BurmaNet News, November 4-5, 2007

[Editor]

November 4-5, 2007 Issue # 3335

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Monks continue protests on streets of Burma
Irrawaddy: Arrests continue as Gambari holds talks
Inter Press Service: UN envoy fails to impress junta
Mizzima News: Internet back in Burma at snails pace
INMA: Police officer ordered to shoot monks, wants to retire
DVB: Junta arrests man suffering mental illness
Mizzima News: Junta threatens political activists in Arakan State
Irrawaddy: Junta allows detained student leaders to receive personal Items

ON THE BORDER
AP: Group fears for safety of pro-democracy activists fleeing Myanmar for
Thailand
Kachin News Group: Three women from Burma raped by Thai broker and robbers
Narinjara News: Monks coming back Arrested in Bangladesh

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Dagon Win Aung: the importance of being well-connected
AFP: Myanmar tycoon denounces US sanctions
Irrawaddy: Dollar rate fluctuates in Rangoon as sanctions hit
Wilmington Media Ltd.: India gives exim loan to Myanmar for Thahtay Chaung
project

ASEAN
The Nation: Asean asked to reconsider financial ties with Burma

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima News: Piano politics - Sandar
AFP: US seeking 'concrete results' from UN envoy in Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
Washington Post: What Burma's junta must fear - U Gambira
Irrawaddy: Burma: diplomatic graveyard - Kyaw Zaw Moe
Irrawaddy: Do-it-Yourself democracy, Burmese style - Satya Sagar

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 5, Mizzima News
Monks continue protests on streets of Burma

In the second such instance after the September protests in Burma, over 50
monks marched peacefully in Mogok town in upper Burma.

A protesting monk told the BBC Burmese service that, "the peaceful walk is
because so far the government has not complied with the demands of the
Burmese Monk Alliance made in September. We are not afraid because we are
not destabilizing the state and not resorting to violence".

"In the future, if they (junta) move towards democracy, they will have to
accept and welcome these peaceful protests. We will not have to care about
action being taken by means of unfair laws and so we will protest," the
monk added.

On Wednesday, around 100 monks in Pakokku in central Burma held a peaceful
protest march, in the first of such instance after the junta's brutal
crackdown on protesters in September, and ahead of UN special envoy
Ibrahim Gambari's trip to Burma.

Coinciding with the Pakokku protest, the junta shut off the internet on
Thursday. The next day following the monks' rally the intranet was
available.

In Sittwe, the townspeople had tried to protest on October 28, but the
demonstration did not take place because of heightened security.

"Although the planned protest did not take place, the protests will go on.
Here people are dissatisfied," U Mg Mg, a businessman in Sittwe, the
capital of the Arakan state, told Mizzima.

During the night of October 29, students from Sittwe pasted many cartoon
posters which said "Buddhaan Tranan Dai Dai (Kill all Buddha)," "Danman
Tranan Dai Dai (Kill all Dhamma)" and "Thinga Tharanan Dai Dai (Kill all
Monks)" at the entrances of temples and monasteries throughout Arakan
State capital, reported Bangladesh based Narinjara News Agency.

Meanwhile, authorities are reportedly imparting riot trainings to police
and civil servants in Sagaing, Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu and Moulmein towns
and parts of Arakan state.

____________________________________

November 5, Irrawaddy
Arrests continue as Gambari holds talks - Saw Yan Naing

Members of Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy are still
being arrested by the authorities despite the latest mission to the
country by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win told The Irrawaddy on Monday that three party
members had been arrested since Friday. One of them, Zaw Zaw, was taken
into custody at a coffee shop in Rangoon’s Kyeemyindaing Township at noon
on Sunday, while Gambari was engaged in talks with Burmese government
representatives in Naypyidaw.

Two other party members, Aung Kyaw Moe and Tin Yu, residents of Rangoon’s
Hlaing Thayar Township, were arrested on Friday, the day before Gambari’s
arrival in Burma. No reason had been given for their detention, Nyan Win
said.

Nyan Win said about 116 NLD members were still in prison, although around
100 had been freed.

Gambari was still in Naypyidaw on Monday, after talks on Sunday with
Foreign Minister Nyan Win and the government mediator Aung Kyi, who is
charged with the job of acting as a liaison official between the regime
and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Gambari was joined in the new Burmese capital on Monday by the UN
representative in Rangoon, Charles Petrie, who has been told his visa will
not be renewed because of a recent statement he made expressing support
for the aims of the demonstrators.

Petrie will return to Rangoon later Monday and report on the talks there
between Gambari and Burmese officials, according to the UN Information
Center spokesman in Rangoon, Aye Win.

Because of the diplomatic standoff caused by Petrie’s expulsion, it isn’t
known whether Gambari will meet junta leader Than Shwe. Gambari said
before undertaking his latest mission that he wanted to meet all sides,
including the opposition NLD.

He is expected to have a further meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, after two
sessions of talks with her during his September visit. Diplomats told the
Associated Press on Monday that the security screen around her Rangoon
home had been reduced in recent days.

On the eve of Gambari’s visit, about 50 monks staged a demonstration in
Mogok Township, Mandalay division, last Saturday, a local resident told
AP.

The demonstration came three days after more than 100 monks paraded
through Pakokku, central Burma, chanting the Metta Sutta (the Buddha’s
words on loving kindness). Demonstrations by monks in Pakokku in September
were a prelude to the protests that later swept the country.

____________________________________

November 5, Inter Press Service
UN envoy fails to impress junta - Larry Jagan

On his second visit to Burma since the brutal crackdown on demonstrators,
in September, United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari held talks with
senior members of the Burmese military regime. But there are few signs of
a breakthrough in encouraging a transition to civilian rule.

Gambari’s task was fraught by the fact that on the eve of his arrival in
Rangoon, the country’s largest city, on Saturday, the junta announced the
expulsion of Charles Petrie, the U.N.’s top diplomat in that country, for
activities that were deemed ‘inappropriate.’

"The government’s announcement that the U.N. resident coordinator Petrie
is to be expelled, is clearly a deliberate attempt by the Burmese regime
to sabotage Gambari's visit," a western diplomat in Bangkok who deals with
Burma told IPS.

And now, although he has held meetings with the top brass of the military
in the capital of Naypyitaw -- some 400 km north of Rangoon -- Gambari has
been told to cut short his mission by one day and leave on Wednesday.

In fact, there are clear signals that the generals are not in the least
interested in the international community’s efforts to encourage
democratic change and are intent on introducing a political system that
will consolidate the military’s power in the future.

Burma (also known as Myanmar) has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The U.N. and international human rights organisations have charged the
regime with widespread and systematic human rights violations, including
torture, summary executions and the use of child soldiers.

Before flying to Naypyitaw, Gambari was briefed in Rangoon by Petrie who
advised him to concentrate on his primary aims, and not be side-tracked by
the regime’s decision to declare him persona non-grata, according to U.N.
sources.

Gambari had also discussed his mission with U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki
Moon in the Turkish capital of Istanbul on Friday. He was asked to tell
Burma’s leaders that the U.N. regards their actions as totally
unacceptable, according to U.N. officials.

But Gambari would have found it hard to ignore the junta's accusation that
Petrie went beyond his duties by criticising the regime's failure to meet
the economic and humanitarian needs of its people, and by saying this was
the cause of September's mass pro-democracy protests. "The Senior General
and his hard-line supporters have no intentions of including Aung San Suu
Kyi and the NLD (National League for Democracy) in talks about Burma’s
political future. They are pressing on with their own road map and are not
interested in having any U.N. involvement. The latest ploy is intended to
sidetrack Gambari, because they are not prepared to make any concessions,"
he said.

Burma’s military rulers had originally invited the U.N. envoy to return to
the country in the latter part of November because that fitted neatly into
their plans. They wanted to finish drafting the new constitution which
effectively legitimised their grasp on political power, and have the Asian
leaders summit, in Singapore in two weeks time, endorse it.

A referendum on the new constitution would then be set for early next
year, according to a senior Burmese government official. This would allow
the regime to provide the U.N. envoy with a fait accompli which would
prevent any concessions being made to Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD. "The
only issue open for discussion then would be whether the pro-democracy
parties and ethnic groups would oppose the constitution at the planned
referendum," said an Asian diplomat based in Rangoon.

But intense behind-the-scenes diplomatic pressure from Beijing convinced
the regime to bring the visit forward. "The Chinese authorities told their
ally that if Beijing was to be able to continue to protect them in the
U.N. Security Council then they had to show some progress -- and an early
return visit by Gambari was essential," the Chiang Mai-based Burmese
academic Win Min told IPS.

Much is riding on Gambari’s efforts to get the two sides to talk. His
visit is critical if there is to be progress in Burma, Singapore and
Indonesia’s foreign ministers told journalists at a press conference in
Singapore, last week.

"I hope that Myanmar (Burma) can look at the positive examples in many
countries and move decisively towards national reconciliation and engage
in a serious dialogue with Aung San Syu Kyi, the NLD and all the other
parties, and move forward," said Singapore’s foreign minister George Yeo.

"The key here is strengthening Gambari’s hand and giving him a strong set
of cards so that he do his good work in Myanmar, be a good mediator,
catalyse the process which should bring the country forward," the minister
added.

The two foreign ministers -- Yeo and Indonesia’s Hassan Wirayuda -- both
met Gambari last week while he was in Singapore waiting to finalise his
visit to Burma.

"While we don’t expect too much to come from it, it does give the junta a
way out if they are interested in finding an inclusive solution to their
economic and political problems," said a Rangoon-based diplomat.

At this stage it is unclear whether he will be allowed to meet Aung San
Suu Kyi on his return to Rangoon, but it is almost certain he will be
seeing her at least once, according to U.N. officials in Burma. He will
also be meeting other representative of the pro-democracy movement,
including executive members of the NLD, and ethnic leaders.

For almost two decades the U.N. has attempted to help bring about national
reconciliation in Burma. During that time the junta has made minor
concessions, occasionally releasing Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and
freeing political prisoners. Now the U.N. envoy is desperately trying to
strengthen the process.

Gambari’s mission is to promote "democratic measures by the Myanmar
government, including the release of all detained students and
demonstrators," Ban Ki Moon said last week. "Our goal is that he will
facilitate this dialogue between the government and opposition leaders,"
he added.

But there is little evidence that Gambari is going to be any more
successful on this trip than his previous visits to Burma. "The hardliners
have strengthened their control on power and are in no mood to include
Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD in the process," Win Min told IPS.

____________________________________

November 5, Mizzima News
Internet back in Burma at snails pace

Internet service has been restored in Burma but access is at snails pace.
The service which was now on, now off since the September protests, is
again accessible but surfers in Burma said they are being compelled to
wait hours before they are able to send an email.

In late September internet service was cut off completely. Since then it
has been on and off throughout October. Users said the internet, which is
once again accessible as of November 3, is extremely slow.

"We can access the net but the speed is terribly slow. Just for checking
an email we have to wait for hours. We do not know what is wrong. We sent
some emails but we are not sure whether it will reach," an internet user
in Rangoon told Mizzima.

The last time the internet service was cut was on November 1, a day after
a brief protest in Pakokku town of central Burma by monks and ahead of UN
special envoy Gambari's visit to Burma.

The internet speed is not only slow in Rangoon but users in different
parts of Burma including Sagaing and Monywa in upper Burma are
experiencing similar problems.

"It is the same here in Monywa, we can't even open our emails. Just to be
able to chat, we have to try for more half an hour. The speed is too slow
it is difficult to work," an internet user in Monywa told Mizzima.

According to the Open Net Initiative, a group monitoring internet
censorship around the world, there are less than 1 percent internet users
in Burma of an 52 million estimated population.

The two Internet Service Providers – MPT (Myanmat Post and
Telecommunication) and the Myanmar Teleport, earlier known as Bagan
Cybertech, - has heavily filtered and banned anti-government websites,
political and human rights websites including the sites of media
organizations in exile.

____________________________________

November 5, Independent Mon News Agency
Police officer ordered to shoot monks, wants to retire

The police officer who was ordered to open fire on protesting monks in
Moulmein, capital of Mon state in Burma in September wants to retire as he
is terribly upset with what he was forced to do.

A Second Lieutenant in the police force, he was ordered to shoot at monks
by Burma Army troops from the Military Southeast Regional Command, who
were dressed in police uniforms in September.

According to a friend of a Second Lieutenant, police officer is going to
retire and is bribing his superiors to clear his retirement on grounds of
failing heath.

A police officer told his friends that he did not want to work anymore
because what he was ordered to do was against police rules.

He and other policemen were being commanded by military officers and they
were waiting for the monk-led protesters. But luckily the protest was
canceled that day in Moulmein.

Many policemen in Moulmein would like to retire like him in the wake of
the September crackdown because they were ordered to kill respected monks
and common people.

____________________________________

November 5, Democratic Voice of Burma
Junta arrests man suffering mental illness

Officials searching for All-Burmese Federation of Students’ Unions member
De Nyein Linn arrested a mentally ill man when they were unable to find De
Nyein Linn at the man’s house.

Thein Aye from Nagani estate in Bogone ward, Insein township, is 44 years
old and suffers from mental illness.

He was arrested at around 2pm on 12 October when the Burmese authorities
came to his house looking for De Nyein Linn, who is a close friend of the
Thein Aye and his family.

Khin Kyi, Thein Aye’s mother, told DVB that the officials arrested her son
when they failed to find the ABFSU member.

“Government officials in civilian clothing armed with six-shooters and
walkie-talkies came to the house and said they were military officers
searching for De Nyein Linn. But when they did not find him as he was not
hiding in our house, they took my mentally-ill son instead,” Khin Kyi
said.

The family has received no information about Thein Aye’s whereabouts or
condition since his arrest.

"[The arresting officers] said he would be released at around four that
afternoon. That was about 23 days ago and my son is still missing," said
Khin Kyi.

"I'm very worried for my son as he is mentally not well and his nonsense
talks sometime may lead him to get beaten up to death. Even monks are
getting arrested and mistreated these days and they don't leave my son
alone," she said.

De Nyein Linn has now been arrested and is also being detained.

____________________________________

November 5, Mizzima News
Junta threatens political activists in Arakan State

Opposition political activists in Taungup town of Arakan state recently
released from detention in western Burma were openly threatened on Sunday
by junta authorities. They were asked to stay calm or they would invite
harsher punishment, said a political worker.

Than Pe, vice chairman of the Taungup Township National League for
Democracy, told Mizzima that the authorities on Sunday summoned several
activists, who had recently been released after being arrested in
connection with the September protests, to the town's golf course, nearly
half a mile from the town.

"We were told to remain calm or face fresh arrest and severe punishment if
we plan or carry out any kind of movement or protests," said Than Pe, who
following the September protests has been summoned several times and
detained briefly.

Meanwhile, authorities have reportedly interrogated the wife of an NLD
member Nyi Pu Lay, whose body was recovered from the Gwa River on October
17.

"Local police took her away for interrogation on November 3, but we cannot
ask her what they questioned her about as she seems to be too scared and
dare not speak," a local resident told Mizzima.

While five of the six NLD members arrested from Taungup Township have been
released authorities continue to detain Min Aung, secretary of the Taungup
NLD, colleagues said.

"We think he continues to be detained because of his involvement with the
International Labour Organization," said a colleague.

Min Aung's work as a volunteer with the ILO since 2004, has reportedly led
authorities to blacklist him, added the colleague.

____________________________________

November 5, Irrawaddy
Junta allows detained student leaders to receive personal Items - Shah Paung

The Burmese military government has now allowed family members to send
personal items to around 15 detainees, including prominent student leader
Min Ko Naing, while UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is in Burma,
according to families members of the prisoners.

According to family members of Htay Win Aung and Panneik Tun, detained
leaders of the 88 Generation Students group, the prison authorities have
permitted them to receive certain personal supplies, such as medicine,
food and clothes.

Win Maung, father of Htay Win Aung, said that the authorities had allowed
some family members of the 88 Generation Student group and other detainees
to deliver the personal items on Friday and Saturday.

Along with Min Ko Naing, Htay Win Aung and Panneik Tun, the other member
of the 88 Generation Students group who were allowed to receive supplies
were: Ko Ko Gyi, Mya Aye, Min Zeya, Kyaw Min Yu (also known as Jimmy),
Arnt Bwe Kyaw, Mie Mie, Htay Kywe, Thet Thet, Aung Naing and Noble Aye,
all of who are detained in Insein Prison.

Two members of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, Dee Nyein Linn
and Han Ni Oo, also received personal items from their families.

Panneik Tun’s sister said that her family sent food, clothes, medicine, a
toothbrush, toothpaste, teacups and plates. The authorities told them that
they would be allowed to send personal items once a week. They plan to
send more supplies this coming Thursday and Friday, she said.

But according to the wife of Aung Naing, a member of the 88 Generation
Students group, the authorities will not allow people to send supplies to
the detained monks. The prison authorities have asked people who wish to
hand in supplies to provide personal information about the monk, such as
his father’s name. She is now trying to collect  information about all the
detained monks in order to send them supplies.

Soe Tun, one of the remaining student leaders from the 88 Generation
Students group who has not been arrested, told The Irrawaddy from his
hiding place on Monday, “They [Burmese regime] just do this when they want
to ease pressure from the international community.”

He said that the Burmese authorities must allow family members to meet
detainees face to face to confirm that the prisoners are in good health,
as the families are very worried. He also called on the junta to allow the
International Committee of the Red Cross and other NGOs access to prisons.

Despite the easing of restrictions on personal items for detainees and the
visit of UN special envoy Gambari to Burma, three youths were arrested on
Saturday in front of Dagon Center, Soe Tun said. Two of the men were named
as Tin Htoo Aung and Kyaw Win Shwe.

“It is very clear that the issue of personal items is just a show, not a
concession,” he added.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 5, Associated Press
Group fears for safety of pro-democracy activists fleeing Myanmar for
Thailand
Denis D. Gray

Pro-democracy activists fleeing Myanmar in the wake of a military
crackdown have no legal protection and are targets of exploitation once
they reach Thailand, a U.S. advocacy group said Monday.

An unknown number of students, Buddhist monks and veteran activists,
including several protest leaders, have fled Yangon and other parts of
Myanmar to the Thai frontier. Many say they were about to be arrested
along with the thousands of others who were seized off the streets by the
military.

"They are subject to constant harassment, bribery, exploitation. They are
forced to live in limbo, lacking any status in Thailand," said Eileen
Shields-West, member of a 12-person team from Refugees International that
returned from the Thai-Myanmar border.

The group spent four days interviewing refugees at frontier camps and
"safe houses" run by Myanmar activist exile groups trying to assist the
new arrivals from the isolated Southeast Asian nation also known as Burma.

The Washington-based group estimates 2 million Burmese have fled to
Thailand in recent years due to repression and a collapsed economy.
Hundreds of thousands also have left for Malaysia, India, Bangladesh and
China.

"Many of these are legitimate refugees who deserve protection and
assistance, but the Royal Thai Government refuses to classify them as
such," the group said.

Team leader Dawn Calabia said some of the new arrivals have been able to
obtain letters from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, noting that
the bearers are "persons of concern" due to their political activities.
But the letters are not always recognized by Thai authorities.

Kitty McKinsey, the UNHCR spokeswoman in Thailand, said 89 people from
Myanmar have applied for refugee status since the September crackdown. She
said their applications were being reviewed by Thai authorities and the
United Nations. If approved, they will be allowed to live in refugee
camps.

Thai government officials were not available for comment.

Calabia said some Thai authorities have stressed the "pull factor" in the
refugee flow: attractive, safe conditions inside Thailand. The group said
they are focused on the "push factor," namely the political and economic
conditions in Myanmar that are forcing thousands to flee.

Only the end of military repression and the introduction of a rule of law
in Myanmar would halt the refugee exodus, team members said.

The group, which has worked in Southeast Asia since 1979, said that on
returning to Washington it would lobby for more "targeted sanctions"
against the Myanmar regime rather than blanket economic boycotts, which
would further impoverish the country.

Such measures would include pinpointing foreign companies that exploit
Myanmar's natural resources to the benefit of the ruling elite, as well as
trying to stop countries such as Singapore from providing bank accounts,
health facilities and other benefits to junta leaders.

Associated Press Writer Rungrawee C. Pinyorat contributed to this report.

____________________________________

November 5, Kachin News Group
Three women from Burma raped by Thai broker and robbers

Migrants from Burma cross over to Thailand in search of work to earn money
for a better life, often overlooking their personal safety. Three women
from Burma were raped by a Thai broker and robbers on their way to Bangkok
from Maesot in Thailand, one of the victims said.

"I know that I entered Thailand illegally and I am reconciled to the
punishment for illegal entry. I was raped even though I pleaded with
them," said a victim.

Nine people from Burma including three women came walking to Bangkok from
Maesot with the help of a Thai broker.  The broker asked for 9000 baht and
promised to send them to Bangkok, said Khaing Gyi, who is investigating
the incident.

The Thai broker took them first to Kam Paeng gate, near Maesot and then he
promised to take them to Bangkok by car. On the way to Kam Paeng the
broker raped the three women and left them to a Thai business man in Kam
Paeng who seemed to be a human trafficker.

They run away from the trafficker because he tried to rape them. They went
inside the jungle and were raped by three Thai robbers again, he added.

"I want to go for a medical check up. I don't know what happened to the
others who were my friends" said the victim.

____________________________________

November 5, Narinjara News
Monks coming back Arrested in Bangladesh

Cox's Bazaar:  Bangladesh Rifles, the country's border security force
arrested three monks coming back home from Burma in Teknaf Town, opposite
Burma's Maungdaw, on November 2 after they arrived in town on board a
small ferry boat.

The arrested monks have been identified as U Nadiya (17) U Painya Thiha
(18) and U Nada Ka (17). All are reportedly from the Chittagong Hill Tract
in Bangladesh.

The three were arrested by Bangladesh Rifles, as they could not speak
Bengali fluently, a monk on the border said.

The three monks had been detained in an interrogation cell by Nasaka,
Burma's border security force in Maungdaw for at least two days after
being arrested in Burma.

Later, Nasaka forces sent them back to Bangladesh on a small ferry boat.
They were then arrested by Bangladesh Rifles soon after they arrived at
the border town of Teknaf from Maundaw.

The Bangladesh police produced the three monks before a judge in Cox's
Bazaar district court on Saturday, and they were charged with illegally
crossing over into Burma , an eyewitness said.

Relatives of monks' from Chittagong , however, arrived in Cox's Bazaar
town yesterday evening with documents and government certificates to prove
the identity of the monks.

Many monks belonging to Bangladesh have returned home recently from Burma
after the Burmese authorities barred monks from studying in monasteries in
Sittwe and Rangoon.

On 2 October, 11 monks arrived in Bangladesh from Burma . On 4 October,
four monks arrived and on 24 October, 12 monks arrived in Bangladesh from
Burma, a monk said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

November 5, Agence France Presse
Myanmar tycoon denounces US sanctions

Flamboyant Myanmar tycoon Tay Za Monday denounced US sanctions against his
airline and other firms which he said would only hurt the people of the
impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

US President George W. Bush last month ordered sanctions against seven
companies with ties to Myanmar's ruling junta.

Tay Za's Air Bagan was among seven firms blacklisted to pile more pressure
on the regime after its bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests in
September which left 13 dead and thousands locked up.

"I hereby condemn the sanctions which were recklessly imposed and only
hurt the people of Myanmar," Tay Za told officials, staff and businessmen
in a speech for celebrations to mark Air Bagan's third anniversary.

"The sanctions are misguided and unfair. Air Bagan Ltd is a legally
constituted company with funds earned through 100 percent legitimate
means," he said.

"No government officials or party outside our two groups of companies owns
any shares in Air Bagan."

The charismatic tycoon, who was said to be close to members of the ruling
junta, also denied he was the son-in-law of one of the ruling generals.

"There had been allegations that I am the son-in-law of one of the senior
members of the state. It is totally untrue and I categorically and utterly
refute these allegations," he said.

He also said his airline was not involved in any criminal activities.

"The capital of Air Bagan is not related in any way with such business as
drug trafficking, arms sales and money laundering but comes from the
earnings of two groups of companies through our legitimate business," he
said.

Tay Za however admitted that the airline was facing problems because of
the sanctions.

"Air Bagan Ltd ... s facing a myriad of problems because of wrongful
sanctions imposed by the US administration. Due to restrictions on banking
facilities, Air Bagan is encountering operational difficulties," he said.

"Under the circumstances, Air Bagan's Singapore flights have been suspended."

Air Bagan had announced from November 4 it would suspend its Singapore
service, which was only launched in September.

"It is apparent that the US sanctions will mainly impact on the working
population," he said, adding that they would affect the 14,000 employees
of his two groups of companies and Air Bagan.

"We shall tackle the sanctions by fair and rightful means, carry on with
our second five-year plan and forge ahead in the private sector for the
economic development of Myanmar together with the state," he said.

Myanmar-watchers say Tay Za, 43, is also involved in tourism,
infrastructure projects, mobile telephone services and was involved in the
government's purchase of helicopters from Russia.

____________________________________

November 5, Irrawaddy
Dagon Win Aung: the importance of being well-connected - Wai Moe


>From the windows of Dagon International Ltd headquarters on Prome Road in

Rangoon, CEO Win Aung looks out over a country from which he has plundered
a vast fortune. Known locally as “Dagon Win Aung,” he is a Burmese tycoon
who has made his fortune in the timber trade, construction and
import-export. His licenses were, of course, all fast-tracked and rubber
stamped by the ruling generals.

In early 1990s, Win Aung co-founded Dagon International with ex-Captain
Win Thein, blueprints for construction projects in Rangoon close at hand.
Following the aborted coup d’etat by Captain Ohn Kyaw Myint in 1976,
ex-Captain Win Thein appeared as a government witness at his trial and Ohn
Kyaw Myint was subsequently hanged the following year. From that moment
on, acquiring construction licenses for Win Thein and his partner, Win
Aung, would be no problem.

Dagon International Ltd was quickly granted a construction license to
build highways throughout Burma. According to The New Light of Myanmar,
the firm managed the Rangoon-Mandalay Highway upgrading and extension
project, as well as several agriculture and irrigation projects across the
country.

Win Aung branched into the timber trade, raping Burma’s rainforests
alongside Woodland Co. Ltd. And Htoo Trading Co, owned by fellow tycoon,
Tay Za.

Win Aung stamped his mark firmly on Rangoon in recent years when he built
a modern shopping complex, The Dagon Center in the main commercial zone of
the city. The Dagon Center was racked by a bomb blast on May 7, 2005,
which took over a dozen lives. Although no one was ever charged for the
attack, ousted general Khin Nyunt was suspected of being behind it, a move
that signified a widening rift between political factions within the
military.

The state-run media reported that in January 2006, Snr-Gen Than Shwe was
visiting his favourite resort, Ngwe Hsaung Beach in Irrawaddy Division. He
reportedly rested on the beach before returning to their accommodation,
the exclusive Palm Beach Resort owned by Dagon International Ltd. The
junta leader was reportedly met on arrival by beaming host, Win Aung.

Tourism may be floundering for the other hotels and resorts at Ngwe Hsaung
Beach these days. But for sycophantic cronies such as Dagon Win Aung,
business in Burma is just an oasis of paradise to be kept to himself and
his masters, the ruling generals.

____________________________________

November 5, Irrawaddy
Dollar rate fluctuates in Rangoon as sanctions hit - Wai Moe

The black market rate for the US dollar is fluctuating in Rangoon as
business suffers because of the tightening of western sanctions against
the regime.

The normal black market rate for the US currency of 1,360 kyat to the
dollar plunged last Friday to 1,280 kyat, but recovered somewhat on Monday
to 1,305 kyat, Rangoon sources reported.

A businessman in Burma’s commercial capital said the demand for dollars
had decreased because of the drop in foreign goods, which are normally
paid for in the US currency. He said businesspeople had become nervous of
buying dollars.

The drop in the dollar rate had resulted in lower prices for some
foodstuffs, such as rice and cooking oil. But lower prices had not meant
more trade, the businessman said.

Shops were closing early because of the falloff in business, particularly
in the warehouse and wholesale market area of Bayint Naung and Saw Bwar
Gyi Gone, sources said.

The falling prices have put more food on Burmese table, however. Seafood
is again affordable for many people—“We’ve been eating seafood for three
days now, the children are very happy to be eating prawns and crab,” said
a Rangoon housewife recently.

____________________________________

November 5, Wilmington Media Ltd.
India gives exim loan to Myanmar for Thahtay Chaung project

A loan of US$60M has been given by India to Myanmar to help fund
construction of the Thahtay Chaung (or "Creek") hydropower project.

The funds were made available via a Line of Credit (LoC) agreement between
the governments. India is channelling the LoC to the Myanmar Foreign Trade
Bank through the use of the Export-Import Bank of India, which is the
vehicle it uses to support foreign industrial activity.

The Thahtay Chaung project is to have an installed capacity of 100MW. The
early data on the project, from two to three years ago, indicated that the
power plant would be built to hold four 25MW units. However, earlier this
year official sources said that the plant would be equipped with three
37.5MW units.

Thahtay Chaung is being built almost 20km north east of Thandwe in Rakhine
state, the region is will supply electricity to as well as the hotel
sector at Ngapali Beach, according to official sources.

According to the exim bank, the LoC is the first it has made to a
hydropower project in Myanmar. Previously, funds of a third the amount
were made available for a hydropower scheme in Rwanda.

International Water Power and Dam Construction ©2007
http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=130&storyCode=2047750

____________________________________
ASEAN

November 5, The Nation
Asean asked to reconsider financial ties with Burma - Supalak G Khundee

The United States has asked Asean members to reconsider its financial
relationship with the Burmese military junta as part of the mounting
pressure on the regime to move forward to democracy.

"We ask them to think about their financial relationship with Burma and to
ensure whether their banks are being used to shelter the financial assets
of the Burmese regime," said Kristen Silverberg, US State Department's
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of international Organisation Affairs.

Silverberg was in Thailand Monday for the last leg of her Asian tour which
also took her to China and Vietnam to address the Burma issue.

In Bangkok, she met Foreign Ministry's PermanentSecretary Virasakdi
Futrakul and incoming Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan.

Washington has imposed sanctions on the military regime after a severe
crackdown against massive street protests in September. The European Union
and Australia have agreed to the US approach. The Americans are hoping
many governments will do the same to put more pressure on the regime.

 "This is no time for 'business as usual' with the Burmese regime,"
Silverberg said in a briefing with a selective group of media.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 5, Mizzima News
Piano politics - Sandar

While the wheels of international diplomacy are slowly turning, a group of
well-known British women artists is moving forward to make subtle politics
with a piano. The Britons, lead by actress Maureen Lipman and singer Annie
Lennox, are determined to deliver a brand new instrument on the doorsteps
of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house in Rangoon, despite many visitors having
been turned away by the Burmese military rulers in the past.

Music has kept Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's spirit alive through much of her 12
years spent under house arrest. Unable to speak publicly, the piano sounds
that flow out of the accomplished pianist's house and into the streets of
Rangoon have become a way of wordless communication with admirers and
supporters who sometimes gather underneath her window to listen to daily
recitals of Bach or Scarlatti.

Suu Kyi's favorite piece remains Pachebel's Cannon. She played it for her
husband Michael Aris on the last of his few visits from Britain in 1997.
He died in 1999 after she was prevented from visiting him.

But lately, those piano sounds have been out of tune. The instrument is
damaged from wear and tear, and Burma's tropical climate has also taken
its toll. It is further reported that the Nobel laureate may have
accidentally ruined some keys in frustration. That was in 2004 when
learning that her friend, poet U Tin Moe, had been placed under house
arrest just like herself.

Upon hearing about the deteriorating state of the piano in Rangoon, a
woman on the other side of the planet felt moved to take action. "It just
seemed a good and nice idea," Maureen Lipman was quoted as saying in
Britain's "The Sunday Times". The actress has been an ardent supporter of
Aung San Suu Kyi for years. She also has some significant prior artistic
involvement around the specific instrument and the issues at hand. Lipman
starred in the Oscar-winning picture "The Pianist" which tells the
real-life story of Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman whose freedom was
taken away by Nazi forces during World War II.

Lipman and a group of friends, among them singer Annie Lennox, as well as
film producer Norma Heyman and arts fundraiser Joyce Hytner, have already
raised funds for the piano. Yet to be found out is how the instrument can
be delivered to Aung San Suu Kyi's house in Rangoon. Geographically, it is
an easy boat ride that would start in Singapore or India, and then proceed
50 miles upriver from the Burmese coast to the port city of Rangoon.

Obstacles encountered along the way would be more likely of political
nature. Lipman and friends would like to accompany the instrument and
present it to Suu Kyi in person. The ruling junta might view that as an
unwanted foreign interference with internal affairs. The fact that Burma
has been under closer global watch since the brutal crackdown of the
monk's peaceful uprising in September might either help or hurt the
intended piano mission.

However, it's worth a try said NLD spokesperson U Lwin to Mizzima via
telephone from Rangoon. "Offering a piano is not making trouble. It's a
musical instrument", he said. Although he added that Aung San Suu Kyi has
little time for playing the piano these days. But, maybe, all she needs is
a brand new piano that can hold the tunes.

International artists have lent their support in the past, having found
inspiration in Burma's beloved freedom fighter. Pop band U2 dedicated the
famous song "Walk On" to Suu Kyi, celebrating her fearless determination.
And after visiting Burma in 2004, Irish singer Damien Rice wrote "Unplayed
Piano".

"Maybe it's not that easy, or, maybe it's not that hard. Maybe they could
release me. Let the people decide. I've got nothing to hide," Rice's
delicate ballad echoes.

____________________________________

November 5, Agence France Presse
US seeking 'concrete results' from UN envoy in Myanmar

UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari met leaders of Myanmar's many ethnic
groups Monday as the United States pressed for concrete results from his
mission aimed at pushing the junta toward reform.

It is Gamabari's second visit since the military regime's bloody crackdown
on mass pro-democracy protests in September in which 13 people were killed
and thousands locked up.

He is scheduled Wednesday to meet detained democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, but it was unclear if he would also be able to see elusive junta
leader Senior General Than Shwe.

"So far there are no plans to meet with the senior general yet," a Myanmar
official told AFP.

US Assistant Secretary of State Kristen Silverberg said Washington wanted
something positive to emerge from the mission.

"We'll evaluate Mr Gambari's mission based on whether it produces concrete
results, in particular we're looking for direct dialogue between the
government and the democracy activists and the ethnic minority groups,"
Silverberg told reporters in Bangkok.

"And we're also looking for progress on political prisoners.

"So our benchmarks for success have to do with whether we see the
government making real steps toward a peaceful transition to democratic,
inclusive rule," said Silverberg, who was to discuss Myanmar with Thai
officials.

Gambari was originally due to meet Myanmar's information minister Monday,
but it was put back a day, the official said.

He would now meet with the information minister on Tuesday and with Prime
Minister Lieutenant General Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday.

The UN envoy met ethnic leaders in the isolated capital Naypyidaw and
would later meet with Red Cross officials, another official there said.

The Red Cross last week asked the government for access to all detainees,
particularly those arrested during the protests.

Gambari's mission has been overshadowed by the junta's decision Friday to
expel the top UN diplomat based in the country, Charles Petrie, saying he
had misrepresented events here.

The pro-democracy protests began in mid-August after a massive hike in the
price of everyday fuel, but escalated into the biggest threat to the
generals in nearly 20 years when Buddhist monks emerged at the forefront.

The savage repression triggered global outrage, and Gambari's first visit
immediately following the crackdown led to the junta appointing a minister
to liaise with Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest in Yangon.

Gambari met Sunday with the liaison official, Labour Minister Aung Kyi, as
well as Foreign Minister Nyan Win.

The UN envoy and Aung Kyi discussed the latter's first talks with Aung San
Suu Kyi, the United Nations said in a statement.

"The special adviser expects that these initial steps will lead to early
initiation of dialogue aimed at accelerating inclusive national
reconciliation, the restoration of democracy and the full respect for
human rights," it said.

Aung Kyi met Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time at the end of last month,
but analysts warned against reading too much into their encounter, saying
the the junta was probably making a token gesture.

Hopes were briefly raised again last week with the release of 165 of those
arrested during September's wave of protests.

But that optimism was quickly dashed when the junta partially cut Internet
links last week in an apparent attempt to limit the flow of information
before and during Gambari's visit.

Internet users in Myanmar said connections had significantly improved
since late Sunday and they were now able to access overseas websites.

A Myanmar telecoms official could not confirm if all Internet connections
were completely back to normal.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 4, Washington Post
What Burma's junta must fear - U Gambira

In August, the Burmese people began to write a new chapter in their
determination to find peace and freedom. Burmese monks peacefully
protested to bring change to our long-suffering country. As we marched,
hundreds of thousands of Burmese and our ethnic cousins joined us to
reinforce our collective demand: that military rule finally give way to
the people's desire for democracy.

Video and the Internet have allowed the world to witness the brutal
response directed by Gen. Than Shwe, Burma's de facto ruler and military
leader. Than Shwe unleashed his soldiers and the regime's thugs, who
attacked us. Once again the streets in Rangoon and Mandalay ran red with
the blood of innocent civilians seeking to save our country from the
moral, social, political and economic crises that consume us.

Hundreds of our monks and nuns have been beaten and arrested. Many have
been murdered. Alarmingly, thousands of clergy have disappeared. Our
sacred monasteries have been looted and destroyed. As darkness falls each
night, intelligence units try to round up political and religious leaders.

Military rule has brought Burma to collapse. Our economy is in ruins. Once
the breadbasket of Asia, Burma cannot feed itself. Once we were a light
for education and literacy; now, the regime has closed schools and
universities. Once we breathed the air of freedom; now, we choke on the
foul air of tyranny. We are an enslaved people.

My colleagues and I welcomed the strong actions of the United States to
impose financial and travel restrictions on the regime and its enablers.
Australia is following this model, and the European Union should as well.

Than Shwe and his fellow military leaders have sought to portray this
uprising as a singular event, now over. A veneer of quiet has replaced the
sounds of gunfire on city streets. Unfortunately, many in the
international community buy in and actively support this propaganda.

At the United Nations, China and Russia continue to block the Security
Council from facilitating a dialogue between democratic forces and the
regime. Within our region, senior officials of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations have condemned the regime's actions but have done
little else. Perhaps most disappointing, the world's largest democracy,
India, continues to provide military assistance and trade deals that help
finance the regime's war on its people.

What will it take for the world to realize that Burma's generals are a
menace and that because of their misrule, drugs, diseases and refugees
from Burma spill across borders and wash through other societies, ruining
lives?

The recent steps by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his special
adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, to open a dialogue with Burma's generals are
welcome and necessary. The United Nations can help bring peace to Burma.
However, the Security Council is the proper forum. All efforts must focus
on making council members take the steps necessary to coerce the generals
to come to terms with the people. This involves setting a timetable for
the regime to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi;
allow free assembly; and give a full accounting of the thousands who have
disappeared. The council should also seek a ban on all arms sales to the
regime.

People ask whether I am disheartened and whether this latest spasm of
democratic activism is over. The answer to both questions is no. Although
I am wanted by the military and forced to hide in my own country, I am
awed by the bravery of so many, including sympathetic security agents of
the junta who opened their homes to democracy leaders and me.

Since August, I have seen my country galvanized as never before. I have
watched our 88 Generation leaders bravely confront the military. I have
watched a new generation of activists join to issue an unequivocal call
for freedom. And I have watched as many in the police and military,
sickened at what they were forced to do to their countrymen, give so many
of us quiet help. The primary tools wielded by Burma's senior generals, a
climate of fear and the use of violence, are no longer working -- and with
nothing to lose, we are no longer afraid.

On Wednesday, more than 200 monks staged a protest in Pakokku. They stared
military officers in the face. Their spirit and determination are a
warning to the regime and those that prop it up.


Burma's Saffron Revolution is just beginning. The regime's use of mass
arrests, murder, torture and imprisonment has failed to extinguish our
desire for the freedom that was stolen from us so many years ago. We have
taken their best punch.

Now it is the generals who must fear the consequences of their actions. We
adhere to nonviolence, but our spine is made of steel. There is no turning
back. It matters little if my life or the lives of colleagues should be
sacrificed on this journey. Others will fill our sandals, and more will
join and follow.

U Gambira is the pseudonym of a leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance,
which spearheaded nationwide protests in September. Wanted by Burma's
military junta, he is living in hiding as he continues the monks'
campaign.

____________________________________

November 5, Irrawaddy
Burma: diplomatic graveyard - Kyaw Zaw Moe

No UN envoys to Burma have turned into superman. Instead, all six previous
diplomats buried their mission under a tomb stone marked "Democracy" and
"Human Rights." Burma is now a diplomatic graveyard.

The six UN special envoys—starting with Japanese diplomat Sadako Ogata who
was appointed in 1990 as an independent expert of the UN Commission on
Human Rights to the Malaysian businessman Razali Ismail, the UN
secretary-general’s second special envoy to the country—quit their job in
deep frustration.

Their missions to Burma were routinely rebuffed by the junta and, at least
one of the diplomats, the UN’s second special rapporteur, Mauritian
Rajsoomer Lallah, wasn’t even allowed to step on Burmese soil due to his
sharp criticism of the regime.

“We are faced with a country which is at war with its own people,” said
Lallah, who was appointed in 1996. His annual reports to the UN General
Assembly were rejected by the regime as biased on the grounds that they
were based on information provided by opposition groups. In 2000, he quit
amid reports of inadequate support from the UN and his own frustration
with the junta's leaders.

The seventh and last envoy, Nigerian diplomat Ibrahim Gambari, is in Burma
now to try to create a dialogue between junta chief Than Shwe and detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Like his failed predecessors, the question is whether Gambari can move the
junta forward even a little bit. This is Gambari’s fourth trip to Burma
since May 2006. His predecessor Razali Ismail, who served from 2000 to
2006, made twelve visits but failed to bring tangible results. The
Malaysian diplomat told The Irrawaddy when he quit, “It is best to
conclude that I have failed.”

However, it isn’t fair to say their failure was their fault. The heart of
the problem is the ruling junta. For the generals, dealing with a UN envoy
is just another political card to manipulate diplomacy and world opinion.

With each envoy, the junta has cleverly played a game, always pushing
things back to square one. On the eve of Gambari’s arrival in Burma on
Saturday, the military regime announced it wants to expel the UN resident
coordinator Charles Petrie due to his criticism of the junta’s failure to
improve economic and humanitarian conditions.

The statement in question, issued on October 18, declared that the
concerns of the Burmese people had been “clearly expressed through the
recent peaceful demonstrations, and it is beholden on all to listen.”

His expulsion clearly shows the mentality of the generals—and their
political will.

The junta thinks nothing of abusing normal diplomatic protocol. A room
where UN special human rights rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro was
conducting an interview in 2003 with a political prisoner in Insein Prison
in Rangoon was bugged. Pinheiro cut his visit short as a result.

Part of the UN’s problem in Burma is its traditional lack of muscle,
especially in dealing with such a repressive country. The UN Security
Council itself also has differing views on how to deal with Burma. Also,
the UN envoys themselves sometimes have varying degrees of personal
interest.

Because of a lack of concrete results, the Burmese people are growing
frustrated with the UN and its envoys. Some Burmese call Gambari “kyauk yu
pyan,” which means “one who takes gems and then leaves,” according to The
Associated Press.

Rumors circulate that some UN envoys have taken “boxes of presents” from
the generals. The former envoy Razali Ismail had a business deal between
the military government and a Malaysian company that he heads, the IRIS
Corp, which sold high-tech passports to the regime. Such entanglements
taint public perceptions.

Many Burmese people now believe that the only way to create change is to
take matters in their own hands. On October 31, about 100 monks marched
again in Pakokku in central Burma. They are many monks in the sangha who
are determined to sacrifice themselves to bring freedom to Burma.

Like them, the UN also needs to be determined to bring change to Burma.

But in fact, the UN seems to be more determined to play a negotiating role
between the junta and the opposition parties, even after the military
regime brutally put down peaceful demonstrations in September.

The world, including the US, the EU, Asean, and even China and India—who
are both close allies of the military regime—have supported the UN’s
latest diplomatic effort.

Unfortunately, diplomacy alone will—again—probably prove to be
insufficient. The UN needs more muscle, otherwise its envoy and its
efforts at mediation seem destined to end up like all the rest—in the
Burmese diplomatic graveyard.

____________________________________

November 5, Irrawaddy
Do-it-Yourself democracy, Burmese style - Satya Sagar

If sheer sacrifice of body, mind and soul for a noble cause were
convertible into hard currency Burma’s legions of pro-democracy
campaigners would be among the richest citizens in the world.

That in reality they happen to be among the poorest in the world is only a
reflection of how money and power can be hard to defeat.

What will it really take to achieve a transition to democracy in this
seemingly hapless nation stuck for decades under one of the most brutal
ruling classes in modern times?

Without denying the huge obstacles facing the Burmese pro-democracy
movement, I think the pessimism of those who have a grim prognosis for the
future of the country is quite off the mark.

They are misled, among other reasons, by their simplistic equation of
democracy with parliamentary elections and a handful of its associated
institutions. A better understanding of the Burmese experience also lies
in going beyond short-term, media-driven notions of success and failure of
mass movements.

In fact, the good news that is crying out to be recognised today is that
Burma’s brave activists—despite repeated setbacks—are forging the
foundations of a democratic society. A more nuanced view of the history of
democracy around the world shows that long-term prospects of building a
genuinely democratic Burma appear extremely promising for a variety of
reasons.

First and foremost is simply the participation of more and more ordinary
Burmese in the fight for democratic rights, even if the price means
certain imprisonment, injury or even worse—brutal murder.

In contrast, almost a century ago, the first stirrings of revolt against
British colonial rule involved only a handful of Buddhist monks and
student activists.

Later in the thirties and forties, while Burma’s legendary "thirty
comrades," led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s father Gen Aung San, steered the
nation to independence from both British and Japanese rule, it was done
with little participation from the bulk of the population.

In 1945, when Burma became a free nation, the deeply authoritarian
structures of both feudal, traditional society as well as the newly
imported machinery of the nation-state remained unchallenged by both
leadership and ordinary citizens alike.

By 1962, using the excuse of "preserving national unity" following demands
by Burma’s ethnic minorities for greater autonomy, the Burmese military
managed to take over the young nation. Since then it has tightly held on
to power through a mix of high intrigue and naked force.

The biggest uprising till date was in 1988 that, for all its intensity,
unfortunately failed to dislodge the regime from power. The dictatorship
was, however, forced to hold national elections in 1990, which they lost
by massive margins, underlining their complete lack of legitimacy forever.

It is true the military rulers managed to claw their way back and recoup
some losses since then, thanks mostly to external support from the Asean
group of nations, China, and oil companies interested in Burma’s natural
resources.

But opponents of the Burmese junta, under very difficult circumstances,
have been carrying out propaganda and organisational work within the belly
of the beast in myriad ways helping achieve—bit by bit—what Aung San Suu
Kyi famously called ‘Freedom from Fear’.

There has been, of course, the clever use of new technologies such as
mobile phones and the Internet, but some of the methods used—like
invocation of cultural symbols or spreading of subversive jokes about the
junta—are difficult to understand as "political activity" by many
outsiders.

Last year, in October, for example, the 88 Generation Students led by the
legendary Min Ko Naing launched the ‘White Expression’ and called for
"national reconciliation" and the freedom of all political prisoners.

As part of the campaign, students urged the Burmese people to show their
support by wearing white clothes, or, at least, white handkerchiefs, white
triangular brooches or badges. "Whiteness" represents purity, sincerity,
honesty and altruism in Burmese culture.

As the blog site "Burma Digest" noted, the adoption of the color white was
tactically significant since schoolboys and girls wear white shirts and
blouses in Burma. The members of the junta’s political party, the Union
Solidarity and Development Party, also favour white. The campaign in that
respect was nothing short of "the re-appropriation of whiteness" by the
students for their cause.

Outside of Burma thousands of Burmese political have also been working
tirelessly towards the liberation of the country. Apart from contributing
funds for the upkeep of their families back home many of them are
instrumental in funnelling information, ideas and innovative means of
dissent within the isolated Burmese population.

On another front, one more great achievement of the Burmese pro-democracy
movement has been the coming together of mainstream ethnic Burman
activists with those from ethnic minorities fighting against the
centralised nation-state created after independence from colonialism.

While differences do remain in their visions of what a future Burma will
exactly look like, the process of  shared participation in the struggle
against the military regime is creating spaces for dialogue quite
unimaginable a couple of decades ago.

But of all the achievements of the Burmese struggle listed so far, the
most important has been a deeper and richer understanding of the concept
of democracy itself.

When an average Burmese activist talks of democracy today he or she does
not simply refer to the replacement of an unelected regime by an elected
one. They understand—from bitter experience—it is not so much about who
wields state power but how and on whose behalf it is exercised.

That is why there is no one overarching Burmese pro-democracy movement but
thousands of them walking, talking, fighting, declaring little republics
of freedom wherever, whenever the opportunity arises. If there are no
larger-than-life leaders at the head of the Burmese protests, it is
because the men and women on the streets are learning to become leaders
all on their own.

And that is why those who are fixated on a quick end to this long-running
saga can't see the birth of Burmese democracy. We can already hear the
baby cry, its smile can’t be far behind.

Satya Sagar is a writer, journalist and video maker based in New Delhi. He
can be reached at sagarnama at gmail.com