[NYTr] Burma: Calls for Nationwide General Strike

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Newsweek - Sep 29, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21049481/site/newsweek/?from=rss

In Burma, Activists Call for Nationwide Strike

A pro-democracy veteran in Rangoon, Burma, says activists aren’t giving
up their protests—in spite of the government’s brutal crackdown.

By Christian Caryl 

Sept. 29, 2007 - It's not easy getting through to Burma at the moment.
The military dictatorship there has been doing everything it can to cut
off the country's links with the outside world, including shutting down
the Internet and mobile-phone networks. So I was elated when I finally
managed to complete a long-distance call to Kyaw Win (not his real
name). Win, whose number in Rangoon was given to me by some Burmese
exiles, is a veteran of Burma's pro-democracy movement. He's a member
of what's known as the "88 Generation"—activists who took part in
massive protests that shook the country back in 1988.

That makes him a particularly interesting person to ask about what's
happening in the country right now. Over the past two days the news for
the current anti-government movement hasn't been encouraging. By most
accounts the regime's soldiers and police have largely succeeded in
neutralizing the Buddhist monks who gave such a powerful impetus to the
opposition when they joined street protests earlier this month. The
security forces have cordoned off monasteries, confining some monks
inside and arresting hundreds, if not thousands, of others. Many
demonstrators have been beaten and detained; dozens of people (no one
knows the precise number) have been shot. And the government's success
in curtailing the flow of information to the outside world has also
made its work easier. Small wonder that some media accounts are making
it sound as though the government has already triumphed.

If activists like Win are any indication, though, Burma's opposition
isn’t dead yet. The monks may have been checked for the moment, he
says, but protestors have still been taking to the streets of Rangoon
in what he calls "guerilla demonstrations," with small groups melting
away when challenged by the military and then reappearing elsewhere.
Meanwhile, he says, the opposition is preparing for a new stage of
defiance by making plans for a general strike. Just days ago, according
to Win, representatives of the monks and the pro-democracy movement
formed a "steering committee" to coordinate the next round of protests.
They plan to call upon civil servants and technical personnel to join
in a nationwide strike. That approach is designed to capitalize on
widespread popular indignation over the government's brutal treatment
of the monks. "Don't worry about our future," he says. "People know
their duty, they know what they should do."

Given the resources on the sides of the government, that could well be
hubris—or naiveté. Yet other Burmese echo those sentiments. Kyaw Zwa is
managing editor of The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based news service that
covers events inside Burma. "I cannot say that they [the government]
have won,” he says. “Tensions are really high. People and the monks
will reorganize the demonstrations." As he notes, several big
demonstrations took place around the country on Saturday, even as the
regime seemed to be finishing off its crackdown on the monks in
Rangoon. He says that he's struck by the extent to which his
compatriots have been overcoming their own fear in recent weeks: "More
and more people are willing to talk with outside media."

Zwa believes that the protests will continue despite the government's
resort to force. "I don't think we'll see crowds as big as the ones a
few days ago. But people are really angry and outraged about the
crackdown. In some way I think they will keep the demonstrations alive."

Shari Villarosa, the top U.S. diplomat in Burma, notes that many of the
citizens of Rangoon are visibly saddened and demoralized by the turn of
events over the past few days. And yet she also senses a distinct sense
of unfinished business: "The underlying sources of grievance haven't
been addressed."

The anger, Win contends, is greater than he's ever seen it before. His
main worry, he says, is not that people will give up; it's that they'll
resort to violence. Back in 1988, he notes, popular frustration with
the government ended up compromising the cause. Some of the
demonstrators (possibly egged on by government agents) resorted to
looting or attacks on government troops. This time around, he says, the
activists—and especially the monks—have been doing everything they can
to ensure that the demonstrators maintain the moral high ground by
sticking to non-violence. The vast majority of Burmese are Buddhist, a
religion that frowns upon violent actions. So far, he says, most of his
compatriots seem to get the message. Yet rage against the government is
so great that "it's hard to control."

Many in the pro-democracy movement are putting their hopes on rumors of
a split within the ruling military. Some say that lower- and mid-level
officers increasingly resent their superiors' ever-more-obvious
corruption and indiscriminate use of force to keep the country under
control. That could account for the regime's initial (and inexplicable)
hesitation in striking back against the monks, who are revered in
Burma. Needless to say, like so many other theories about Burma, this
one remains entirely unproven. Are the activists just grasping at
straws? Perhaps. But no one should jump to conclusions. Even if it
turns out that the government has won this round of the contest, the
struggle for Burma's future is a long way from over. "We'll go on,"
says Win. "We dare to say, 'I believe.'"