Daily Online Alochona: [mukto-mona] Article in The Independent-BD

Calling it a positive sign of cooperation from the government of the South-East Asian nation, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the independent United Nations expert on the situation of human rights in Myanmar welcomed the reported release of seven political prisoners in Myanmar including U Win Tin on September 23, who was in prison since July 1989.
After accepting his credentials as newly appointed Myanmar ambassador to Bangladesh, President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed of Bangladesh assured U Phae Thann Oo that Bangladesh will keep the existing excellent bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries. Phae Thann thanked Bangladesh helping his country after cyclone 'Nargis' providing relief materials and medical support.
Like the Secretary-General or the president of Bangladesh, people around the world don't hesitate to appreciate any welcome move by the government of Myanmar and expect that all political prisoners should be released and that all citizens of Myanmar should be able to enjoy political freedoms, as necessary steps towards the process of national reconciliation and dialogue. But according to the Amnesty International's report 2008, freedom of expression, killings and excessive use of force, political imprisonment, torture and other ill-treatment in prison, enforced disappearances and death in custody continued to deteriorate in Myanmar. Amnesty International cautioned that the biggest threat to the future of human rights in Myanmar is the absence of a shared vision and collective leadership.
Bangladesh-Myanmar relationship boasts of strong political and cultural bonds. Bangladesh is concerned about improving diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries. Bangladesh welcomes Vice-senior General Maung Aye, the vice-chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and head of the National Trade Council of Myanmar, who was in Dhaka on a three-day official visit at the invitation of the chief adviser of Bangladesh, Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed in between October 7-9. Bangladesh shares an uneasy history with Myanmar. Since the late 1970s, Bangladesh has had to deal with a large influx of refugees, which has considerably impacted the country's economic development. Along with this, rebel activities along their shared border put considerable strain on Bangladeshi-Burmese relations. The relationship between the two countries started deteriorating in 1991 when more than 2.5 million Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine state to escape persecution by Myanmar's military rulers. Only 230,000 have returned to Myanmar since 1993, when the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees began a repatriation programme. However, about 20,000 Rohingya refugees are still left in camps in Bangladesh. The relationship was re-established on December, 17, 2002 with the visit of the Chairman of SPDC of Myanmar, General Than Shwe.
Myanmar always follows an isolationist policy. Both the countries have agreed to take steps in line with the 1994 agreement on narcotics control to combat drug trafficking and hold quarterly consultations to sort out border irritants and check cross-border crimes. Myanmar and Bangladesh share a 256-kilometer (159-mile) border but virtually no link existed between them since 1980. However, in July 2007, Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement in Dhaka to establish a 25km direct road link between the two neighbours to boost trade and tourism. Dhaka is flexible to emphasise connectivity, easing visa regime, contract farming and other issues to promote business and increase people-to-people contact.
According to his itinerary, Maung Aye would begin his day in Dhaka by paying tribute to the war of independence martyrs at the National Martyrs' Memorial at Savar, which is a symbol of independence, democracy and freedom of speech. A country cannot subsist without people and to increase people-to-people contact the installation of a democratically elected government is essential in Myanmar.
The human rights in Myanmar are a long-standing concern for the international community and human rights organization and the military regime in there is one of the world's most repressive and abusive regimes, because the junta rules by decree, controls the judiciary, suppresses all basic rights, and commits human rights abuses with impunity. Military officers hold all cabinet positions, and active or retired officers hold all top posts in all ministries. Official corruption is reportedly rampant both at the higher and local levels.
The junta, which rules Myanmar as a closed society, has always taken great pains to not even allow tourists to speak to ordinary Burmese people on issues such as democracy and human rights. In September 2007, the military violently cracked down on Buddhist monk-led demonstrations, killing 31 people and triggering international outrage. Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a Nobel Laureate for peace in 1991 and has become an international symbol of heroic and peaceful resistance in the face of oppression, is under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 18 years, following her party's sweeping victory in 1990 elections that the junta ignored. The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, and the current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a much larger pro-democracy movement in which at least 3,000 people were killed. The generals called elections in 1990 but refused to give up power when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won.
Since then, the military Junta hardly cares about the general people of Myanmar. Ignoring the world's request, the Junta declared victory on Monday, May 26, 2008 for a military-backed constitution, pressing ahead with its political agenda despite the devastation caused by the cyclone. Though more than half of the 2.4 million people severely affected by the cyclone hadn't been reached by international aid, the ruling junta claimed nearly all of them cast a ballot. The category 4 cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in between May 2-3, 2008. The cyclone made landfall in the country, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 146,000 fatalities with thousands more people still missing. Damage was estimated at over $10 billion. But the military government didn't allow aid workers to move around the country without permission.
As because Myanmar has been under military rule for so long, few people today appreciate the role that the international civil society can play in promoting the cause of democracy in Myanmar. But as the situation there continues to worsen, there is now a greater international recognition about the imperatives for concerted actions for ending human rights abuses and the installation of a democratically elected government in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar have demonstrated it amply well that they would like to have the same opportunity, as with many others around the world, to freely express their views and to be represented by leaders of their choosing.
Every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand up for people suffering under a brutal military regime like the one that has ruled Myanmar for so long.

(Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York)

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Editor: Mahbubul Alam
Published by the Editor on behalf of Free Press Ltd. and printed by him at Media Printers, 32 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: 145, Monipuri Para (2nd Floor), Airport Road, Tejgoan, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000. Phone (PABX): 9129938-40, 9129942, 9129945. Fax: 880-2-9127722. Email: indnews@bol-online.com (News), editor@bol-online.com(Editorials). ind@bol-online.com (Commercial).

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Thursday, October 9, 2008

[mukto-mona] Article in The Independent-BD

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