961 to 1971. He was widely credited for his successful efforts for defusing Cuba's Missile Crisis and ending Congo's civil war during his term.

Born in Pantanaw town, in the Irrawaddy delta region, on January 22, 1909, U Thant died on November 25, 1974, while living abroad in self-imposed exile.

When his body was brought back to Yangon, then called Rangoon, for burial former military dictator General Ne Win refused it national honours.

University students snatched U Thant's coffin as it was heading for an ordinary burial on December 5, 1974, and took it to the Rangoon University Student Union grounds, turning the funeral into an anti-Ne Win uprising.

On December 11, 1974, troops stormed the university campus, dug out U Thant's coffin and reburied it at the current mausoleum at the foot of famous Shwedagon pagoda. Many students were killed in the incident, marking one of the first serious uprisings against Ne Win.

The current military regime remains loyal to the memory of Ne Win, whose coup in 1962 overthrew the country's first elected prime minister U Nu and put the country under the military's grip, where it remains today.

Detained female political activist suffers miscarriage in the cell

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Bo Bo, brother of Kathy Aung, who on January 21 met his sister, told Mizzima that Kathy Aung had a miscarriage in the Oh Bo prison. The prison authorities have not taken her to hospital, but she is being visited by doctors.

"She is still losing blood from the miscarriage and is also suffering from skin diseases," Bo Bo, who along with his mother Thida Aung, visited his sister, told Mizzima.

Tun Tun, husband of Kathy Aung and a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), who is on the run from authorities, told Mizzima from his hiding place that his wife was in the sixth month of pregnancy.

"When she was arrested, she was already in the first month of pregnancy," Tun Tun said.

Kathy Aung, 23, was arrested in September and charged with two counts each, under the Associating with Illegal Organizations and Emergency Immigration Acts and sentenced to 26 years of imprisonment on November 24, 2008 by the Oh Bo prison court.

However, her husband said, she was innocent and that the authorities had arrested her on his behalf.

"She is not involved in politics. All she does is tailoring at home but they [authorities] arrested her on my behalf," Tun Tun told.

Change in USA, How about Our Exile Government?

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While watching the TV screen, I wonder how it will turn out for the Dublin’s MPU conference. Both Dr.Sein Win’s gang and MPU’s gang led by Daw San San will either reach a solution to form a broader progressive exile government or split into two groups and form two governments. We will see in the near future.

Dr. Sein Win led NCGUB for 18 years without progress and made many activists frustrated and lose trust in NCGUB. On the other hand NCUB is not united within its own, two groups are competing each other. One group FDB is led by Ko Naing Aung and other group is led by NCUB’s General Secretary Ko Maung Maung and MPU Vice Chairperson Daw San San.

FDB is a group of seven organizations which have close relationship with Dr.Sein Win. When Ko Maung Maung initiated the Credential Challenge, Dr. Sein Win refused to sign. Also Ko Naing Aung’s group did not support the CC. On the other hand Daw San San and MPU members fully supported CC initiative.

Those two gangs have been competing each other without compromising and has reached a boiling point. If they do not want to compromise and find a command ground, neither group will move forward and achieve the goal for freedom and democracy. Both parties need to kill their egos first and try to unite each other. They need to understand they are not enemies; they are fighting for the same cause. They need to question themselves if they are fighting for the people or fighting to control the power and ignoring the fight against the SPDC regime.

Dr.Sein Win's stance on maintaining the idea of forming the exile government only with MPs from the 1990 election is an illusion. After 18 years without progress it proves that kind of idea only favors Dr.Sein Win to stay in power and nothing else. Dr.Sein Win argued that if NCGUB was formed together with non elected MPs, the 1990 election results would be ruined.

I see it as a false argument and not correct. When we look at the people who are running the NCGUB, Ko Thaung Htun and Ko Zaw Oo stand out as non MPs. Ko Thaung Htun was practically an acting prime minister while Dr. Sein Win stayed behind the curtain. Ko Zaw Oo became the director of Burma Fund. Ko Thaung Htun has been busy flying back and forth from USA to Europe and Asia as NCGUB representative that real MPs did not have a chance to do. Did that ruin the 1990 election result? No, not at all.

On the other hand, NCUB needs to sober its move by not giving different opinions and views. It needs to find a common ground rather than issuing statement which would anger NCGUB and its allies. NCUB needs to inform all its members to reach an agreement before issuing such an important statement.

Is the Dublin conference for uniting different fractions for a better outcome? Or is it a conference to compete with rivals and form its own group? I hope it is for the former.

As a senior member, Dr. Sein Win needs to encourage all the people in the Dublin conference to unite each other and give a chance to elect a new leader by stepping down by taking responsibility for its 18 years of failure. It is time to give way for new blood in the new administration. We need to learn from other democratic countries like USA, France, UK, Sweden, Denmark and so forth. Two terms are enough for a leader to lead the country and give a way for a new leader to emerge.

Unlike democratic countries, leaders from dictatorial regimes stay in power for life. If we want democracy, we have to follow the democratic principle that we are longing for right now.

If the MPs are not united there will be no funding in the future, without funding it is impossible to fight against the SPDC regime. NED and Norwegian government, who are the main funding source of the democratic forces, will withdraw their support if the opposition fractions are not united.

If Dr.Sein Win's gang change its policy from exclusive non MPs stance to an all inclusive policy, it will unite all fractions and we will have the power to fight against the SPDC regime in the first battle in 2010 and beyond.

Htun Aung Gyaw
11:55pm
January 20, 2009

AHIN GAMBIRA TRANSFRED TO REMOTE PRISON

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Obama’s Inauguration Attracts Big Interest in Burma
A Rangoon monk who watched the entire US presidential inauguration on TV summed up the feelings of countless Burmese when he said afterwards: “We’d like to see that happen in Burma, but we don’t know when.”

A young Rangoon journalist said: “We want to freely elect our leader like that, but that’s just a dream.”

Tuesday’s inauguration of Barak Obama as the 44th president of the US attracted huge interest in Burma.

The unnamed journalist said Obama’s path to the White House had been followed especially keenly by the Burmese media and intellectuals.

Burmese from all walks of life, however, watched the inauguration on satellite TV or tuned in to Burmese radios broadcasting from abroad.

Hla Oo, a resident of Mogok in upper Burma, said he believed Obama would offer more help to Burma’s democracy movement than did his predecessor, George W Bush.

A businessman in Bogalay in the Irrawaddy delta said he thought Obama was capable of solving all the problems he faced.

The popular desire for change that swept Obama to power was shared by the people of Burma, the businessman said.

“We want change,” he said. “Change from a system of military rule to democratic rule.

“We are fed up with the military regime. We have lived in fear for a long time. We also want change and liberation.”

Most Burmese opposition leaders expect US support for the pro-democracy movement to remain strong under Obama’s administration.

Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD), told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday: “We believe that the US will keep up its support for human rights and the democracy movement in Burma.”

Some dissidents, however, believe the Burmese people themselves remain the most potent force for political change.

Aye Tha Aung, chairman of the Arakan League for Democracy, said he didn’t expect greater support from the US for political change in Burma.

“The most important forces for change in Burma are the Burmese people, opposition groups and ethnic leaders,” he said.

Ludu Sein Win, a veteran Burmese journalist in Rangoon, said nothing more than condemnation of the regime could be expected from the Obama administration.

“I want to urge the Burmese people: Don’t rely on Obama and [UN Secretary-General] Ban Ki-moon,” Sein Win said. “We must rely on ourselves.”

Burmese astrologers also watched the inauguration with interest—one of the best known, San Zarni Bo, predicted that the new US president could face assassination attempts in 2009, 2010 and 2013. All attempts would fail, he said.

THE VIEW OF DPNS

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POSTED BY ANH

LEADING MONK ON HUNGER STRIKE

He is reportedly staging a hunger strike in Mandalay's Obo prison while waiting to be transferred to Khamti prison in Sagaing Division, following a transfer order from higher authorities.

"Ashin Gambira, it is sure, has been on hunger strike since the 13th of this month. Now it's been seven days," a resident from Mandalay who has close contact with the prison told Mizzima.

However, for security reasons, the resident declined to reveal his source inside the prison.

Additionally, all political prisoners were previously allowed to fortnightly meet with family members. And family members of Ashin Gambira had met with him twice and were able to give him parcels. But on the 14th of this month, family members could neither meet with nor give parcels to the detained monk.

"They came last Wednesday to meet him but could not meet him or give him a parcel. The authorities didn't give any reason for their denial, just saying to come next Wednesday. That's all. His mother, worrying about her son, said, 'Something might happen to my son, all others except my son are allowed to meet their loved ones'," according to a resident from Mandalay.

However, despite the insistence of local residents who have close contacts with Obo prison.
On the 19th of November last year, the Kemmendine Township court heard Ashin Gambira's case inside Insein prison and gave him a 12 year prison term for three offences, including 'insulting religion' and 'committing a crime against public tranquility'.

Then, two days later, the Kamayut and Ahlone Township courts handed down judgment on a total of 13 additional cases against him, eventually bringing his sentencing to a total of 68 years in detention.

Ashin Gambira (29) joined September 2007's Saffron Revolution as one of the leading monks while pursuing his 'Dhamasaria' religious studies.


No Election Participation, No Disarmament: Mon Party

About 101 members of the party approved the decision after the party held a two-week congress which ended on Jan 17 at its central headquarters in Ye Township, Mon State. The party holds a congress meeting every three years.

Nai Shwe Thein, a member of the NMSP executive committee, said, “We didn’t get what we wanted at the constitutional convention. That’s why we will not join the election.”

Leaders also discussed the current ceasefire agreement it has with the military government, and the party decided it would not disarm, if asked by the military regime.

“If they [the Burmese military] ask us to disarm, we will do something,” said Nai Shwe Thein. “Our party policy is we will not give up arms, and we will not abandon our party.”

The party has maintained a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military for more than 14 years.

Some Mon community leaders expressed concern they might be forced to disband their schools, and many Mon plantation owners and laborers are worried they will lose their rubber plantations if fighting should resume between the NMSP and the Burmese military.

Nai Aye Con, a member of the Mon National Education Department, said, “If there is a war, we can’t run the schools that are close to the Burmese military controlled areas.”

Rubber plantations produce daily income for many people, and some fear the recent NMSP decisions could threaten their livelihood.

The NMSP signed a ceasefire agreement with the military regime in 1995. Observers say there have been no political advancements in more than a decade, and the regime has continued a campaign of human rights abuses in Mon State.

In 2003, the party attended the national constitutional convention, but left after a proposal to federalize the constitution was rejected by the military-controlled convention. The party maintained observers at the convention.

In early March, the NMSP released a statement against the constitutional referendum, citing concerns that the constitution would strengthen the regime without resulting in any actual democratic changes in the country.

A LAWYER IN THE TRAP OF THE REGIME

Burmese Lawyer Detained
As the Burmese regime intensifies its crackdown on dissidents, Poe Phyu, a young Burmese lawyer, who has represented farmers and labor rights activists, was arrested and detained by authorities on Friday.

Thirty-year-old Poe Phyu was arrested by police officers in Aunglan Township in Magwe Division in central Burma soon after defending a group of Aunglan farmers whose lands had been confiscated by Burmese authorities, according to Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Poe Phyu, who lives in Rangoon, was arrested while boarding a bus in Aunglan to return home, he said.

Meanwhile, the two labor rights activists Hla Soe and Zaw Htay he defended were also detained after they collectively sent a letter of complaint about their land confiscation to the International Labor Organization, he added.

In October 2008, four defense lawyers—Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, Nyi Nyi Htwe, Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein—were sentenced to prison terms of between four and six months for contempt of court after complaining of unfair treatment.

The lawyers had represented political activists, such as members of the 88 Generation Students group, and members of the opposition National League for Democracy.

Recently, one of the four, Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, 29, who was sentenced in absentia, fled to Thailand.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min condemned the Burmese court for its lack of justice. There are no fair trials in Burma as defense lawyers are denied the right to defend their clients, he said.

The regime has been using the court to put pressure on activists and dissidents by pronouncing long terms of imprisonment, said Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min

Myanmar to hold gems emporium in March

The event was attended by around 3,000 foreign merchants mostly from China, China's Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, India, Italy, Britain, Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada.

In June-July and October last year, a special gem sale and a mid-year gem sale were respectively added which attracted even more merchants than the annual regular event.

Myanmar started to hold gem shows annually in 1964, introducing the mid-year one in 1992 and the special one in 2004.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, boasts ruby, diamond, cat's eye, emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a variety of garnet tinged with yellow.

The authorities designated the proceeds from the sale of gems at these emporiums as legal export earning to encourage the private sector in the development of the gem industry.

Of Myanmar's 6.043 billion U.S. dollars' exports in 2007-08, gem products stood the third after natural gas and agricultural produces with 647.53 million dollars, according to official statistics.

The government's Central Statistical Organization also revealed that in the fiscal year 2007-08, Myanmar produced 20,235 tons of jade and 22.668 million carats of gems which include ruby, sapphire, spinel and peridot, as well as 225,611 mommis (846 kilograms) of pearl.

PRESIDENT BUSH SHOOT THE LAST BULLET SANCTION TO BURMA AND COULD WAVE DRAW RESIDENTS INTO SUFFER

Win Aung of Dagon International and Zaw Zaw of Max Myanmar are the two junta cronies added to the list of “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons” under the Tom Lantos Block Burma Jade Law.

Myanmar Ivanhoe Company, a Canadian joint-venture business, has also been slapped with sanctions by the US, according to an announcement made by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

“Congress and the administration have made clear the need to apply vigorous sanctions against the Burmese junta as long as it continues to suppress democratic dissent,” said OFAC Director Adam J Szubin in a statement.

“The junta’s imprisonment of prominent democracy advocates confirms Burma’s unwillingness to abide by international commitments and underscores the need to maintain pressure against one of the world’s worst violators of human rights,” Szubin said.

The announcement comes on a day on which the newly appointed US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, in her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she favored imposing multilateral sanctions against the Burmese military regime.

Under the Bush administration, the US has led the world, in particular the developed countries, in imposing sanctions against the Burmese military junta. So far, as many as 100 individuals and entities has been targeted by US sanctions, including key state-owned enterprises, senior junta officials, regime cronies and their business networks.

Zaw Zaw is the managing director of the Max Myanmar Group of Companies, a Burmese entity with interests in the gem, timber, construction and tourism industries.

Max Myanmar, the statement alleged, has provided important services in support of the Burmese junta, particularly in the form of construction projects. The Treasury Department’s action targets eight companies belonging to the Max Myanmar Group, as well as Zaw Zaw’s Singapore-based company, Max Singapore International Pvt Ltd.

The statement also said that Win Aung has made large financial donations to the Burmese junta and has provided services in support of the regime on significant construction projects. Win Aung is being designated along with two of his companies, Dagon International Ltd and Dagon Timber Ltd.

OFAC also announced the levying of a third round of sanctions against the financial network of Tay Za, a notorious regime henchman and arms dealer. Today’s action targets Espace Avenir, a Rangoon hotel owned or controlled by Tay Za.

Sanctions have also been imposed on Sentosa Treasure Pvt Ltd, a Singaporean firm owned by Cecilia Ng, who was singled out for sanctions on February 25, 2008, along with her husband, junta crony Steven Law. Also designated are nine firms that previously had been identified as being owned by Ng.

OFAC has also targeted Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper Company Ltd (MICCL), a joint venture between a Canadian company and the Burmese state-owned No 1 Mining Enterprise. It controls the Monywa copper project, the biggest of its kind in the country, located in Burma’s northwestern Sagaing Division.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador to the UN-designate, Susan Rice, said on Thursday that she favored “multilateral sanctions” with the support of regional powers as a measure to put pressure on the Burmese junta to release political prisoners and restore democracy in the country.

Rice expressed her views on Burma in a written response to Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking member of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which held nomination hearings for the US ambassador to the UN-designate on Thursday.

During her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rice, considered to be a key foreign policy advisor to US President-elect Barack Obama, identified Burma as one of the countries of the world where persecution and repression of the innocent continue. The international community needs to do more, she said.

She also identified Burma as a country where Security Council measures have not yielded the desired results.

RESIDENTS IN BURMA HAVE TO SUFFER COLD WAVE

Cold Wave' likely to sweep Burma
Thursday, 15 January 2009 19:24

– A 'Cold Wave' is likely to sweep Burma by the last week of January because of a change in the course of the winds, an official at Burma's Meteorological department said.

The official said the 'Cold Wave' is likely to hit the Northern part of the country hard while eastern tropical winds are likely to blow in other parts of the country causing temperature to drop drastically during the night.

The government's mouth-piece newspaper, Myanma Ahlin, on Thursday, however, did not carry any story on the possible 'Cold Wave' passing through the country, though it mentioned that temperatures have dropped up to 0 degree in Hakha Town, capital city of Chin state in northwest Burma.

According to medical experts, the 'Cold Wave' could cause severe health problems especially to children and elderly people and there are chances of some being paralyzed. Besides, cardiac and kidney problems could also grow worse.
Next >

BURMA SITATION AFFECTS THE REGION AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Abhisit spoke to journalists at a dinner at the Foreign Correspondent Club of Thailand in Bangkok.

Thailand shares more than 1,800 km with military-ruled Burma. Nongovernment organizations that work with Burmese migrant workers estimate there are 4 million Burmese, legal and illegal, currently living in Thailand.

Abhisit said that the regional bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), should be more proactive on Burma issues, although the situation is difficult.

The Thai government will use a “flexible engagement” policy in relation to Burma under the Democrat administration, he said. The “flexible engagement” policy was outlined by Surin Pitsuwan, the former Thai foreign minister and current secretary-general of Asean in 1999. He proposed the regional bloc use a “constructive engagement” policy.

“Flexible engagement” was about open and frank discussion on issues such as human rights, leading to cooperative solutions—a pooling of sovereignty rather than its dilution, so as to make Southeast Asia a secure and prosperous region, according to analysts.

Abhisit said the sanction policy of Western nations on Burma was counterproductive.

Commenting on Abhisit’s Burma policy, Kavi Chongkittavorn, an assistant group editor of Thailand’s The Nation, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that whether using “constructive engagement” or “flexible engagement,” Asean has to continue pressure on Burma.

He said the current Democrat administration can do a lot on Burma policy, and Abhisit’s approach will be different from the previous government of Thai Primer Thaksin Shinawatra.

“This government will be more transparent in its Burma policy,” he said.

Analysts say the Thaksin administration Burma policy was based on business interests and the government provided a 4 billion baht loan to Burma’s telecommunication sector—some of which was used to buy satellite services from a company owned by Thaksin.

Meanwhile, in a separate event, Abhisit told members of the diplomatic corps at Government House on Wednesday that Thailand will continue to play a constructive role in the sub-regional, regional and international community.

“We also continue to honor our international obligations and commitments at all levels and across all sectors,” he said. “Strengthening relations with neighboring countries remains at the heart of our foreign policy.”

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya held a meeting with Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu in Bangkok on Monday to discuss bilateral relations.

After the meeting, Abhisit told reporters the goals of Western countries and the countries of this region are on common ground on Burma issues.

“But our methods may differ because of two main reasons: cultural differences and the distance of the countries,” he said, indicating that neighboring countries have a more delicate situation when there are policy differences.


Human Rights in Burma Deteriorating
In its annual report, HRW highlighted both the Burmese regime’s poor handling of the relief and rescue mission in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta and its continuing crackdown on political dissidents.

The report alleged that the ruling military junta in Burma has systematically denied its citizens basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, association and assembly.

Referring to the series of long-term prison sentences imposed on pro-democracy activists late last year, the report said that the number of political prisoners in the country now stands at more than 2,150.

“In October and November, more than 70 political activists, monks, nuns, labor activists, and journalists were tried in secret proceedings in prison or closed sessions in court,” the report said.

Many of the harshest sentences were handed down to people who participated in the 2007 demonstrations; 14 of them were sentenced to 65 years each. Members of the 88 Generation Students group faced 22 charges, including contact with exiled political groups and unlawfully publishing documents, and faced sentences of 150 years.

Four lawyers representing activists were also jailed for contempt of court after they attempted to withdraw from legal representation to protest the unfair proceedings.

The Burmese military continues to violate the rights of civilians in ethnic conflict areas, the report said. Extrajudicial killings, forced labor, land confiscation without due process and other rights violations continued in these areas in 2008, according to HRW’s annual World Report 2009, which documents human rights abuses and violations across the globe.

The international community in general and the US and European countries in particular continued to oppose the junta in Burma, but its big neighbors, including India, China and Thailand, remained the military’s key supporters.

China, Russia, India and Thailand continue to provide diplomatic support for the Burmese junta and are major trade and investment partners, the report said.

Foreign investment in Burma’s oil and natural gas sector increased in 2008, particularly in connection with a major offshore gas project led by a Korean consortium and a planned overland pipeline to the Burma-China border.

HRW alleged the junta continued widespread and systematic forced recruitment of child soldiers. The non-state armed groups also recruited and deployed children in conflict-prone areas.

104 YEARS IN JAIL FOR A STUDENTS ACTIVIST BY THE REGIME

Bo Min Yu Ko was not allowed to have a defense lawyer and his family were not allowed to attend his court hearing.
“This is yet another harsh and cruel sentence handed down by the regime’s kangaroo courts. The courts are not independent and simply follow orders from the regime. Criminals sentenced on drug charges are often given relatively light sentences, but political activists are given very long terms of imprisonment,” said Bo Kyi, Joint-Secretary of AAPP.
Since the recent spate of sentencing began in October 2008, at least 280 political activists have been sentenced. Bo Min Yu Ko’s 104-year sentence is the harshest punishment handed out so far.
“Political activists are systematically denied their legal and human rights. Bo Min Yu Ko had no chance to prepare a defence. Until now, he has not been allowed to meet with his family,” said Bo Kyi. “ASEAN leaders mustn’t bury their heads in the sand. The forthcoming ASEAN summit is the perfect opportunity for them to discuss this issue frankly with the military leaders. They must call on them to immediately release all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and start an open dialogue for national reconciliation.”

RANGOON UNDER TIGHTEN AND NLD UNDER ARRESTED

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“There are riot police and soldiers, in standby position on trucks and on the ground, at important junctions and corners in the downtown area, as well as around Shwedagon Pagoda,” a student in the former capital told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

Other residents of the city also reported an increased security presence since last week. Last night, security forces were sighted patrolling in various parts of the city, including Dawbon, Sanchaung, Thingangyun, and North and South Dagon Myothit townships.

A businessman in Rangoon’s Bayintnaung Market said he heard that anti-junta leaflets were distributed around the city last week. “Since then, there are a lot more security forces around here,” he said.

An unknown dissident group has been carrying out an anti-government campaign since the beginning of January, distributing leaflets which read, “As people have not attained freedom yet, we must continue our struggle.”

On January 4, Burma’s Independence Day, nine members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested after they held a small protest in front of the People’s Parliament building on Prome Road in Rangoon.

The protesters called for the release of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The parliament building has been unused since the current junta seized power in 1988.

MILITARY SHOT IN THE CENTRAL BURMA OIL DRILL MINE(UPDATE ROIT)

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he Burmese military junta has intervened and imposed curfew in an oilfield, after the dispute between a private oil company and local oil producers in Myaing Township, Magwe Division in central Burma.

The trade dispute occurred between local oil producers and 'Kaung Zaw Hein' Oil Company in Hnaw Bin oilfield in Bahin village tract, Myaing Township, Pakokku District, Magwe Division. After the skirmish between them, the local army unit LIB 247 imposed dusk to dawn curfew in this area.

"Now no one can go outside after 7 p.m. They have imposed curfew. The district police officer is now in this area. Moreover, the police are questioning many people. The Myaing Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) Chairman has been organizing door to door campaigns to sell their oil only to this private company," a local oil producer and oil-well owner told Mizzima.

The local people from Bahin village tract, Myaing Township, produce oil by hand-drilled oil wells. But the private company 'Kaung Zaw Hein' entered the market and tried to exploit the producers, which ignited the discontent among them.

"They collected heavy taxes and slashed the oil price and moreover they told us to sell the oil only to them. Then the dispute turned to a brawl and later a riot. The people set the company office on fire including two company-owned vehicles. Then LIB 247 fired warning shots, which injured the wife of a cow cart owner from Shandong village, Ma Win Mar in the thigh," an eyewitness from this oilfield said.

Earlier, the oil producers had to pay Kyat 2,000 per barrel as tax for area development fund to the district authority. Then this company collected Kyat 8,500 per barrel as tax from these producers, the local people said.

"We must pay money as tax to them otherwise we cannot take our oil out of the oilfield. Moreover they forced us to sell oil only to them but they paid only Kyat 25,000-30,000 per barrel, when the market price is Kyat 55,000 per barrel. We then asked them to stop this practice," a local added.

The local authority is hunting down the labour and oil producers, who led this protest. Some are still at large and over 20 people have been detained by them so far.

Initially, they were held at Bahin police station and then they were taken to Myaing, it is learnt. Their exact whereabouts are not yet known, an oil producer said.

He said the condition of Ma Win Mar, who was injured by a gun shot, was also not known. Ma Win Mar was not admitted to the hospital immediately. They argued that it was not a gun shot wound, just accidental bruises and cuts incurred when she was on the run by bamboo spikes. It was only the next day that she was taken to Myaing and her whereabouts too are not known.

Under the current tense circumstances, the local oil producers are finding it difficult to continue their production. They could not take even a bottle of oil out from their oilfield.

"They told us that pay tax or do not produce oil here. We cannot do anything under this tight security. We are in a waiting and watching mode. No one is satisfied with the current situation," he said.

The producers can get at least one barrel per day if the oil output is good.

The Myaing TPDC office refused to answer the phone, when Mizzima contacted them to ask about this incident. They just said that they had no information on it and hung up the phone.

THAI PM WANTS BURMA TO BE FREED AND AFTER 2010 ELECTION

In his first public comments on Myanmar since taking office last month, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thailand's proximity to Myanmar meant any push for reform had to be handled differently.

Abhisit was speaking after his foreign minister Kasit Piromya met in Bangkok with Myanmar's deputy foreign minister Kyaw Thu to discuss their ongoing relations, a foreign ministry official said.

"The goals of Western countries and the countries in this region for Myanmar are not different - we all want to see some changes," Abhisit told reporters.

"But our measures may be different because of two main reasons: cultural differences and the distance of the countries. Those who are far away may use some measures while those who are neighbors have to use other measures."

Abhisit didn't comment on what steps Thailand might take to try and push for change in Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962 and keeps democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

The U.S. and Europe have imposed economic sanctions on the regime, but the impact has been weakened as nations such as Thailand and China spend billions of dollars for a share of Myanmar's rich energy resources.

Asian countries have advocated a more diplomatic approach with their awkward neighbor, championing a process of "constructive engagement" with the junta.



Looking beyond election 2010
The international community's political rhetoric, without any substantive action, has emboldened the military generals to advance their seven-step road map toward a "disciplined and flourishing democracy" slowly but steadily.

It was not surprising to see UN chief Ban Ki-moon's lukewarm reaction toward a largely symbolic petition submitted to him by 112 former world leaders asking him to visit Burma (Myanmar) in the wake of widespread arrests in recent weeks and months. The Dec. 3 petitioners included Jimmy Carter and Tony Blair, among others.

Out of frustration, Ban -- through his spokesperson Michele Montas -- responded to the letter and said: "...will not be able to do so without reasonable expectations of a meaningful outcome, which is what we have been saying all along...."

What could that paper tiger achieve anyway? Had the same letter been sent by the same number of incumbent world leaders, it would have had better leverage. The move was an encouraging sign, but will have very minimal impact, if any.

It would be more efficacious if the 112 world leaders instead convinced their own governments to take pragmatic action in line with what the UN chief is asked of.

It is the UN Security Council that can initiate effective action and the good offices of the Secretary-General that can implement, and not vice-versa. Ban Ki-moon sees the limitations his good offices can play in the absence of any enforcement mechanism.

If Ban were to go to Myanmar without having to achieve any substantive results, he could demean the Secretary General's office. His basic demands such as the release of political prisoners and an initiation of dialogue with the opposition groups have not materialized.

Instead of listening to the repeated calls for the release of political prisoners, the military authority -- in recent weeks -- has handed down long prison terms to anyone seen to be a disturbance in the upcoming 2010 election.

On the other hand, the military was sending yet another clear message to the international community. Senior General Than Shwe was heard bragging about the 15-year existence of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and its rising 24.6 million members.

On the fourth day of the association's 15th anniversary on Nov. 29, Gen. Than Shwe was heard saying: "....plans are well underway to see to the remaining steps including the 2010 transition work program. So, it is fair to say that the future of the State structure is certain to materialize".

In the new constitution, 25 percent of the seats in both houses of parliament (House of Representatives and House of Nationalities) are reserved for the military. Amendment of the constitution will require the approval of more than 75 percent of the votes. In other words, the constitution has been designed to perpetuate military rule.

The generals learned a lesson from the 1990 general election -- any free and fair election will go in favor of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and other democratic opposition groups. It remains to be seen whether the NLD will be allowed to participate in the election.

If the NLD is barred from the election or if the party chooses not to participate, the political scenario beyond the 2010 election could become even murkier. While the new government will be busy with its own agendas, the NLD will continue to lobby the international community to recognize the 1990 election results.

The 2010 election will bring a transition to Myanmar, but the new government will still be directly or indirectly under the military. One other significant implication is that the results of 1990 general election will become bygone history.

As usual, the international community will send mixed responses regarding the election outcome. While most western nations will not or perhaps will reluctantly recognize the results, many Asian governments will welcome it as a positive step toward democracy.

It is these conflicting approaches that have given the military generals political breathing space. Sanctions versus engagements and or appeasements by the international community are responsible for the military regime's survival.

One must not, however, believe that the successful implementation of the State Peace and Development Council's seven-step road map will bring an end to Burma's decades-old political problems.

We will continue to see simmering political turmoil in the country. The military generals are indifferent to and even anathema toward any concept of federalism, which has been the basic demand of the country's ethnic nationalities -- with the exception of the Burmese. A long-lasting solution to Burma's problems needs the sincerity, honesty and participation of all ethnic groups. Different ethnic groups should be brought into confidence, and their legitimate demands should be examined. This process of democratization has to be an inclusive approach.

Burma's political landscape could still be dramatically changed before and after the 2010 general election provided that the international community steps up a coordinated "stick and carrot" approach.

Meanwhile, the military junta's capability should not be undermined. The regime takes pride in having one of the largest armies in the region with over 400,000 personnel. The military is also well protected by the UN Security Council's veto structure.

If the international community is serious about finding a solution to Burma's political problems, it should take actions that can make a difference. There are ways to bring down or convince the military generals.

Military intervention, a model based on the six-party talks regarding North Korea's nuclear stand-off and the UN Security Council Resolution will be some of the swiftest, if not most effective, tools to bring about a democratic change in Burma. However, none of the above is likely to happen in the near future.

If no realistic action is on the agenda, the international community should look beyond the 2010 election and start planning for new policies and strategies to be pursued under a new military-controlled government.

Burma's troop rape a woman in the Kachin State

She came by Mandalar Express train and reached at 6 pm. But she arrived at home at 11 p.m. She didn't disclose the incident that night and just said that she had lost all her belongings and would tell them in detail the next morning. They went to the crime scene next morning to find her lost belongings but found only her lingerie and a hat," she said.

The victim came to Hsa Hmaw from Pin Htaung. The soldiers were on the same train with her. She jumped out from the train when the train was chugging into Hsa Hmaw station but the two soldiers also hopped out with her and raped her in a dark and deserted place at knife point. Then they left her naked believing she was dead. She regained consciousness at about 11 p.m. and walked home.

Now she is under treatment at Mogaung hospital.

"She is in trauma and could not have her meal today. She is vomiting and is suffering from malaria as she spent about three hours in water. She is mentally distraught," one of her friends said.

The victim was taken to Hsa Hmaw hospital on 28 December but the doctors at the hospital referred her case to Mogaung hospital.

"We haven't yet received any information regarding this case. The students are still arriving here and it coincides with the Kachin Manau festival. If it is true, we must report to the higher authorities and lodge a complaint to the concerned army unit. We must collect all facts and evidence first and decide to lodge complaint," a teacher from the seminary told Mizzima when contacted.

Tens of thousands of people are coming and enjoying the 61st Kachin Manau festival which is being held in Myitkyinar, the capital of Kachin State starting from 5 January.

"Since her parents don't know how to take action against the culprits, they requested the community elders of Hsa Hmaw Cultural Committee to lodge a complaint on behalf of their family. A person from the independent Christian Church also registered a case in court. As the culprits are soldiers, it is difficult to take action against them," a local resident who is close to the rape victim Ma Lwe Ja said

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SHOW UP ON THE SCHOOL ROAD

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“He was not selling, he was just a carrier,” said the source. “He did it because he couldn’t support his family on his salary.”

The man was found to be in possession of the drug while going through a checkpoint on the main road from Rangoon to Mandalay, the source said. No further details about the type or quantity of the drug were available.

The arrest highlighted a growing problem among low-ranking members of Burma’s 400,000-strong armed forces. Unlike the top generals who use the military to maintain their hold on power in the country, most rank-and-file soldiers are struggling to get by.

“Regional military authorities don’t provide sufficient rations and other supplies for soldiers and their families,” said a sergeant from LIB 701, speaking on condition of anonymity. “That’s why soldiers are always looking for some other way to support their families.”

While many military families try to subsist on earnings from a variety of side businesses, from raising livestock to making bricks or wooden furniture, even this extra income is often not enough. Like other public servants in this impoverished country, many soldiers survive on the spoils of petty corruption and other illegal activities, including drug trafficking.

Non-commissioned members of the armed forces are paid less than half as much as junior officers, with monthly salaries starting at 21,000 kyat (US $16) for a private. First class warrant officers can make as much as 50,000 kyat ($40) per month.

“We earn small salaries and work six days a week, even though we are not on the frontlines,” said the sergeant from LIB 701. “We don’t care where we get our money from, as long as we can support our children.”

With such attitudes prevalent among lower-ranking soldiers, commanding officers often look the other way or engage in illegal activities themselves. When caught, however, soldiers often face harsh sentences for their crimes.

Unlike soldiers near the bottom of the military hierarchy, those close to the ruling generals rarely face serious penalties for breaking the law.

Last year, Aung Zaw Ye Myint, son of Lt-Gen Ye Myint, was briefly detained at the Wat Htee Kan military camp in Prome, Pegu Division, after Burmese police raided his office at Rangoon’s Yetagun Tower on May 29 and found illegal drugs and six guns.

The Wat Htee Kan camp has served as a sort of reform school for the miscreant sons and grandsons of top-ranking generals since Burma’s socialist era.

Aung Zaw Ye Myint was a familiar figure in Rangoon’s elite circles, mingling with movie stars and the children of other top generals. He was well known as a reliable source of hard-to-find street drugs for a small but well-connected clientele.

ONE OF PP TOP LEADERS DIES AND YOUNG GIRL UNDER RAPE

People’s Parliament Chairman Saw Mra Aung Dies
Burma’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi sent a flower basket and five monk robes to the family, according to Aye Thar Aung, a close colleague of Saw Mra Aung.

“He was an important figure in Burma’s national reconciliation and the People’s Parliament,” Aye Thar Aung said. “The place he occupied in our country cannot be filled.”

Saw Mra Aung, a physician, was born in April 1918 in Mrauk Oo Township in Arakan State in western Burma. He received his basic education in Arakan State and Rangoon before going to Mumbai, India, to read in medicine in 1943. He received his bachelor degree there in 1947.

After studying in India, he went to Britain for further studies at the Royal College of Physicians.

From 1955 to 1963, Saw Mra Aung worked in Mandalay hospitals and taught at the medical college. In a medical exchange program in 1958, he studied in the United States and the United Kingdom, and he led a Burmese medical team to China in 1972.

After his retirement in 1978 as a government in-service physician, he worked at two hospitals in Hong Kong from 1979 to 1982. Later, he worked in a hospital for monks and nuns in Rangoon.

In 1988, he was named chairman of the Arakan League for Democracy. In the 1990 elections, he was elected a member of Parliament, winning 62.09 percent of the vote in his native Mrauk Oo Township.

In August 1998, the Burmese military junta arrested many dissidents including Saw Mra Aung, who was held in detention until June 13, 2001.

On September 17, 1998, the main opposition National League for Democracy and its alliance parties, including the Arakan League for Democracy, formed the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament.

Saw Mra Aung was elected chairman of the People’s Parliament, which has served as a symbolic emblem of unity among all ethnic groups in Burma.

WOMEN'S GROUP CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO GIRL'S RAPE

>An ethnic Karen women's group has condemned the Burmese Army for refusing to investigate the death of a seven-year old girl, whom the group allegedly said was raped and murdered by a soldier.

The Karen Women's Organisation (KWO), a Thailand based organization, said a seven-year old girl in Ma Oo Bin village in Nyaunglebin district in central Burma's Pegu division was found dead on December 28 with marks on her body showing she had been murdered after being raped.

"The girl was found dead the next morning after disappearing in the evening of December 27. And marks on her body revealed that she was murdered after being molested," Blooming Night Zan, Assistant Secretary of the KWO said.

The KWO alleged that a soldier from the Burmese Army's Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 350, which is based in the area, had murdered the girl after raping her.

"Elders saw the soldier coming to the village on December 27 evening and had seen him with the girl. And not long after they heard gun fire. The villagers said they heard the girl crying fro help," Blooming Night Zan told Mizzima.

As villagers are terrorized by the sight of Burmese Army, the villagers had not dared to come to the rescue of the girl, Blooming Night Zan added.

But she said, the commander of the LIB-350 captain Thet Khaing, despite complaints by the villagers, had not taken any action or conducted an investigation into the rape and murder.

The KWO's accusations, however, cannot be independently verified as it was not possible to reach villagers of Ma Oo Bin, who know of the rape and murder.

The Burmese Army, which has 400,000 soldiers, has time and again come under attack by human rights groups including the Human Rights Watch, condemning them of widely using systematic rape as a weapon to terrorize ethnic people living along the frontiers.

The Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), an advocacy group promoting human rights and democracy in Burma, in a statement on Monday condemned the Burmese Army for failing to conduct investigations over the death of the girl and to arrest the perpetrator and bring him to justice.

"Rape is systematic and widespread and used as a weapon of war by the Burmese Army throughout the country. This latest tragic case is an example of the culture of impunity reigning throughout the military regime," Stuart Windsor, CSW's National Director said.

"We strongly support the KWO's call for the arrest and prosecution of those guilty of the murder and rape of this young child. We believe the regime in Burma is guilty of a wide range of crimes against humanity which should be investigated and brought before the International Criminal Court," added Windsor.

According to KWO, the village of Ma Oo Bin is inhabited by ethnic Karen people, who were forcibly relocated from various parts of Karen state by the Burmese Army in their campaign against Karen guerillas fighting the junta. Next >

Suu Kyi Celebrates Independence Day and US President Discusses UN Chief

Suu Kyi Celebrates Independence Day
On Independence Day this year, Burma's detained democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has chosen not to stay quiet behind the locked gates of her home where she is under house arrest.

Members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said they heard old songs, popular in the pre-independence era, playing in her home.

On Sunday, Burma marked the 61st anniversary of its independence from Britain in 1948.

Suu Kyi has also put up a new red banner, which can be viewed from the street, with words in yellow quoting her father, independence hero Gen Aung San: ''Act decisively in the interest of the nation and the people."

The NLD, in a ceremony at its headquarter in Rangoon attended by 300 people, including veteran politicians and diplomats, called for the release of Suu Kyi, who has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years.

On December 30, nine NLD members were arrested when they staged a protest in Rangoon calling for her release. A commentary in the recent issue of the Weekly Eleven journal says the junta will charge those arrested "according to the law."

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Kyi Win, said Burmese authorities still have not replied to his request to meet with the detained opposition leader to discuss her appeal against her continued detention. But Suu Kyi was allowed a visit by her personal doctor, Tin Myo Win, on January 1 and she was in good health.

Suu Kyi’s latest five-year term of house arrest was extended in May for a further year—illegally, according to Kyi Win, because Article 10 (b) of the Burmese State Protection Law 1975 stipulates that a person judged to be a "threat to the sovereignty and security of the State and the peace of the people" can only be detained for up to five years.

Meanwhile, junta ministers, and about 3,000 government employees and senior officials, attended the official Independence Day ceremony and military parade in Naypyidaw. Junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe did not attend.

However, in his official speech, read at the gathering, Than Shwe accused "neo-colonialists"—normally a reference to the Western countries led by the US—of interfering in Burma’s affairs.

"They are using some international organizations to gain support for their schemes and driving a wedge among national people and inciting riots to undermine national unity, peace and the stability of the nation," he said.

In December, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on Burma to free all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.

The resolution also voiced concern over the junta’s so-called "seven-step roadmap" to democracy, including the planned general election in 2010, noting the failure of the regime to include other political parties, members of Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, and representatives of ethnic political organizations in the process.

Bush to Discuss Burma with Ban "
This meeting will be an opportunity for the President to thank Secretary-General Ban for his leadership of the United Nations and his cooperation on key issues over the past two years," said White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe.

"They will discuss the future of the United Nations and the challenges that remain, such as UN reform, the Middle East, Burma, Somalia and peacekeeping in Darfur," Johndroe said.

However, the meeting is unlikely to yield any result for the people of Burma, given that Bush is leaving office and Ban has been unable to make any headway towards restoration of democracy in Burma.

Ban was scheduled to visit Burma in December, but he has postponed his trip until a time when it would yield tangible results.

Johndroe said during the meeting the US President will stress the need for a United Nations that can act effectively to promote freedom, democratic governance, human rights and a world free from terror.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued Friday, one day before the 61st anniversary of Burma's Independence Day, the State Department wished the people of Burma well on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of its independence from the British rule.

"We wish to express our warmest wishes to the people of Burma on this occasion. As we reflect on Burma's independence struggle, led by Gen Aung San, we are reminded of our own history," said the brief statement.

The State Department said the US stands with the Burmese people on in honoring Aung San's vision for an independent, peaceful, and democratic Burma.

The US also looks forward to the day when Burma's citizens will be able to enjoy the fruits of freedom and democracy. "We earnestly hope that day will come soon," the statement said.

FAMOUS WRITER DAGON TAYAR'S VIEW

ေသဆံုးၿပီးသူမ်ား အပါအဝင္ လစ္လပ္သြားတဲ့ လႊတ္ေတာ္ကိုယ္စားလွယ္ ေနရာမ်ားအတြက္ ၾကားျဖတ္ေရြးေကာက္ပဲြမ်ား ျပဳလုပ္ကာ ေရြးေကာက္ခံ လႊတ္ေတာ္ကိုယ္စားလွယ္ အသစ္မ်ားျဖင့္ ၉ဝ ေရြးေကာက္ပဲြႏိုင္ လႊတ္ေတာ္ကိုယ္စားလွယ္မ်ား ေပါင္းၿပီး လႊတ္ေတာ္တရပ္ ေခၚယူရန္ လူအမ်ားေလးစားသည့္ဆရာႀကီး ဒဂုန္တာရာက တိုက္တြန္းလိုက္ေၾကာင္း သိရသည္။
ဆရာႀကီးဒဂုန္တာရာ၏တိုက္တြန္းခ်က္ကို ျပည္ပမီဒီယာတခုခုတြင္ ေဖာ္ျပထားျခင္း မဟုတ္ဘဲ ျပည္တြင္းထုတ္ ရန္ကုန္တုိင္းမ္ ပုဂၢလိက အပတ္စဥ္ထုတ္ ဂ်ာနယ္၌ ေဖာ္ျပထားသည့္အတြက္ သတင္းသမားမ်ားႏွင့္ စာဖတ္သူမ်ား စိတ္ဝင္စားေနၾကေၾကာင္း စံုစမ္းသိရသည္။
အဆိုပါကိစၥႏွင့္ ပတ္သက္ၿပီး ပုဂၢလိက ဂ်ာနယ္အယ္ဒီတာတဦးက “ဒီလို ေဖာ္ျပခြင့္ျပဳတာမ်ိဳး ထူးျခားတယ္။ ဒီလုိ ေဖာ္ျပခြင့္ရလို႔ စစ္အစိုးရဟာ ၂ဝ၁ဝ ေရြးေကာက္ပဲြနဲ႔ ပတ္သက္ၿပီး တစံု တခု လိုက္ေလ်ာလိမ့္မယ္လို႔ေတာ့ ယူဆလို႔ မရဘူး။ သူက သူ႔ရဲ႕ Road Map (၇) ခ်က္နဲ႔ပဲ သြားမယ္ဆိုတာ ေျပာၿပီးသား။ ဘာပဲျဖစ္ျဖစ္ ႏိုင္ငံေရးသမားႀကီးေတြ စာေရးဆရာႀကီးေတြရဲ႕ အျမင္ေတြကို ေဖာ္ျပခြင့္ေပးတာေတာ့ ေကာင္းပါ တယ္” ဟု ေျပာသည္။
အဆိုပါ ေဆာင္းပါးကို ဇန္နဝါရီ (၁) ရက္ေန႔ထုတ္ ရန္ကုန္တိုင္းမ္ ဂ်ာနယ္ စာမ်က္ႏွာ (၂၄) တြင္ ေဖာ္ျပထားၿပီး “ႏိုင္ငံေရးပါတီမ်ားႏွင့္ ျမန္မာ့ႏိုင္ငံေရးျမင္ကြင္း သစ္ ၂ဝဝ၉ တြင္ ပံုေပၚလာမည္” ဆိုသည့္ ေခါင္းစဥ္ျဖင့္ ေဖာ္ျပထားျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
ဒဂုန္တာရာအပါအဝင္ ဝါရင့္ႏိုင္ငံေရးသမားေဟာင္းႀကီး သခင္သိန္းေဖ၊ သခင္လွကြန္း၊ တိုင္းရင္းသား စည္းလံုးညီၫြတ္ေရးပါတီမွ အေထြေထြအတြင္းေရးမႉး ဦးခင္ေမာင္ႀကီးတို႔ကို ေတြ႔ဆံုကာ သူတို႔ရဲ႕ အျမင္မ်ားကို ေရးသားေဖာ္ျပထားျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။


ေဒါက္တာစိန္ဝင္း စင္ၿပိဳင္အစိုးရကုိ တုိးခ်ဲ႕ဖြဲ႔မည္
မည္သည့္အခ်ိန္ အၿပီးသတ္ဖြဲ႕မလဲ ေရေရရာရာမရွိေသး


အမ်ဳိးသားညီၫြတ္ေရးအစိုးရ ေခၚ စင္ၿပိဳင္အစိုးရတရပ္ ဖြဲ႕စည္းတည္ေထာင္ေရးကုိ အမ်ဳိးသားေရးလုပ္ငန္းစဥ္အျဖစ္ ခ်မွတ္လုပ္ကုိင္သြားမည္ဟု ျပည္ေထာင္စု ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံ အမ်ဳိးသားေကာင္စီ (အန္စီယူဘီ) က ေၾကညာခ်က္ထုတ္ျပန္ထားသည္။
အမွန္စင္စစ္ ေဒါက္တာစိန္ဝင္း ေခါင္းေဆာင္သည့္ လက္ရွိအေဝးေရာက္ ျပည္ေထာင္စုျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံ အမ်ဳိးသားၫြန္႔ေပါင္းအစိုးရအဖြဲ႕ (အန္စီဂ်ီယူဘီ) ကုိ နယ္ေျမလက္ကုိင္ရွိ တုိင္းရင္းသား ေခါင္းေဆာင္မ်ားအပါအဝင္ အျခားသင့္ေလ်ာ္သည့္ ႏုိင္ငံေရးေခါင္းေဆာင္မ်ားျဖင့္ တုိးခ်ဲ႕ဖြဲ႕စည္းရန္ ၂ဝဝ၈ ခုႏွစ္ လႊတ္ေတာ္ကုိယ္စား လွယ္မ်ားသမဂၢ (အမ္ပီယူ) မွ ခ်မွတ္ခဲ့သည့္မူအတုိင္း ေဆာင္ရြက္သြားမည့္ အစီအစဥ္သာျဖစ္ သည္ဟု အမ္ပီယူ ေျပာခြင့္ရပုဂၢိဳလ္ ခြန္ျမင့္ထြန္းက ေခတ္ၿပိဳင္ႏွင့္ သီးျခား ေတြ႕ဆုံေမးျမန္းခန္းတြင္ ေျပာဆိုသည္။
သို႔ေသာ္ အန္စီယူဘီ၏ေၾကညာခ်က္ေၾကာင့္ ေနာက္ထပ္ စင္ၿပိဳင္အစုိးရတရပ္ ထပ္မံဖြဲ႕စည္းမည့္သေဘာလားဆုိၿပီး အတုိက္အခံအုပ္စုမ်ားၾကား နားလည္မႈ ႐ႈပ္ေထြးကုန္သည္။ အဆုိပါကိစၥႏွင့္ ပတ္သက္ၿပီး အမ္ပီယူ ေျပာခြင့္ရ ပုဂၢိဳလ္ ခြန္ျမင့္ထြန္းအား ေခတ္ၿပိဳင္က ေမးျမန္းရာ လက္ရွိ စင္ၿပိဳင္အစိုးရ (၂) ခု ေပၚေပါက္လာမည့္ အစီအစဥ္မဟုတ္ဘဲ ေဒါက္တာစိန္ဝင္းေခါင္းေဆာင္သည့္ စင္ၿပိဳင္အစိုးရကုိ တုိးခ်ဲ႕ဖြဲ႕စည္းသြားေရး ေရရွည္စီမံခ်က္သာျဖစ္သည္ဟု ခြန္ျမင့္ထြန္းက ရွင္းျပသည္။
၂ဝ၁ဝ ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲမတုိင္မီ အၿပီးသတ္ဖြဲ႕ျဖစ္မည္၊ မဖြဲ႕ျဖစ္မည္ကုိမူ အန္စီ ယူဘီေၾကညာခ်က္တြင္ ေဖာ္ျပမထားေပ။
အန္စီယူဘီ၏ ေၾကညာခ်က္တြင္ တုိးခ်ဲ႕ဖြဲ႕စည္းမည့္ စင္ၿပိဳင္အစိုးရကုိ အမ်ဳိး သားညီၫြတ္ေရး အစိုးရဆုိသည့္ အမည္သုံးထားျခင္းသည္ မွားယြင္းေဖာ္ျပျခင္း ျဖစ္ေၾကာင္း၊ လက္ရွိ အေဝးေရာက္ ျပည္ေထာင္စုျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံ အမ်ဳိးသားၫြန္႔ ေပါင္းအစိုးရအဖြဲ႕ (အန္စီဂ်ီယူဘီ) အမည္ကုိ အသစ္ေျပာင္းပါက ႏုိင္ငံတကာ ဆက္ဆံေရးမွာ နားလည္မႈ ႐ႈပ္ေထြးႏုိင္ သည့္အတြက္ တုိးခ်ဲ႕မည့္ စင္ၿပိင္အစိုးရကုိ မူလအမည္ျဖစ္သည့္ အေဝးေရာက္ ျပည္ေထာင္စုျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံ အမ်ိဳးသားၫြန္႔ေပါင္းအစိုးရအဖြဲ႕ (အန္စီဂ်ီယူဘီ) ကုိသာ ဆက္လက္သုံးစြဲမည္ျဖစ္ေၾကာင္း ခြန္ျမင့္ထြန္းက ထပ္မံရွင္းျပသည္။
ဝန္ႀကီးခ်ဳပ္ ေဒါက္တာစိန္ဝင္းကုိ ေခတ္ၿပိဳင္ကေမးရာ အန္စီယူဘီ၏ထုတ္ ျပန္ခ်က္ႏွင့္ ပတ္သက္၍ တစုံတရာသိထားျခင္းမရွိပါေၾကာင္း ေျဖၾကားသည္။ ၎အျပင္ လက္ရွိ စင္ၿပိဳင္အစိုးရ ေပၚလစီႏွင့္ ပတ္သက္၍ “ျပည္တြင္းမွာ တရားဝင္ ရပ္တည္ေနတဲ့ အန္အယ္လ္ဒီရွိတယ္၊ စီအာပီပီရွိတယ္၊ ၉ဝ ျပည့္ႏွစ္ ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲအႏုိင္ရပါတီေတြရွိတယ္၊ ဒီအဖြဲ႕အစည္းေတြရွိေနသေရြ႕၊ ၉ဝ ျပည့္ႏွစ္ ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲရလဒ္ မပ်က္ျပယ္ သေရြ႕၊ က်ေနာ္တုိ႔လဲပဲ ဆက္ၿပီးသြားမွာပဲ” ဟု ေဒါက္တာစိန္ဝင္းက ေျပာသည္။

VENERAL SAYADAW SHWEKYIN'S NEW YEAR GREETING

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ယေန႔ ျမန္မာ့ႏုိင္ငံေရးကုိၾကည့္လွ်င္ မိမိ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံထြက္ မုန္႔ျပားသလက္ေလးကုိပင္ ညီညီၫြတ္ၫြတ္ တစားပြဲတည္းထုိင္ၿပီး အတူမစားႏုိင္သည့္အျဖစ္ ေရာက္ေနသည္မွာ ၀မ္းနည္းစရာေကာင္းသည္ဟု သက္ေတာ္ (၉၀) ေက်ာ္ မႏၲေလးၿမိဳ႕ ေရႊက်င္သာသနာပုိင္ခ်ဳပ္ ဆရာေတာ္ဘုရားႀကီး ဦးအဂၢိယက ေခတ္ၿပိဳင္သို႔ အမိန္႔ရွိသည္။

ျမန္မာျပည္သူမ်ားအတြက္ ၂၀၀၉ ႏွစ္ဆန္း ၾသ၀ါဒကထာႃမြက္ၾကားပါရန္ ေခတ္ၿပိဳင္မွ ေလွ်ာက္ထားရာ ဆရာေတာ္ဘုရားႀကီး ဦးအဂၢိယက ယခုကဲ့သိ္ု႔ မိန္႔ၾကားျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။

ပရိတ္ႀကီးနိဒါန္းလာ သမဂၢါ ဆုိသည့္အတုိင္း ညီညီၫြတ္ၫြတ္ရွိၾကရန္ ဆရာေတာ္ဘုရားႀကီးက တုိက္တြန္းလုိက္သည္။ ယင္းသို႔ ညီၫြတ္ေရး ဆုံးမျခင္းကုိပင္ အခ်ဳိ႕က ႏုိင္ငံေရးလုပ္သည္ဟု ဆရာေတာ္ႀကီးအေပၚ အထင္မွားေနေၾကာင္းကုိလည္း ယခုကဲ့သို႔ မိန္႔ၾကားသည္။

“ဒါေၾကာင့္ ဘုန္းႀကီးကေတာ့ မႏၱေလးမွာ တခါတခါ ေျပာပါတယ္။ တုိ႔က ညီၫြတ္ေရးေျပာေဟာ မင္းတုိ႔ အဲဒါ ႏုိင္ငံေရးထင္ေန ခက္တယ္ကြလုိ႔။ ဘယ္သူ႔ရယ္လုိ႔မဟုတ္ဘူး အဲဒါေတြ တခါတခါ ထည့္ေျပာဖူးတယ္။ ညီၫြတ္ေရးလုပ္တယ္ဆုိတာ ႏုိင္ငံေရးလုပ္တာမဟုတ္ဘူး။ ႏုိင္ငံေရးလုပ္ခ်င္ရင္ လူထြက္ၿပီးေတာ့ ႏုိင္ငံေရးလုပ္မွာေပါ့ကြလုိ႔။ ႐ုံးေတြဘာေတြ ထုိင္ရေအာင္ လုပ္မွာေပါ့ကြလုိ႔။ လူထြက္ၿပီးေတာ့လည္း ႏုိင္ငံေရးမလုပ္ပါဘူးလုိ႔။ သကၤန္း၀တ္နဲ႔လည္း ႏုိ္င္ငံေရးလုပ္တာမႈတ္ဘူး။ ညီၫြတ္ေရးေျပာတာကြလုိ႔။ ညီၫြတ္ေရးနဲ႔ ႏုိင္ငံေရးနဲ႔ ကြဲျပားဖုိ႔ အေရးႀကီးတယ္လုိ႔။ အေမအေဖနဲ႔ သားသမီးတည့္ေအာင္ေျပာေနတာ မဂၤလာတရားနဲ႔ ႏုိင္ငံေရးတရားနဲ႔ မတူဘူးကြလုိ႔။ တုိ႔ကေတာ့

ဘယ္ပါတီ ေကာင္းစားပါေစ၊ ဘယ္သူကေတာ့ တက္ပါေစ၊ ဘယ္သူက ထိပ္တန္းက်ပါေစ။ တုိ႔ကေတာ့ မွ်တတယ္ကြလုိ႔” ဟု ဆရာေတာ္ႀကီးက မိန္႔ၾကားသည္။

သို႔ေသာ္ ျမန္မာ့ႏုိင္ငံေရးမွာ စစ္အစိုးရႏွင့္ အတုိက္အခံ ယခုထိ ညီၫြတ္ပုံမရဟု ဆရာေတာ္ႀကီးက ယူဆသည္။ စားပြဲထုိင္ၿပီး မေဆြးေႏြးႏုိင္ျဖစ္ေနသည့္ ျမန္မာ့ႏုိင္ငံေရးအေျခအေနကုိ ရည္ၫႊန္းၿပီး “အကုန္လုံး ညီညီၫြတ္ၫြတ္နဲ႔ စားပြဲႀကီးတခုေပၚမွာ ႏွစ္ဘက္က တက္ရင္ ဟုိဘက္ (၄) ေယာက္ ဒီဘက္က (၄) ေယာက္ လက္ဖက္ရည္ေသာက္ေနတာ၊ ေပါင္မုန္႔အတူစားေနတာ တုိ႔က ႀကိဳက္တာပါ။ မုန္႔ျပားသလက္ အတူတူစားေနတာ ႀကိဳက္တာပါ။ ခုေတာ့ ကုိယ့္ႏုိင္ငံကထြက္တဲ့ မုန္႔ျပားသလက္ေလးကုိ လူ (၈) ေယာက္ (၉) ေယာက္ ၀ုိင္းမစားႏုိင္တဲ့အျဖစ္ေရာက္ေနရတာ အဲဒါ၀မ္းနည္းတာပါကြလုိ႔။ ကုိယ့္ႏုိင္ငံကထြက္တဲ့ မုန္႔ျပားသလက္ေလးကုိ စားၾကည့္စမ္းပါ ညီညီၫြတ္ၫြတ္နဲ႔။ အခ်င္းခ်င္းကြာ” ဟု ေရႊက်င္သာသနာပုိင္ခ်ဳပ္ ဆရာေတာ္ႀကီးက တုိက္တြန္းလုိက္သည္။

မႏၱေလးၿမိဳ႕ ဘုန္းႀကီးေက်ာင္းမ်ားမွ လုိင္စင္မဲ့ကားမ်ား သိမ္းသည့္အခ်ိန္တြင္ ေရႊက်င္သာသနာပုိင္ခ်ဳပ္ ဆရာေတာ္ဘုရားႀကီး ဦးအဂၢိယေက်ာင္းမွ ကားမ်ားကုိလည္း စစ္အစိုးရ သိမ္းယူထားရာ ယခုထိ ျပန္မေပးေသးေၾကာင္း ဆရာေတာ္က အမိန္႔ရွိသည္။ ႏုိင္ငံျခားေရဒီယုိအခ်ဳိ႕ႏွင့္ ဆရာေတာ္ႀကီး တခ်ိန္က ေမးျမန္းေလွ်ာက္ထားခ်က္အခ်ဳိ႕ႏွင့္ ပတ္သက္ၿပီး စစ္အစိုးရကုိ ပုတ္ခတ္သည္ဟု အစြပ္စြဲခံရမႈမ်ားႏွင့္ ပတ္သက္၍လည္း “မင္းကုိ တုိ႔က ပုတ္ခတ္တာမဟုတ္ဘူး။ အစုိးရကုိ ပုတ္ခတ္တာမဟုတ္ပါဘူး၊ အစုိးရကုိ တုိ႔က ျမႇင့္တင္တာပါ။ အစုိးရကုိ တုိ႔က ဂုဏ္ျပဳတာ။ ကံနဲ႔ေတာင္တူတဲ့မင္း။ မင္းနဲ႔တူတဲ့ကံ။ ကံမင္းျပဳက ခံရရွာသည္။ အဲေတာ့ ကံက မင္းနဲ႔တူလုိက္၊ ဆရာနဲ႔တူလုိက္၊ အေဖနဲ႔တူလုိက္၊ အေမနဲ႔တူလုိက္၊ ဘာနဲ႔တူလုိက္၊ ညာနဲ႔တူလုိက္နဲ႔။ ဒီလုိဆုိရင္ ကံက ဘယ္ကစျဖစ္တာလဲ။ ကံဘယ္က စေပၚတာလဲ။ ကံမင္းျပဳတာ ခံရရွာသည္။ ကံဟာ ဘယ္ကျဖစ္ကုန္ၾကဟု ေတြးဆေသာခါ ကံျဖစ္ရာသည္ ကုိယ္သာျပဳသည့္အမႈတည္း--တဲ့” ဟု ဆရာေတာ္က ရွင္းျပသည္။

(ေရႊက်င္သာသနာပုိင္ခ်ဳပ္ ဆရာေတာ္ဘုရားႀကီး ဦးအဂၢိယႏွင့္ ေခတ္ၿပိဳင္ အယ္ဒီတာခ်ဳပ္ ဦးစိန္ေက်ာ္လႈိင္ ေလွ်ာက္ထားေမးျမန္းခ်က္ အျပည့္အစုံ)