LESSONS FROM BURMA

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Lessons from Burma
The Nation; New York; Oct 5, 1998; Nisha Anand; 

Volume: 
                     267
Issue: 
                     10
Start Page: 
                     20
ISSN: 
                     00278378
Full Text:
Copyright Nation Company L.P. Oct 5, 1998


It was only recently during a trip to Burma that I realized the immense
power I have as a
student activist. The results of student activism in the United States are
typically quite
disheartening: Usually being a student activist means being heckled by a few
ignorant
passers-by or being lectured on how one day I will grow up and join a
country club.
Thankfully, the amazing spirit of the students of Burma has shown me why I
must persist. 

I went to Burma in August as a member of a multinational peacemaking team
consisting of
eighteen people from six countries. Team members opposed the brutal military
regime,
which since 1990 has refused to acknowledge the landslide election of the
National League
for Democracy and has since jailed or detained hundreds of members of the
opposition
party. We distributed about 8,000 leaflets that said, "We are your friends
from around the
world. We have not forgotten you. We support your hopes for human rights and
democracy.
Don't Forget-Don't Give Up," on the day after the ten-year anniversary of
the government's
bloody crackdown on student activists. Our goal was simply to let people
inside Burma, who
are not allowed access to outside media, know they have our support at this
crucial time. 

Probably my biggest worry was that the action would go unnoticed. However,
when the
regime detained members of our group, they guaranteed that our action would
not only be
noticed but that it would also have a significant impact by drawing
international attention to
the situation in Burma. Although we have been the focus of much media
attention since our
subsequent expulsion from the country, the media are not what made me
realize the power
of my personal action. When I was at Schwedagon Pagoda and saw the smiles
and the
glimpses of hope that flashed on the faces of the Burmese onlookers, I knew
what I was
doing was making a difference. When several people helped me pass out
leaflets or came
back to take more, I knew that my five-minute action, followed by a six-day
detention and a
sentence of five years, was well worth it. 

Since the time of our deportation, students in Burma have continued their
opposition to the
junta. In early September several thousand protested after military leaders
said that any
effort by the opposition to convene Parliament would be regarded as a threat
to national
security. 

The power that we share as activists is growing. The more than 3,000
activists inside Burma
who laid down their lives in 1988; the students imprisoned and tortured for
years, like Min
Ko Naing, whose health continues to deteriorate while he remains locked in a
solitary cell;
the members of the All Burma Student Democratic Front struggling both inside
and outside
Burma to topple the regime; and the students who have recently been detained
for their
September demonstrations in Rangoon-all have confirmed the power that
student activists
have. I am confident that the outcries from the students of Burma will be
heard and
recognized-very soon. 

[Author note]
Nisha Anand, a graduate student at American University in Washington, DC, is
a coordinator for
the Free Burma Coalition.