Be Courageous, Aung San Suu Kyi

Winston Churchill said that "Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning." Currently in Myanmar, a rather non-traditional spin is being put on CAung San Suu Kyai hurchill's observation. Twenty-something punk rockers with pink hair, leather jackets and skull tattoos are clearly rebels but it's not their fashion preferences that their fellow-citizens are talking about. It's their willingness Kyaw, the leader of the punk rock group Rebel Riot, whose new song slams religious hypocrisy and an anti-Moslem movement known as "969." ''They are nationalists, fascists. No one wants to hear it, but it's true." says Kyaw Kyaw. Radical monks are leading a bloody campaign against Moslems, and the vast majority of citizens in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people, are unwilling to speak against them. The actions of 969 are a fundamental aberration in a country where being Buddhist is an important part of being Burmese, and where monks, the most respected members of society, are beyond reproach. Those willing to speak, even anonymously, about 969, say most Burmese are afraid to speak out, while others are simply in denial, or buy into claims that the Moslem "outsiders" pose a threat to their culture and traditions. The silence is dangerous because mobs are razing mosques and cheering as Moslems are hunted down and beaten to death with chains and metal pipes, according to Michael Salberg, director of international affairs at the US-based Anti-Defamation League. "The problem here," he told AP, "is not the perpetrators," pointing to conditions that paved the way for the Holocaust in Germany and the genocide in Rwanda. "It's the bystanders." After a half-century of tyrannic military rule, a quasi-civilian government installed two years ago has brought in sweeping reforms, freeing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, relaxing restrictions against peaceful assembly, opening up the media and eliminating censorship. The nationalist monks are calling for boycotts of Moslem-owned shops and a ban on marriages between Buddhist women and Moslem men. The monks also warn that a higher birthrate could lead to Moslems increasing from from 4% of the population to a majority. Critics look at the teachings of Buddha and ask, "...is this what he meant?" For Ye Ngwe Soe, the 27-year-old frontman of No U Turn, the country's most popular punk rock band, the answer is clearly 'no.' He wrote the song "Human Wars" after violence against Rohingya Moslems in Rakhine state migrated into other regions. "When I go to some urban areas, I hear talking about 969, hating Moslems, being violent. It shouldn't be this way." Wirathu, the Buddhist monk who is the leader of 969, is often defended by progressive Burmese, who would normally oppose religious violence, calling it madness, "...but they don't dare to say that openly," says Bertil Lintner, a Swedish journalist who has written several books about Myanmar. "If they do they will be attacked by these new nationalists, religious bigots, accused of being friends with Moslems....It's a very difficult situation." A good example is President Thein Sein, who has been embraced by the US and others for his reform agenda. He banned an issue of Time magazine that splashed Wirathu on the cover and called him "the face of Buddhist terror," and issued a statement saying he supports 969 and considers the extremist monk a "son of Lord Buddha." With national elections scheduled for 2015, opposition leader Suu Kyi also has said nothing, worried, analysts say, there will be a backlash at the polls if she is perceived as anti-Buddhist. During military rule, the tiny punk rock community practiced and performed in secret for small groups of close friends. While others were intimidated by the constant threat of arrest and imprisonment, they screamed out about abuses at the hands of the army and asked why politically-connected businessmen were getting rich while everyone else suffered. And they aren't about to shy away now. Kyaw Kyaw of Rebel Riot likes to say that while he can't change the world, or Myanmar, or even Yangon, his hometown, he can at least influence those around him. ~~~~~ Dear readers, international media have reported on violence against Rohingya Moslems in Rakhine state, but this more widespread anti-Moslem violence is less publicized. I cannot confirm the details of this report and relied on AP Newswire for the facts. But if the report is true, it is extremely unsettling. That even the Myanmar president and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi are afraid to speak out against the anti-Moslem violence of 969 is difficult to accept, especially Aung San Suu Kyi's silence which is apparently based on her political goals. We know that she has courage and has used it to oppose political tyrants, but when her own politics overtakes her sense of right and wrong, something is out of joint. It's time for Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out, explain her position, and bring the weight of her persona to bear on the unacceptable violence against Moslems that is sweeping over Myanmar. Here's an anecdote about French President Mitterrand. He was the underdog in 1981 when he ran for president. His socialist party had never won a French presidential election. But when asked during a presidential debate about abolishing the death penalty, which was supported by a majority of the French at that time, he said he opposed tbe death penalty and would abolish it if elected and that he knew that his French co-citizens would respect his Christian-based stand. His advisors thought the comment had cost him any chance of winning. But François Mitterrand won. So, Aung San Suu Kyi , be brave. Trust the power of your convictions and trust in the fundamental goodness of the Burmese people who love and respect you.