BurmaNet News, January 3, 2008

[Editor]

January 3, 2008 Issue # 3372

INSIDE BURMA
Associated Press: Myanmar cracks down on ethnic minorities
Scoop.co.nz: Burma: Monks continue anti-junta struggle
Irrawaddy: ‘What Independence?’ say Burma’s youth
Irrawaddy: Four Rangoon lawyers reportedly blacklisted for forging documents
Mizzima News: Junta blocks information flow by hiking Sat TV fees
Mizzima News: Situation worsening for detained activists
IMNA: Forty villagers tortured for their possessions
DVB: Htin Kyaw ends his hunger strike
DVB: Journalists’ phones cut off in Rangoon

ASEAN
Xinhua: Indonesian president to hold meeting with Myanmar PM

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: India urges Burma to adopt political reform

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Exile Myanmar network to begin daily television broadcasts to
pro-democracy activists at home

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma’s 60th Independence Anniversary: Where’s the Independence?
Editorial: Mizzima: Three months after

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 3, Associated Press
Myanmar cracks down on ethnic minorities – Denis D. Gray

Myanmar's army has moved reinforcements into ethnic minority areas for the
probable renewal of an offensive whose past human rights violations have
been far greater than those against urban protesters that riveted world
attention last fall, aid and rebel groups say.

The groups provide continuing reports of killings of civilians, rapes,
forced labor, burning of crops and mass relocations as Myanmar troops
attempt to wipe out die-hard guerrillas of the Karen National Union and
other ethnic rebel forces.

While urban tensions may have eased since the crackdown on September's
pro-democracy demonstrations in Yangon, "nothing has changed" regarding
the conflict in the east of the country also known as Burma, says Htoo
Kli, who helps Karen refugees along the Thai-Myanmar border.

The Thailand Burma Border Consortium, the key aid agency along the
frontier for more than two decades, says that in 2007 another 76,000 Karen
were forced to flee their homes and at least 167 villages were destroyed.

Corroborated by high-resolution commercial satellite imagery, more the
3,000 villages have been laid waste to by the army in recent years while
those displaced in eastern Myanmar number at least half a million, the
agency says.

"People around the world were horrified when they saw soldiers beating
some people in Yangon, but far worse happens in the countryside every day,
hidden from the world," said the consortium's Executive Director, Jack
Dunford.

The Karen say they are bracing for another onslaught early in the year,
noting that supplies are now being sent to front-line government bases
along roads being repaired after the monsoon rains.

The Free Burma Rangers, a private aid group, report from inside the
country that at least 10 divisions, up to 15,000 troops, are positioned in
northern Karen State and southern Karenni State up from nine divisions at
the height of operations over the past year. Large numbers of troops are
deployed across other areas of eastern Myanmar.

Dry season offensives have taken place almost every year since 1984, when
the Karen and other groups began to lose control over large swaths of
territory.

Despite a remarkable tenacity the Karen have been fighting for autonomy
from the central government since 1949 their forces have withered in
recent years. They are lacking weapons and are down to no more than 5,000
fighters, according to KNU spokesman David Thaw, and they face a
Chinese-equipped military of some 400,000.

"When you talk about the KNU and the Burmese army there is a big gap. The
Burma Army occupies more and more, and the KNU have less and less,"
acknowledged Htoo Kli, head of Karen Office of Relief and Development, who
fled Myanmar in 1984.

Dunford said that the army starts off better positioned at the onset of
each dry season, and that "endgame for the ethnics" is approaching. "After
the next five years I can't imagine anything will be left," he said.

The Free Burma Rangers, who include foreign and ethnic-minority staffers
helping those who have fled their homes, say the coming push probably
won't yet attempt a knockout blow.

It rather will focus on building more roads, improving military camps and
keeping the guerrillas off-balance as the government attempts to better
secure the area's timber, minerals, potential hydropower and land for
plantations.

The military junta has repeatedly denied attacking civilians or committing
atrocities, saying it is only hunting down terrorists trying to
destabilize the country.

Although often called a "hidden war," and indeed out of range of most
international media, a sizable body of documentation by human rights
groups, the United Nations and others has been compiled. But activists say
it has elicited minimal international response.

Dunford said the conflict lacks the drama of thousands of protesters
confronting the military on the streets of Yangon, and people on the
outside identify with the urban protesters, not the ethnic groups in their
remote jungle huts. "There is a total disconnect," he said.

____________________________________

January 3, Scoop.co.nz
Burma: Monks continue anti-junta struggle - Terry Evans

The All-Burmese Monks Alliance (ABMA) issued a statement yesterday,
calling on the people of Burma to support their struggle against the
military regime once again.

The statement stressed that any further protests must be non-violent. The
ABMA urged monks to continue their boycott of the Burmese regime and went
on to state that, if monks and people remain united, they can bring an end
to the country's current problems.

The mass protest movement has so far failed to bring down the military
regime, but it has shaken the ground under its feet. Last September, a new
layer of young monks and students entered the political scene to challenge
the vicious regime.

In recent weeks posters have appeared encouraging people to take to the
streets in protests timed to coincide with the country's Independence Day
on January 4.

____________________________________

January 3, Irrawaddy
‘What Independence?’ say Burma’s youth – Wai Moe

Burma should be celebrating 60 years of independence on January 4. But the
young Burmese of today see their “independence” as hopeless, and they are
frustrated and disappointed with the quality of life in Burma 60 years
after the British colonialists left their shores. The Irrawaddy spoke to
several young Burmese people—both at home and abroad—to reflect their
views on the motherland and its six decades of independence.

Nwe Nwe, 25, is a heath worker in Rangoon. She feels that whether Burma is
independent or not makes no difference to most Burmese. She says that
people are suffering more under the Burmese military junta than they would
under a colonial regime. Although Burma is independent, she said, it is
still not developed and people are constantly facing hardships. “I say 60
years is too much time to wait. I do not believe in our independence,” she
added.

Certainly, Burma’s 60th anniversary of independence will differ from that
of India, which celebrated the same anniversary last year. A day before
the Burmese celebrations, on Thursday, the authorities ordered a tighter
security alert in the biggest city, Rangoon.

Security forces, both in uniform and plainclothes, have been deployed at
bus stops and street corners, according to residents of the former
capital. Ma Yu, a 28-year-old NGO worker said on Thursday that tighter
security means Burmese independence is still a long way off.

“Even satellite TV is not available for ordinary people; just for the
ruling class. So what if Burma is an independent country?” she complained,
referring to the increase in satellite TV license fees from US $5 to $800,
a figure that is three times the average Burmese person’s annual income.

Many Burmese youths believe that although Burma won independence from
British colonial rule on January 4, 1948, the country is now colonized by
the military dictatorship. A 20-year-old activist with the All Burma
Federation of Student Unions, Lin Htet Naing, said: “During the colonial
period, the Burmese were slaves of the British. However, that same
situation is true today—only we are enslaved by the military junta.”

Phyo Win, a 26-year-old Burmese student at one of the most prestigious
universities in Thailand, reflected that previously on the date of Burmese
independence there were ceremonies and sports competitions to mark the
day; now there has been nothing but restrictions on assembly and
associations ever since the September demonstrations.

“Burma won independence from the British earlier than their other
colonies,” said Phyo Win. “But sadly, Burma’s development is many years
behind our British Commonwealth brothers: India, Malaysia and Singapore.”

The brutal military crackdown on the mass uprising in September led by
Buddhist monks has cast a shadow over the 60th anniversary celebrations.
Most Burmese are still furious at the military authorities for using
violence against the most revered persons in the country—Buddhist monks.

“We Burmese cannot be happy during the 60-year anniversary of our
independence, because of the burning images in our minds of soldiers
beating monks,” lamented Moe Myint Maung, a 23-year-old Burmese student in
Singapore.

On the day that Burma should be celebrating 60 years of independence, the
average citizen survives on less than $300 a year. Some 32 percent of
Burmese children are malnourished. And at least 2 million Burmese have
migrated to neighboring countries to escape the humanitarian crisis in
their homeland.

____________________________________

January 3, Irrawaddy
Four Rangoon lawyers reportedly blacklisted for forging documents – Min Lwin

Four well-known Rangoon lawyers reportedly have been blacklisted by the
Singapore Ministry of Manpower and other governmental bodies for forging
documents, according to sources in Singapore and Rangoon.

One of the lawyers, Kyaw Tun Aung, when contacted by The Irrawaddy on
Wednesday, confirmed that he had been blacklisted by the Ministry of
Manpower, but declined to say on what grounds.

The other three lawyers could not be reached for comment.

According to sources who have used the four lawyers, their signatures are
not accepted on documents by various Singapore and Burmese governmental
entities and other governmental bodies. The sources said the lawyers used
forged documents, which they notarized as authentic.

Observers believe the use of forged documents by notaries is widespread.

Many people in Burma are without work and seek jobs abroad.
With no technical skills or education, they often apply for immigration or
worker documents using forged background material.

A Burmese woman in Singapore who applied for an S-pass in December said
her application was rejected because one of the three lawyers who can not
be named forged an education certificate.

According to Kyaw Myo, a Burmese worker in Singapore, “Some workers have
no certificates showing their education, so they use fake certificates to
apply for the S-pass.” The S-pass is given to mid-level, technical workers
who can earn 1,800 Singapore dollars a month, allowing them to live and
work in Singapore.

A source close to the second lawyer, who formerly worked in the Burmese
government’s Advocate Office, said the lawyer has been blacklisted by the
Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for forging material.

According to Soe Than, a general manager of an employment agency in
Rangoon, the third lawyer’s notary signature is not accepted at the
Japanese embassy in Rangoon.

He said many Burmese workers in Singapore have used fake documents to
apply for the S-pass.

Myo Myint Maung, a Burmese political activist in Singapore.
said, “Workers, visitors and students who prepare to go abroad to
Singapore, Japan or the United States need a notary to translate the
Burmese language to English.”

A young worker in Rangoon, who would like to go to Singapore, told The
Irrawaddy, “some people looking for jobs who did not graduate use forged
certificates to apply for jobs abroad.” He said one of the unnamed lawyers
will notarize documents without questions, while others are more strict
and expensive.

“So I don’t want to waste my time, and I want to save money,” he said,
explaining why he used forged documents.

An average one-page translation from Burmese to English costs about 1,500
kyat (US $1). A forged document can cost up to 20,000 kyat ($16) or more,
according to the worker.

Singapore is a popular destination for Burmese seeking jobs as skilled
workers. There are reportedly about 50,000 Burmese working in the
Singapore.

____________________________________

January 3, Mizzima News
Junta blocks information flow by hiking Sat TV fees - Nem Davies

The Burmese military junta, which is notorious for it's stranglehold on
the flow of information, has taken a fresh step in tightening its grip by
hiking Satellite Television license fees to a mind boggling 166 times.

While the hike in the annual license fee has not been officially
announced, owners of Satellite Dish said they are being charged 10 million
Kyat (US $ 800) compared to the normal rate of 6000 Kyat (US $ 4.8).

Following the sudden hike, several Burmese Satellite Dish owners said,
they have no choice but to disconnect their television, which critics said
is the junta's main objective in jacking up the license fee.

A resident of North Okklapa township in Rangoon , who owns a dish, said,
"How can we pay a fee of 10 million Kyat, when we are struggling to earn
about a thousand to two thousand a day? I don't think anybody can afford
to pay. I have to disconnect."

U Khin Maung Thet, deputy director of department of Communication in
Burma's new jungle capital, Nay Lyi Taw, however, said, "It is not that we
are hiking the fees yet. But since I have no official direction, I am not
in a position to tell anything."

But critics believe that the Burmese junta, which resorts to violence to
crackdown on protesters in September, might be wanting to impose curbs on
Satellite TV, which broadcast its brutal crackdown on monk-led protests
aired by the international media.

Son Moe Wai, Secretary of Burma Media Association, said, the junta might
have been scared of the power that the Satellite TV broadcast revealed
during the recent protests. Therefore it is hiking the fees.

"They [the junta] may be sacred that the same thing would be repeated.
Though they have hiked the fees of Satellite TV, it is impossible to place
curbs on technology. But this shows that the junta is trying every means
at its disposal to close the eyes and ears of the people," Son Moe Wai
added.

Similarly, authorities have blocked the WebPages of international news
agencies including Reuters and the Bangkok Post.

"Whenever we open these sites, 'Block by MPT' message is displayed on the
screen. It has been about two months now," a foreign correspondent based
in Rangoon said.

Earlier, the Burmese authorities informed tours and travel agents, which
use internet for their online ticketing and marketing, to be careful in
its internet usage and warned that severe punishment would befall them if
they are found using it for anti-government purposes.

"It might be difficult for those viewing Satellite TV, but the junta
cannot completely shut-off information flow as people, who are thirsty for
information would find ways to receive news and information," Son Moe Wai
said.

____________________________________

January 3, Mizzima News
Situation worsening for detained activists

The Burmese military junta's dilatory tactics has worsened the situation
of detained political activists in Burma's notorious Insein prison. The
junta is delaying the legal procedure to charge and put them on trial,
family members and activists said.

Family members said prominent student leaders Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and
Htay Kywe have been detained for over four months, 130 days, without being
charged and put on trail. They alleged that the Burmese authorities are
violating international laws, which allows only 90 days detention before
someone is charged and tried.

Generation Wave, a young Burmese activists group formed after the
September protests, however, told Mizzima several other activists have
been charged under various articles including article 505 (a) & (b), which
is inciting public riots and engaging in disrespectful action against the
government.

The group however, said on December 26 Burmese lawyers and judges held a
secret meeting where they agreed not to proceed with a formal trial but to
sentence them without proper trial.

While the information could not be independently verified, several
activists have had their trials deferred without any formal reason.

Meanwhile, 88 generation students have said they will not accept any
charges or sentences without proper trial which should be conducted
openly.

"They [the three 88 generation student leaders] want their trial to be
conducted openly in the public otherwise they will not accept or agree
with the charges," a family member of the 88 students, who requested
anonymity, told Mizzima.

The Generation Wave said family members of the 88 students are ready to
sue the authorities for detaining them for more than four months without
trail.

However, when Mizzima contacted, family members of prominent students
declined to comment.

____________________________________

January 3, Independent Mon News Agency
Forty villagers tortured for their possessions

About 40 villagers were beaten up by Burmese troops from No -299 in Mon
State southern Burma when they tried to get back wood from their house
after the Burmese soldiers forced them to relocate from their village.

Forty villagers including 19 women were from Bayoun-ngae village, in
Khaw-zar Sub Township , Mon State southern Burma .

Bayoun-ngae villagers were relocated from their village about six months
ago by Light Infantry Battalion No.583 after the Burmese soldiers fought
Mon rebels outside the village.

Burmese soldiers were killed and injured fighting the Mon rebels. Then
they arrested and tortured about 50 villagers. They also burnt two houses
and dismantled many ports and shelves in the temple.

According to a villager in Ye township, the villagers went to bring back
some wood from their homes they had left behind after the soldiers took
valuable goods from their houses. He was not sure how many soldiers beat
the villagers.

A Yin-ye villager was seriously beaten by Burmese military Major from
No.31 while going to his plantation on December 25. He was treated by a
medical worker in his village.

The village had about 100 households and about 30 houses were built with
wood and the others with bamboo.

IMNA source said "They couldn't bring the valuables with them on account
of orders by the Burmese troops. Some were resettled in Han-gan village
about one mile from their village and some are living in plantations.

The detained villagers had to pay the soldiers over 0.2 million Kyat for
their release.

Burmese troops accused the villagers of supporting the Mon rebels and
passing on information to media organizations. They ordered them to inform
about the movement of rebel groups.

____________________________________

January 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
Htin Kyaw ends his hunger strike – Aye Nai

Commodity protester Ko Htin Kyaw and two other activists held in Insein
prison have ended their hunger strike, according to family members of the
detainees.

Htin Kyaw, Myo Thant of the Human Rights Defender and Promoters network
and university student Ko Zin Linn Aung are now starting to eat again,
said Myo Thant’s sister Ma Thi Thi Soe, who visited him on Monday.

Htin Kyaw began his hunger strike on 30 November 2007 to demand the
release of all political prisoners, and ended it on 31 December, while Myo
Thant refused food from 10 to 25 December.

Zin Linn Aung also started his hunger strike on 10 December, but resumed
eating earlier than the others as his health was deteriorating.

Ma Thi Thi Soe said that Myo Thant had lost a lot of weight during his
protest.

"My brother’s weight has now dropped from 159lb to 138lb,” she said.

Both Myo Thant and Htin Kyaw have been charged by the government under
section 505(b) of the penal code for instigating public unrest.

Ma Thi Thi Soe said her brother would defend himself in court against
these charges.

Htin Kyaw's family members said they had not been allowed to visit him
since 26 December, when his wife saw him, though they have been able to
deliver food and items to him through prison officials.

Insein prison was unavailable for comment.

____________________________________

January 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
Journalists’ phones cut off in Rangoon

Mobile phones and landlines used by reporters and foreign correspondents
have been cut off by Myanma Post and Telecommunications following the
September protests, said media sources in Rangoon.

A journalist in Rangoon said that foreign correspondents from well-known
news agencies such as NHK and Reuters were among those whose phone lines
had been cut, as well as diplomats from some foreign embassies.

"We have paid all the fees and charges for our phone use and can't
understand why our lines are being shut down, said one source, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

“We asked the MPT about this and they said they had received an order to
do it.”

The MPT, Ministry of Information and Ministry of Home Affairs all denied
responsibility for the loss of telephone services.

The Military and Security Affairs department also denied their
involvement, stating they were “not part of this operation”.

____________________________________
ASEAN

January 3, Xinhua
Indonesian president to hold meeting with Myanmar PM

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will discuss bilateral
issues with Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein during his visit to
Indonesia later this month, a spokesman for the president said here on
Thursday.

"The Myanmar ambassador called the upcoming visit as a 'goodwill visit'
but we will arrange an official welcoming reception for that," said Dino
Patti Djalal, spokesman for the president.

In the upcoming visit scheduled on Jan. 14-15, Thein Sein will be
accompanied by six ministers of mostly economic fields, Dino told
reporters at the State Palace here.

The visit will be the first for Thein Sein as a prime minister but the
second time he meets Susilo after the ASEAN Summit in Singapore in
December.

 The Indonesian government will continue encouraging Myanmar to embrace
democracy with bigger participation of its people, he said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 3, Irrawaddy
India urges Burma to adopt political reform – Violet Cho

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told visiting Burmese Foreign
Minister Nyan Win on Wednesday that it had become increasingly urgent to
bring about “political reform and national reconciliation” in Burma.

Singh said this process should be “broad-based” and include opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups, according to an official
account of the meeting by Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna.

Nyan Win, who is on a three-day visit to India, described “recent
initiatives” he said the Burmese government had taken to advance this
process.

Burmese critics of the Naypyidaw regime expressed skepticism about the
visit and the true motives of the Indian government.

Tint Swe, head of the National League for Democracy [Liberated
Area-India], told The Irrawaddy on Thursday he felt the Indian
government's policy on Burma was “weak.”

Words without actions couldn’t make any impact on the Burmese government,
he said.

Soe Myint, editor of the India-based Mizzima News, said Indian appeals to
Burma to seek reconciliation were based on Indian “interests.”

“The military regime doesn’t seem to listen to India” he said. The Burmese
regime would “continue ignoring its neighbor’s calls and carry on with
what it wants to do.”

Diplomatic, economic and military ties between Burma and India were strong
in recent years, but after the September crackdown New Delhi put a
temporary hold on arms deals.

Until September, Indian and Burmese military forces conducted joint
operations, and the two governments discussed a deal to supply Burma with
helicopters that Amnesty International claimed
were “highly likely to contain components, technology and munitions”
originating from EU nations and the US, undermining embargoes by those
countries.

Michael J Green, a former top adviser on Asia to President Bush and now on
the staff of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The
Washington Post last week that Southeast Asian neighbors of Burma had
complained to the US president about India's strengthening military ties
with Burma.

Green described India's freeze on arms sales to Burma as “a big deal for
US-India relations. I think they are shifting.”

India, an important regional ally of the US, signed a nuclear cooperation
deal with the Bush administration in July, 2007.

During his current visit to India, Nyan Win has also had wide-ranging
talks with India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The Hindustan Times, India’s second largest newspaper, reported on
Wednesday that their talks covered all areas of mutual interest. Mukherjee
expressed his satisfaction over the recent conclusion of discussions
relating to the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport project, and hoped
for its early signing and implementation.

The project includes the construction of a waterway, roads and development
of the Sitwe port linking Burma with Mizoram in India by way of the
Kaladan River.

India and China are among Burma's few allies and trading partners and are
seen as Asian powers who could pressure the military regime to reform.
Like Beijing, however, New Delhi hesitates at  taking a tougher line on
Burma and opposes sanctions.

At the same time, India is trying to counter Chinese influence in Burma
and is competing for its gas resources.

India strongly backed the Burmese pro-democracy movement in the early
1990s. But India’s foreign policy on Burma took a U-turn when the Indian
government created a new policy, “Look East” in 1992, based on economic
ties with Southeast Asian nations.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 3, Associated Press
Exile Myanmar network to begin daily television broadcasts to
pro-democracy activists at home

The exile Myanmar network Democratic Voice of Burma said Thursday it was
starting daily television broadcasts for the pro-democracy movement at
home, a sharp increase on its current one hour per week of television
transmissions.

The Oslo-based network's radio, television and Internet reports were
crucial sources of information for protesters inside Burma, and also
helped get information out from the largely closed country, during a
pro-democracy uprising in September that was brutally crushed by Myanmar's
military government.

The network's chief editor, Aye Chan Naing, said daily satellite
broadcasts of about one hour would begin Friday, and would include reports
from inside Myanmar, also known as Burma, as well as news from the outside
world that is otherwise often censored by Myanmar's military regime.

"It's going to make quite a difference for the people of Burma, who don't
get other information," Naing told The Associated Press.

The government of Myanmar this week dramatically increased license fees
for satellite dishes, from 6,000 kyat (US$5, €3.50) to 1 million kyat
(US$800, €670) — about three times the annual salary of a public school
teacher.

"It's an impossible amount," said Naing. "We don't know how it will affect
us. There are hundreds of thousands of (privately owned) satellite dishes.
If people start refusing to pay, we don't know how the government will
react."

He said the new fee could fuel the anger that many of Myanmar's citizens
already feel toward the hardline regime, by depriving them not only of
world news, but also such simple pleasures as watching a soccer match.

Exiled pro-democracy student activists, including Naing, founded the radio
station in 1992, a year after Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
won the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo for her peaceful pro-democracy campaign.
Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election, but was not allowed to take
office by the military, which has been in power since 1962. She has
largely been held in house arrest since then.

The network, funded by grants from government and free speech groups from
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States, added
weekly television broadcasts in May 2005.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 3, Irrawaddy
Burma’s 60th Independence Anniversary: Where’s the Independence? – Kyaw
Zwa Moe

“Let us rejoice at the independence which has come to us today, the result
of sacrifices undergone by us and those who preceded us in the years that
have passed.”

Those are the words of Burma’s first president, Sao Shwe Thaike, in his
independence message on January 4, 1948.

What has the 60th anniversary of Burma’s independence brought in 2008? Did
it bring freedom, prosperity and happiness?

Sadly, little of the above can be found in the country today. Instead, we
find more oppression, poverty and misery.

On Independence Day, the then prime minister U Nu said, “There is no room
for disunity or discord—racial, communal, political or personal—and I now
call upon all citizens of the Burma Union to unite and to labor without
regard to self and in the interest of the country to which we all belong.”

In contrast, a few months after Burma gained independence from nearly 100
years of British rule, civil war broke out between the government and
communist and ethnic rebel groups. Since then, civil war has continued in
the country.

About 10 years after independence, a bloody coup occurred that, in effect,
cut off any real chance for freedom and prosperity. From then on, the
military has had a firm grip on the reins of power.

In the past 60 years, Burma had opportunities to create a democracy with a
good economy, but failed. Instead, our country has devoted its energy to
in-fighting and disagreement, based on differing political ideologies.

We have to speak honestly. Burma today has few things we can be proud of.
Politics is a disgrace. Economics is a tragedy. Society itself is
exhausted. Seemingly, everyone in the world knows something about Burma,
but it’s mostly negative.

What will 2008 bring? Sadly again, the future looks like the past.

Politically, the current military regime won’t soften its political stand
against opposition groups. The detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi will likely celebrate her 63rd birthday party on June 19 alone in
custody in her home in Rangoon. Under house arrest for 12 of the past 18
years, she will continue to be recognized as the only Nobel laureate in
detention.

The junta will blindly continue down its self-created, seven-step road map
to what it calls “democracy,” with its hand-picked delegates. No
astrologers can prophesy when this charade will end. The “first step”
National Convention just concluded and took 14 years.

The junta’s notorious prisons will continue to be the home of many of the
finest people in the country. Currently more than 1,000 people are
unjustly held as political prisoners. Dissidents who fled the country long
ago will continue to be denied the right to return home.

The simmering fire in the heart of the Burmese people against the military
government won’t be extinguished and is likely to flare up again in
another uprising like that led by monks in September 2007.

Internationally, more political pressure and targeted economic sanctions
are likely to be imposed by the US and the EU. But don’t expect the
pressure to change the stubborn mindset of the generals, to jump start a
genuine political reconciliation for the sake of people.

Likewise, China and the Asean countries can be expected to hold fast to
their infamous non-interference stance, in effect offering the generals
protection.

We can expect UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to make more trips to Burma
in his mediator role between the junta and Suu Kyi. His trips, however,
will sometimes be turned down or postponed by the junta. He is unlikely to
return with any tangible results. But, he might leave Burma with upbeat
comments like we are, “Turning a new page.”

Economically, where is Burma heading? An assessment for 2008 by the
London-based influential think tank, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU),
said the country’s policymaking will “remain erratic,” but the energy
sector will be fairly buoyant next year.

Burma will never face a shortage of customers for its natural resources.
Countries like China, Thailand and India will continue to ignore internal
humanitarian issues while doing business with the junta.

“But the outlook for the rest of economy is poor,” the EIU said.
“Inflation will remain high, and the free-market exchange rate will
continue to be subject to downward pressure.”

Burma’s natural gas exports will keep Burma’s current account in surplus
for the next two years, but import costs will rise, partly driven by the
rising cost of importing petroleum products, said the EIU.

Actually, Burmese society is chronically ill. Twenty years ago, Suu Kyi
described the ’88 nationwide pro-democracy uprising as a “second struggle
for national independence.”

The “second independence struggle” is still struggling to keep its
momentum against the all-powerful military government.

U Nu, Burma’s first prime minister, said on January 4,1948: “No one will
blame us for being jubilant on such an occasion, on such a day, but
nevertheless for most of us it is a day for solemn thought. Burma is again
free, but we must be fit to maintain that freedom, and we must be ready at
all costs to keep Burma free and to make her great.”

Today after 60 years of independence, little—if any—jubilation can be
found in Burma. It has slowly evaporated over the course of our
independence, gained 60 years ago.

____________________________________

January 3, Mizzima News
Three months after – Editorial

Time passes and the year 2007 is over. The most significant and most
shocking incident in 2007 was the 'Saffron Revolution' in September. It
was brutally crushed by the military regime. It's been over three months
now.

But the state-run media belittled this great event as unimportant,
ineffective and just a triviality. And also they are trying to say they
have no responsibility for the brutal crack down and trying to free
themselves from all brutalities that they committed. They wrongfully hope
this revolution and the people's resentment against them would finally
fade away as time passes.

Though the regime claimed to have used minimum force and exercised
restraint and great patience in tackling the protests while defending
themselves from the outcry of the public and the international community,
more and more evidence of their brutal crackdown is appearing daily. But
I'm astonished in seeing some persons are buying and accepting the
regime's meaningless claim without sympathy for the suffering people
despite the obvious evidence and countless eyewitnesses.

It is comprehensible some could not trust democracy, politicians and
activists who are struggling for democracy. But it is not understandable
is the echoing of government's meaningless claims of the protesting monks
being 'bogus monks' and 'the regime used minimum force in tackling the
unrest' though there are enough evidence and countless eyewitnesses are
available everywhere. How can I understand and see those heartless people?

The difference between men and other beings is 'thinking and reasoning'.
Those who are echoing whatever the regime and bosses are saying for the
fear of losing jobs and positions should not be regarded themselves as
'human being'. They are mere beasts in human clothing.

No one can deny that the regime crushed this movement and revolution
brutally and inhumanely by using excessive force regardless of being
instigated by exiled forces. Why does the regime hesitate to accept this
self-proven point? Similarly some people follow the regime's line and
claim. These people must be would-be dictators saying only 'whatever I'm
saying is right'. These people have no reasoning and thinking power at
all.

Let them not trust politicians and seeing politicians as unimpressive. Not
only politicians, no one can stand without being supported and accepted by
other people. But I wish them to see the reality that no one can deny if
they have heart and sympathy. The regime crushed brutally its own people.
Now these fallen martyrs are seen as 'bogus monks' and 'destructive
elements' for sacrificing their precious lives because of these selfish
and heartless people.

If they wish to yell 'we have won', let them do enthusiastically. But they
must keep in mind that this 'win' is not the real one, the 'win' at the
expense of hatred and resentment of the people against them. Even it they
do not wish to turn the 'hatred' to 'love', please don't multiply the
'hatred' anymore.

Even harsher words may be contained in this letter. But I have no regret
to say such harsh words which will make some people mad.

Why?

Because I haven't got such a heart like those great people which can
ignore and be indifferent to the sufferings of the unarmed people who were
brutally killed in cold blood as if it were in the battle field and even
more.