BurmaNet News: July 8 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

July 8 2003 Issue #2279

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: ICRC visits notorious Insein Prison
Irrawaddy: Witness reports shed light on ambush
AP: Myanmar rejects witness accounts of violence against Suu Kyi convoy
AP: Myanmar state media launches fresh attack against Suu Kyi

DRUGS

Xinhua: Myanmar destroys poppy seeds in Shan State

MONEY

AP: Myanmar economy a slippery target for sanctions by West
AFX: BAT says still reviewing Myanmar ops; to decide in ‘next few wks’

INTERNATIONAL

Myanmar Times: Myanmar gets VP position at UN General Assembly

REGIONAL

AFP: Myanmar offers support for Pakistan’s bid to join ASEAN security forum
Mizzima: Burmese activist stage protest in New Delhi condemning Win Aung’s
visit to India
BBC: India closes Burma border

OPINIONS

New Light of Myanmar: Daw Suu Kyi, the NLD Party and Our Ray of Hope (PT. 1)

INSIDE BURMA

Democratic Voice of Burma July 7 2003

ICRC visits notorious Insein Prison

It is reported that the ICRC was allowed to visit and inspect Insein
Prison today for the first time since the Dipeyin [Tabayin] incident
occurred on the 30th of May.

The inspection would last two weeks, according to the ICRC’s office in
Rangoon but it is not known clearly whether the victims of Dipeyin will be
included.

Last week, the ICRC visited prisons in Sagaing and Mandalay Divisions and
it was allowed to meet 30 NLD activists including the NLD vice-chairman U
Tin Oo.

The ICRC expects to meet more NLD members this time but the SPDC hasn’t
replied to the original request for a meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to earlier reports, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was transferred to
Yemon military camp in advance when the news of ICRC’s inspection emerged.
___________

Irrawaddy July 8 2003

Witness Reports Shed Light on Ambush
By Min Zin and Kyaw Zwa Moe

Fear still overshadows the two Burmese men who fled to the Thai capital
after witnessing the May 30 attack on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and her supporters in Upper Burma.
"When they arrived in Thailand, they were highly enthusiastic about
explaining what they saw with their very own eyes," says Kyaw Kyaw, head
of the Thai-based Political Defiance Committee, which supports clandestine
political activities inside Burma.
But the press conference planned for July 4 at the Foreign Correspondence
Club of Thailand was abruptly canceled by Thai authorities. The threat of
arrest still hangs over the witnesses, Wunna Maung, 27, and Khin Zaw, 50.
According to sources, high-ranking Thai officials ordered their arrest
after the pair arrived at the Parliament Building on the morning of July 4
with a statement for members of the Thai parliament. To avoid capture, the
men rushed to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office and
applied for refugee status.
The UNHCR reportedly approved their applications the same evening. "They
were granted refugee status with the attached condition of not speaking to
the press," said a source in Bangkok. "Their lips must be sealed.
Otherwise they will be arrested."
The two activists did manage to submit an affidavit on official letterhead
of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Thailand. The men
swore by their stories before Kraisak Choonhavan, the head of the
committee.
According to their accounts, which confirmed numerous stories printed in
the foreign media, the attackers smashed the windows of Suu Kyi’s car.
"When the windows were broken, the attackers jabbed into the car with the
rods they were carrying," says Wunna Maung in his affidavit.
Wunna Maung also recounted seeing Tin Oo, deputy chairperson of the
National League for Democracy (NLD), receiving blows and suffering a head
wound. The Burmese junta refutes the account, saying that the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) met with Tin Oo last week
and reported he was unhurt.
According to the affidavit, the assailants—who appeared to under the
influence of drugs and alcohol—also beat many women in the motorcade after
pulling off their blouses and sarongs. "When the victims, covered in
blood, fell to the ground, I saw the attackers jump on them and wrap the
hair around their heads and pound the heads against the stone surface of
the road," recalled Wunna Maung. Both witnesses say the attackers killed
from 40 to 50 people during the assault in Kyee village, outside Depayin
Township.
The Burmese regime issued a statement which discredited the men’s accounts
and insisted the pair were not present during the violence.
The testimony of the pair does not provide new insight into what happened
to Suu Kyi. Previous witness accounts stated that at least two NLD cars,
including Suu Kyi’s, were able to speed off toward Depayin after coming
under attack. According to sources, the military blocked the road to
prevent vehicles which escaped the ambush from entering Depayin.
Spotlights were installed on trees along the road, which was partially
covered in barbed wire, they say.
Accounts of where Suu Kyi was arrested are conflicting. Some reports say
she was apprehended at the entrance of the town of Ye-Oo because the
motorcade drove past Depayin without stopping. So far, no witnesses have
come forward to provide an account of what happened on the road to Depayin
after the ambush took place.
_____________

Associated Press July 8 2003

Myanmar rejects witness accounts of violence against Suu Kyi convoy

Myanmar's military government on Monday sought to discredit two dissidents
who claimed they witnessed an attack on a convoy led by pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi, meanwhile, came under attack from the state-run press for the
third straight day, with articles accusing her and her National League for
Democracy party of trying to start trouble.

The dissidents - Khin Zaw, 50, and Wunna Maung, 26 - gave a Thai Senate
panel on Friday what they said were first-hand details of the May 30
violence that led to Suu Kyi's detention and a crackdown on her party.

Their accounts appeared to lend weight to unconfirmed reports from exiled
groups that as many as 70 people were killed when government-backed thugs
attacked the convoy in northern Myanmar. The government has said four
people were killed in a clash provoked by Suu Kyi's supporters.

In a statement Monday, the Myanmar government inisted the two were not
present during the violence.

The statement described Khin Zaw as an errant gems broker who did not
follow the Nobel Peace Prize laureate on her up-country tour. It cited
unnamed NLD members in northern Myanmar as saying Wunna Maung was only a
junior party member and as such couldn't be a member of Suu Kyi's
motorcade.

The government also rejected the dissidents' claims that Suu Kyi's
lieutenant, Tin Oo, was injured in the melee, citing reports from the
International Committee of the Red Cross that he was unhurt. The ICRC met
last month with several dissidents detained in the clash, including Tin
Oo.

But the ICRC was not allowed to visit Suu Kyi, whose whereabouts have not
been disclosed despite an international outcry over her detention and
demands for her release.

After their testimony on Friday, the two men, fearing arrest for illegally
entering Thailand, went to the United Nations office in Bangkok to apply
for status as political refugees.

A senior Thai Foreign Ministry official said they would not be arrested as
long as they did not speak to the press.

Both men told the Senate panel they were in Suu Kyi's convoy and witnessed
the nighttime attack outside Depayin village in northern Myanmar.

Khin Zaw said they were ambushed by attackers using iron rods and spears,
bamboo sticks and wooden bats while Wunna Maung said the attackers pounded
the heads of victims against the stone surface of a road.

Myanmar's state-run pres said Suu Kyi's supporters carried wooden sticks,
slingshot and pebble stones.

"This is clear indication that if a problem arose, NLD youths planned to
solve it by violent means rather then solving the problems by peaceful
means," the commentary in all three government-controlled dailies said.
___________

Associated Press July 8 2003

Myanmar state media launches fresh attack against Suu Kyi

Myanmar's state media stepped up its criticism of detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday, accusing her pro-democracy party of
breaking the law by drafting a national constitution.

The charge was made in an article published in The New Light of Myanmar
newspaper, allegedly written by a disgruntled member of Suu Kyi's party
who said the plans showed that the party's leaders were "not genuinely
concerned in the future of the country."

Writing a constitution other than one being drafted by the government is
outlawed. Groups breaking the law face suspension or dissolution while
individuals face a penalty of five to 20 years in prison.

The article was the latest in a series in the state-controlled press
critical of Suu Kyi, who was detained after a bloody May 30 clash in
northern Myanmar between her supporters and backers of the ruling junta.

Diplomats and observers say the articles - which in the past four days
have accused her of being inflexible, confrontational and a pawn of the
United States - indicate that the Nobel Peace laureate will probably not
be freed soon despite a mounting international outcry for her release.

Myanmar has not had a constitution since 1988, when the current military
government took power and the country's previous socialist constitution
was abrogated.

An officially sanctioned national convention to draw up guidelines for a
new constitution began in 1993 and has been suspended since 1996. It was
rejected by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy as undemocratic.

The law outlawing an alternative constitution was introduced in June 1996
after Suu Kyi announced plans to draft one.

The NLD won 1990 general elections but was barred by the military from
taking power.

In Tuesday's article, by a writer named as Maung Yin Hmaing, referred to a
meeting of the NLD's central executive committee that reportedly discussed
certain provisions of the party's draft constitution.

"Can a constitution of state, which is as precious as life itself, be
drawn up by just two or three people?" the article said. "Since this draft
constitution had been drawn up and our party leaders had accepted it, it
obviously shows that they are not genuinely concerned in the future of the
country," it said.

DRUGS

Xinhua News Agency July 8 2003

Myanmar destroys poppy seeds in Shan state

Myanmar destroyed 56 baskets of poppy seeds (1 basket weighs about 20.9
kilograms) and 45 baskets of opium buds, turned in by growers in Pinlaung,
Shan state, over the last weekend, according to the anti-drug authorities
Tuesday.

The destruction, carried out last Saturday, has prevented the cultivation
of 243 hectares of poppy which could produce 2.64 tons of opium or 0.264
ton of heroin, said the local Committee for Drug Abuse Control.

Myanmar started implementation of a poppy seed exchange project in April
2002 as part of its 15-year drug elimination plan beginning 1999. Since
then, 165.98 tons of poppy seeds, handed over by the growers, have been
destroyed, enabling the prevention of 41,128 hectares from cultivation
which could yield over 440 tons of opium or 44 tons of heroin.

The project has brought about drop of Myanmar's poppy cultivation and
opium production.

Meanwhile, a June report of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime
(UNODC) said Myanmar's poppy cultivated area is 62,100 hectares in 2003
and its opium output is estimated to reach 810 tons during the year, based
on the satellite and field surveys.

MONEY

Associated Press July 8 2003

Myanmar economy a slippery target for sanctions by West
By GRANT PECK

With Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi again under arrest, the
United States is preparing tough economic sanctions against the ruling
military junta to make it change its course.

But history and politics argue that such moves may have little effect.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has come under intense international
criticism since arresting Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi on May 30. Japan,
Myanmar's largest aid donor, has announced plans not to extend new
development assistance.

Now an imminent U.S. ban on imports from Myanmar could cut its export
earnings by one-quarter to one-third. The country's exports to the United
States totaled about $356 million in 2002, mostly in garments.

The import ban is part of a package of measures the U.S. Congress
assembled to punish the ruling junta for its fresh crackdown on the
country's pro-democracy movement. A bill passed by the Senate is awaiting
House approval, and President Bush is expected to quickly sign it into
law.

Lawmakers were angry at the apparent violent provocation by Myanmar's
military which triggered the crackdown and has put Suu Kyi in detention
for an indefinite period. Never convicted of a crime, the 1991 Nobel Peace
laureate was previously held under house arrest in 1989-95 and again in
2000-02.

"The message that we are sending to the ruling junta in Burma is clear:
Its behavior is outrageous," said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Proposed European Union trade barriers would also chip away at export
earnings.

But Myanmar, long ruled by generals, has a long history of economic
isolation giving it a certain immunity against sanctions.

The late military dictator Gen. Ne Win, who ruled from 1962 to 1988,
espoused a "Burmese Road to Socialism" banning most foreign investment
which turned one of Southeast Asia's most prosperous economies into a
basket case.

The country has gone without much bilateral aid and no new aid from the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund since 1988 when the
military brutally crushed a pro-democracy uprising. Washington banned new
investment by U.S. companies in 1997.

"People have mixed feelings about sanctions," said U Saw, a businessman.
"They know there is a need, but it affects the people."

People are used to hardship, U Saw said. "Forty years ago we are
suffering. Today we are suffering," he said.

Global maneuvering may lessen the impact of sanctions.

As Western nations ostracized the military regime, China seized the
opportunity to become Myanmar's closest political ally, main military
supplier, and, in essence, banker of last resort.

Senior Gen. Than Shwe reaped a $200 million loan in a trip to China along
with agreements on health, technical and economic cooperation and the
prospects for new industrial projects.

Playing the China card has also pulled India - once an outspoken friend of
Myanmar's pro-democracy movement - into Yangon's corner.

India has agreements with Myanmar to develop road and port facilities, and
to explore for offshore and onshore petroleum and gas. Gas and mineral
investment by many countries already promise future income for the junta.

Still, Western nations are committed to imposing sanctions, although their
effectiveness as a form of political leverage is sharply debated.

Proponents claim sanctions forced South Africa to abandon its racist
apartheid system. Opponents cite Cuba's survival through four decades of
financial ostracism by Washington.

"The proposed new sanctions will bring about neither freedom, nor
democracy to the Burmese people," said Bill Reinsch, president of the
National Foreign Trade Council and co-chairman of USA Engage, a group
which opposes economic sanctions.

Sanctions, he said, will hurt the Burmese people because many depend on
the export market to earn a living.

But the nonpartisan New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said in a
June study that sanctions can make an impact.

"Economic sanctions against the Burmese regime adversely affect industries
that directly benefit the military and deprive it of an important source
of revenue," says the report.

Repression has driven many of the country's best and brightest abroad,
including some notably gifted economists, while the economy is close to
dysfunctional.

"Pervasive corruption and continuing economic mismanagement by the regime
have hurt the Burmese people even more than sanctions," says the Council
on Foreign Relations report.
_____________

AFX July 8 2003

BAT says still reviewing Myanmar ops; to decide in 'next few wks'

  British American Tobacco PLC said it is still reviewing "all options" on
the future of its controversial operations in Myanmar and is to reach a
decision soon.
    "No decision has been taken with regards to BAT's business in Burma,"
a company spokeswoman said.
    "We're looking at all options and we hope to get back to the (UK)
government in the next few weeks," she added, declining to divulge
what these options are.
    BAT runs a cigarette factory in Myanmar jointly with the state-owned
Union of Myanmar.
    Press reports had suggested that BAT is aiming to sell its 60 pct
stake in the venture for a "nominal sum" to the state entity, which
holds the remaining 40 pct. Another option is to sell the shares to an
Asian investor.
    BAT has invested about 10 mln stg in Burma where it employs about 500
people.
    At 12.15 pm, BAT shares were down 1 at 664 pence.

INTERNATIONAL

Myanmar Times July 8 2003

Myanmar gets VP position at UN General Assembly
By Thet Khaing

THE United Nations has elected Myanmar as one of the 21 vice presidents
for its 58th general assembly beginning in September.
It is the fifth time that Myanmar will serve as a vice president of the
assembly, having been elected to the position in 1954, 1959, 1991 and
1998.
Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, U Kyaw Tint Swe, will represent the
country as vice president, a position that mainly involves assisting the
assembly’s president.
Mr Julian Hunte, the foreign minister of the Caribbean island of Saint
Lucia, was elected president of this year’s session.
The presidency of the assembly rotates each year among the UN’s five main
regional blocs – Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the
Caribbean, and Western Europe – as well as other states, including those
in the Pacific.
UN member states elect the vice presidents on a prior consensus basis,
giving equal representation from each of the regional blocs. The five
permanent members of the Security Council – China, Britain, France Russia
and the United States – are mandatory members of the vice presidency.
The General Assembly’s regular sessions begin each year in late September
and continue until the third week of December. In recent years, the
assembly has met throughout the year.

REGIONAL

Agence France Presse July 8 2003

Myanmar offers support for Pakistan's bid to join ASEAN security forum

Myanmar has said it will support Pakistan's bid to join the Asia-Pacific
region's top security grouping, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the
foreign ministry said here Tuesday.

The support was expressed by visiting Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung
during talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, the
foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two foreign ministers underlined the need for upgrading and
strengthening Pakistan's economic ties with ASEAN countries, it said.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed during its June
16 meeting in Phnom Penh to lift the moratorium on ARF membership to allow
Pakistan to join the 23-member grouping but the move was blocked by
Islamabad's arch rival India.
__________

Mizzima July 7 2003

Burmese activist stage protest in New Delhi condemning Win Aung's visit to
India
By Mg Yatha
July 7, 2003: Burmese pro-democracy activists today staged a noisy
demonstration near Janta Manta park, central New Delhi, condemning the
visit to India by the Foreign Minister of military ruled Burma, Win Aung,
and to demand the release of Burmese democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi.
"Win Aung is coming to New Delhi from Dhaka.  He means to conceal the real
truth regarding [events surrounding] the May 30 incident and the detention
of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from Indian leaders as well as the international
community, " said U. R.J. Verma in his speech to protestors.
About 30 activists based in Delhi shouting slogans of "Win Aung..Win Aung:
Go back..Go back", "Win Aung..Win Aung: Liar..Liar", "Military rule:
Down..Down", "Release..Release: Aung San Suu Kyi" and holding placards of
protest gathered near Janta Manta Park, New Delhi.
"Win Aung may claim that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is well but we have never
believed him because he doesn't bring any live recording from Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi.  U Thaung (The Mirror) earlier said that since the SPDC couldn't
bring any voice recordings by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi it meant she may have
been killed by the SPDC.  [Further prooof is that the] Burmese Generals
havn't allowed [her] to meet any international leaders", said Ko Kyaw
Than, President of the All Burma Students League.
According to a press statement from pro-democracy activists, on May 30,
2003, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade was attacked by SPDC afficiliated
thugs near Depayin town while she was traveling on an organizational trip
to Upper Burma. The incident resulted in the death of dozens of people and
caused gunshot injuries to many of the political activists in her party.
The international community, including the Foreign Minister of India, has
demanded that the SPDC release Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members. 
However, India has also been strongly criticized for their soft stand on
Burma.
Win Aung is expected to meet ruling senior National Democratic Alliance
government leaders during his two day visit to India . He will likely try
and explain the military's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.  As a result,
the world is giving attention to India at this time.
The Burmese FM is expected to discuss the border dispute and northeast
insurgency problems, two issues which Burma are using as trump cards in
order to gain leverage over India in the current engagement policy between
the two neighbouring nations.
The activists submitted a Memorandum to India's Prime Minister on the
occasion of Win Aung's visit to India.

The Burmese generals have also also sent the Deputy Foreign Minister Khin
Maung Win to Thailand, Japan and China in order to explain the detention
of Aung San Suu Kyi.  Analysts say that the Burmese military regime is
playing photo exhibition politics by showing pictures of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi to prove to international leaders that she is well.
Despite the world outrage and the demands for the release of Aung San Suu
Kyi, the Junta has turned a deaf ear to the appeals.
____________

BBC July 8 2003

India closes Burma border

By Subir Bhaumik

Indian military officials say they have sealed off the border with Burma's
Sagaing region after receiving reports that the Burmese troops have
overrun the headquarters of a Naga separatist group in the remote Patkai
mountains.
India's eastern army officials told the BBC the Burmese army took over the
headquarters of a faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland
(NSCN) led by Burmese Naga leader SS Khaplang, without much of a fight.
The army's chief of staff, Lieutenant General JR Mukherji, said his troops
had been positioned to seal off possible routes that the NSCN rebels may
take to enter the Indian state of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
The NSCN's breakaway Khaplang faction had been well entrenched in the
remote Patkai mountains in western Sagaing for well over a decade.
Previous attempts by the Burmese army to drive the rebels out had failed
because the remoteness and inaccessibility of the hill terrain makes
sustaining an offensive difficult and logistics a nightmare.
Blistering attack
Lt Gen Mukherji said the Burmese troops have stayed put after overrunning
the rebel headquarters last week and forcing the rebels to flee.
A spokesman of the NSCN's Khaplang faction said two light infantry
regiments of the Burmese army launched a blistering assault on the group's
headquarters using rockets and mortars last week.
It was not yet clear whether the Burmese troops would dig in and occupy
the rebel camp during the monsoon.
The NSCN's Khaplang faction maintains a ceasefire with Indian troops, but
Delhi has not invited its leader for the negotiations that has been going
on with the NSCN's main faction led by Issac Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng
Muivah for six years now.


 STATEMENTS/OPINIONS

New Light of Myanmar July 5 2003

Daw Suu Kyi, the NLD Party and Our Ray of Hope (Part 1)

Is it a shadowy dream?
This question is just an attempt to convey my own personal feelings for I
believe that a person may "Express his feelings without putting the blame
on anyone". I do not intend to hold anyone guilty.
Recently foreign broadcasting stations and other media, have between them,
been distorting and exaggerating their news reports concerning the
disturbances that occurred at Dabayin and its after-effects. To listen to
them one would think the world was on the brink of destruction. And what
if they should further imply that this was a deliberate and direct
confrontation between the present Government and the NLD party 
 
?
The question as to who were involved in hatching such a plot to create
conditions that would unavoidably lead to a direct confrontation is indeed
a mystery! In other words it is the key to the whole problem.
To put it frankly, from the time our NLD party leader Auntie Suu who as an
ordinary housewife ventured into the Myanmar political arena, every
circumstance has been in her favour. The way to her entry into politics
was smooth with no obstacles whatsoever.
However, if someone should ask whether Auntie Suu's political stance, and
her judgments which overshadow our entire NLD Party, have the power to
unerringly steer our party on a national political course that would help
rebuild our country as a modern and developed nation. 
 
?
In reply to such question, I have to honestly admit, that I (or we) have
no such proof or evidence that would unconditionally satisfy the Myanmar
voting public. If this is pointed out as the weakness of our party
members, then we have no reasonable grounds to refute it.
As far as I understand during the lifetime of our party the relations
between Auntie Suu and responsible leaders of the Government in power have
not been rigid and inflexible. So we believe that the present Government
has not entertained any ulterior motives to deny Auntie Suu's political
career a chance to survive and flourish.
Due to this conviction, people like myself, and a few others have, to this
day remained faithful party members. For myself, in spite of my personal
opinions, I do not wish to be presumptuous enough to criticize the party's
policies, its short-term and long-term plans and projects and the means of
implementation.
But 

.I have quite a lot to say as a member of the NLD party with regard
to my hopes that were dashed and destroyed at times or at some point or
other.
I do not wish to comment on the standpoint on which Auntie Suu has
functioned as a party leader since the founding of the NLD party as a
legitimate political organization.
The way she considers the NLD as if she owns it, and acts as sole
proprietor of the organization is certainly not in tune with the desires
of the rest of NLD party members.
Auntie Suu is a willful and hard-headed person liable to rash judgments
followed by blind action, in her relations with the present Government.
Nevertheless, whatever the provocation, responsible leaders of the present
government, preferring to act with forbearance, and on the basis of give
and take, have always chosen to take action in moderation.
The problem is --------
I, myself, am not a person in the habit of carrying tales about this and
that to Auntie Suu like others who wish to curry favour and also benefit
from handouts, by going in the front door or sneaking in through the back
- door. So I am not on close terms with her.
What I wish to say is that for us it is more important for the entire NLD
party to be active on a higher political standing than for the fame of
Auntie Suu's name.
This however rests entirely on Auntie Suu's political standpoint and
moves. So the situation is that, for us, our only hope is for good
relations and better understanding between Auntie Suu and responsible
leaders of the nation.
Maybe I can say that there was at one time a ray of hope. On 6 May 2002,
the authorities granted Auntie Suu permission to travel throughout the
country without restraint. As soon as these restraints were removed, the
deserted and drab NLD Divisional party Headquarters on West Shwegondine
road began to come alive and bustle with activity.
Auntie Suu's speech and manners and attitudes also underwent a great
change. She no longer staged gatherings on one pretext or another -
gatherings where party members were mere onlookers, like the audience
gaping at mediums dancing in a spirit show (Nat pwe).
As the party office began to hum with activity, all kinds of reports and
news arrived. There was news that even before UN Special Envoy Razali came
to Myanmar and met with Auntie Suu, she was said to have met many times
with top-ranking leaders of government; that the Head of State and Auntie
Suu had met three or four times and that the NLD party leadership,
including Auntie Suu, had had dinner with the leaders of government headed
by the Head of State. It was also reported that an official group led by a
minister of government had met several times with Auntie Suu. There was
much news and all seemed to be positive and encouraging.
Party members were also very interested in who represented the government
side at these meetings. So, those of us who belonged to the inner circle
with access to Auntie Suu's compound were kept busy answering their
questions one after another. But my difficulty was that the only visitor I
remembered was Brig-Gen Than Tun. I think, maybe he came in and out of the
compound over a hundred times. What was significant was that Auntie Suu
who usually spoke sarcastically and with some wit and irony, began to
refrain from provocative remarks that could lead to direct confrontation
with the government in her public speeches. It could be said that she was
being more restrained.
When going on her travels, she no longer turned left after saying she was
going to the right, nor did she act impulsively to just get up and go
wherever her mood took her. She instead contacted Brig-Gen Than Tun to
consult him and ask for his suggestions before travelling. We, who knew
this situation, were glad to see the frequent meetings and consultations
between the NLD and the authorities and the good and friendly relations
that prevailed between them. But we also hoped that this would progress
further and lead to a more frank and closer exchange of views and better
understanding.
However, one day Brig-Gen Than Tun arrived and there was a conversation.
But when he had departed Auntie Suu flew into a rage. We of course as
usual had to make ourselves scarce to cower in corners here and there to
escape her wrath. Otherwise we would bear the brunt of her anger.
When I made some discreet inquiries I found out the reason why:
Yes! -We had a plan to travel to Shan State (South) and Shan State (East).
The original plan was to travel from Taunggyi to Kengtung by car. One of
the granduncles who belonged to the party leadership had even given
instructions to take along pick-axes and shovels on this journey. Another
granduncle, who always spoke with sarcasm said -'' If you want to be such
heroes, why don't you go and climb Mt. Everest?"
I don't know whether it was a stroke of luck? But when Brig-Gen Than Tun
came back, he brought the news that the higher authorities prohibited
Auntie Suu from making the journey from Taunggyi to Kengtung by car. I
have a reason for saying it was a stroke of luck. I have never once been
on that road. So, I asked those who had been there. I was told that if the
car should break down anywhere between Nantsang-Kunhein and Kengtung, one
would be given up as lost. Silently I thanked the authorities concerned
for forbidding the car journey.
Actually, the authorities had not forbidden her to go on this tour, but
had only prohibited her from making the journey by car. Finally,
arrangements were made for her to go by air from Heho, so we all arrived
in Kengtung within a few hours. On the airplane, one could not have
imagined that Auntie Suu had flown into a rage over this matter.
Whatever any one may say, in my view, during this countrywide trip of NLD
party members headed by Auntie Suu, undertaken after systematic planning
and co-ordination with the authorities, went smoothly without a hitch with
no cause for anxiety except for minor mishaps such as a car break-down and
weariness from travel.
When we toured new dams and irrigation sites responsible officials on
their part extended every courtesy and hospitality to Auntie Suu and party
and treating us as V.I.P. visitors, they gave us detailed briefings on the
construction concerned. In Mandalay also, on our visits to Pagodas to pay
homage we were given full V.I.P treatment with flowers, candles and water
for offerings at the Buddha shrine. With such privileges at our disposal
on these trips, we also began to understand what status and responsibility
really meant. We began self-consciously to button up the front and
straighten our " Pinnee" cotton jackets. When standing still we also tried
all sorts of postures with hands clasped in front, or behind to appear
dignified. In fact most of us were carried away, trying to imagine
ourselves as high-ranking officials on inspection tour without paying heed
to reminders from some of our companions. In short, the arrangements the
authorities had made for our tour made us feel warm and welcome. It also
contributed greatly to opening our eyes and bringing about a change in our
views.
But 
 

In between these tours, I began to sense and feel a decline in the
attitudes of some members of the NLD leadership and in Auntie Suu. They
had started to furtively plot mischief and make plans to hit below the
belt. Seeing this development I was heavy-hearted and filled with
foreboding for future developments, but there was nothing I could do. Nor
did I want to think of what consequences could follow in the future.
At this point, no one can foretell for certain, what circumstances or what
tragic fate awaits our organization.
Or shall I point the finger at fate - a fate that is of our own making.