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Military-Ruled Myanmar Marks Independence
Divided
02:20 a.m. Jan 04, 2000 Eastern YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar marked the 52nd anniversary of independence from Britain on Tuesday with its people divided. The ruling generals marked independence day calling for a united stand against terrorists and neo-colonialists while dissidents urged another struggle for independence, this time from ``fascism'' and ``military serfdom.'' Officials estimated 15,700 people attended a flag raising ceremony organized by the generals of the governing State Peace and Development Council at People's Square in Yangon. In an address prepared for the ceremony, SPDC head Senior General Than Shwe urged the population to take greater responsibility in safeguarding independence and sovereignty. ``It is imperative to oppose and remove with the people's might the destructive danger of the terrorist and destructive group...and neo-colonialists from abroad,'' he said. The military uses the terms terrorists and destructionists to refer to ethnic groups fighting for greater autonomy and the pro-democracy opposition led by Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Elsewhere in the capital, one of Myanmar's surviving independence leaders appealed for talks between the generals and the opposition led by Suu Kyi. The statement from Bohmu Aung, 90, said Myanmar was in political turmoil due to a failure to convene a People's Parliament elected in the last general election in 1990, which Suu Kyi's NLD won by a landslide. ``Even though armed fighting has lessened, political, economic and social difficulties are happening as national solidarity has not been built through national reconciliation by political means,'' it said. Bohmu Aung was one of Myanmar's ``Thirty Comrades,'' the group which led the struggle for independence won in 1948. His statement was read at a ceremony attended by about 100 politicians, including Suu Kyi. Dissident groups based on the Thai-Myanmar border issued statements slamming the military, which took direct power in 1988 by killing thousands to crush a pro-democracy uprising. The National Council of the Union of Burma said Myanmar enjoyed less freedom now than during colonial rule. ``As the political, economic educational, (and) social freedoms have been totally controlled, the people, under the domestically bred military dictatorship, have been turned into military serfs. ``We would like to earnestly urge the entire nation to unitedly join hands with us in the struggle for liberation from military serfdom and for the second independence,'' the NCUB said. ``The system of fascism in Burma must be totally ended, if we are to reach the goal of democracy,'' it said. |