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THE NATION: Junta's options: Rape
- Subject: THE NATION: Junta's options: Rape
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998 16:48:00
Mailbag
Junta's options: Rape and
plunder or respect the
poll
Pat James says in his Letter to the Editor
(April 5) that the Burmese military faced
options in 1990 and made a good choice.
Their options were: to stay in power and be
corrupt, get rich, rape women and feel
tough; or to honour the election in which
more than 60 per cent of all Burmese
people said they would like the National
League for Democracy to lead the country.
The military made a good choice only so far
as it enhanced its own selfish interests, and
they ignored the interests of 45 million other
people.
James says he has spent eight years in
Burma, working with oil companies. I
suspect that there is something preventing
him from speaking to native Burmese who
have complaints against the military
government. As a foreigner with vested
interests in the status quo, he will not be
exposed to the full spectrum of experiences
in Burma. Those who might point out that
the military has killed or imprisoned friends
or family know too well that the same fate
awaits them if they tell James of their
suffering.
As it stands, the military government in
Burma exists illegally and illegitimately and
in direct defiance of the desires of the
people in Burma. How can they possibly
represent the interests of people living in
fear of their government?
The time is long overdue for this regime to
step aside and honour the elections of
1990.
Jon Shay
United States