More than 60 killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested in crackdown
Military junta has once again crushed the pro-democracy movement in the streets of Rangoon and other cities. The six weeks long protests and rallies are dieing down as thousands of protesters and activists have been arrested in crack down against peaceful demonstrations. Military junta used excessive force and brutally killed more than 60 activists and monks on the streets. The search operations and arrests are still continued to completely smash the protest movement. Thousands of police and army personnel are still occupying the streets to stop the protests. The regime is not allowing any rally or demonstration to take place and Rangoon looks like an army garrison. The curfew that was imposed four weeks ago has been lifted. The internet services have been restored but mobile phones are not properly working. Only one percent people in Burma has access to the internet.
The mass protest movement has failed to bring down the military regime but it has shaken the ground under its feet. The mass uprising has been defeated with brutal state force but anger and hatred against the regime has increased. The people fought courageously without fearing their lives. But their heroics failed to defeat the military regime because of subjective factor, the political organization. The regime has been able to restore the order for time being and there might be a pause in the movement, but it will re-emerge if regime refuses to give concessions to opposition parties. Hundreds and thousands of people including monks, political and labour activists, school students and ordinary poor people took part in the protests. A new layer of young people and students entered into the political scene and challenged the vicious regime. Military junta has accepted that around 1400 people are still in the custody but the actual numbers are many times higher than the official numbers. They are facing summary trials without any right to defend them and can be sentenced to minimum 5 years imprisonment. Hundreds of monks are also in the custody facing humiliation and tortures.
The regime has got the control but their fear is not over yet. From the outside the military junta looks very strong but internally it is shaky and uncomfortable. Shari Villarosa, US head of mission in Burma told AFP “They have a curfew in place and every night they arrest people. While a semblance of normality had returned, long simmering discontent had been heightened by anger by what has been done against the demonstrators, the atrocities that have been committed against the monks and activists. The regime is still frightened from the angry monks and growing anger in the people”.
Political Vacuum and Monks
There is a big political vacuum in Burma as continues repression has weakened the political parties and groups. Hundreds of political workers are either in the prisons or being forced into exile. There is no doubt that detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kye is very popular and very well respected in the masses, but its party National League for Democracy (NLD) has been significantly weakened because of state repression since many years. This party enjoys the support and sympathy of masses but organizationally not really in the position to translate this to the well organized political action. In this vacuum, the monks came forward to give lead to this movement. The main leadership of NLD and other groups are in the prison or in exile. The military junta has consciously adopted the policy to isolate the political leadership from the masses and political workers. This policy has certainly affected the political parties and their capacity to organize them.
Military junta applied this policy to suppress the movement as Monks were isolated from the protests and rallies. After three days of mass protests and big rallies in the last week of September, led by Monks, the military junta decided to crush the protests and started vicious crackdown. In the beginning, the junta tried to suppress the protests by using street violence but it did not worked. The junta than decided to besiege the monasteries and send the forces to arrest the monks. The security forces blocked the entry point of these main monasteries. The crackdown was so severe that many monasteries in Rangoon are seemed empty as monks were arrested or killed. The streets around the holiest place Shwedagon Pagoda are still empty; it was the key rallying point for the mass protests. The scale of crackdown can be judged from the fact that usually thousands of monks collects alms at dawn on the streets and surrounding areas, but now hardly some monk can be seen in this area.
The military junta is offering donations of thousands of dollars to the different monasteries to calm down the monks. Many monasteries have refused to accept the donations and also refusing to accept the alms from soldiers.
Summary trials
The military junta has started the summary trials of officially arrested 1400 political workers. More than 300 have been sentenced from 5 to 20 years. The trials are taking place in side the prisons and there is no defence available to the workers. Even people in their 70s have been sentenced to 7 years in prison. Others are also awaiting the same fate in coming days. All the political workers are facing the charges of treason and terrorism because they participated in anti junta protests. Even a slogan against military junta is a crime and means at least 5years imprisonment. More than 3600 political and labour activists are already in the prisons for taking part in anti junta protests from many years. Hundreds have been detained and arrested without any trial and junta is not acknowledging their detentions and arrests. Many have been dumped in the torture cells to brutally torture them. In July, 7 labor activists were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for organizing a labor rights seminar.
Military economy
In 1962, when military junta took over, they nationalized almost all the industry outside the agriculture. After destroying the other state institutions, the military junta now enjoys absolute monopoly over Burma’s economy. All the state owned companies are being run and controlled by the junta. There are 400000(0.4million) soldiers and officers in the military and most of them are involved in the economy. The military now control oil, forestry, heavy industry, energy, gems and rice trade. The military junta controls the economy through formally state owned companies but in fact they use these companies as their personal assets. The profits are going directly in the pockets of the generals and senior officials. The junta is one of the most corrupt regimes in the world. The big chunk of state revenues is going to the perks and privileges of the junta and to finance the military machine. There are 40000 registered companies in Burma but only 10% are operational. The Burma’s economy is in serious trouble as the economy is growing at the snail’s pace. The average growth rate is around 3% in last few years. The infrastructure is very poor and most of the roads are in bad conditions. Inflation is rampant and badly hurting the poor masses. The corruption, nepotism, cronyism and inefficient management have halted the economic growth. The nationalization of the industry and economy has been turned into the militarization of the economy. The handful of state officials and senior junta leaders are making fortunes as millions of ordinary Burmese are falling below the poverty line. The plunder and looting of the state and natural resources has made this once richest country in the region to the poorest one.
It is difficult to get the real picture of the economy as junta has a complete control over the media and information. There are many joint ventures are going on with the foreign companies mostly from India and China but the fundamental control of the economy is still in the hands of the junta. There are private companies mostly owned by the family members of the serving and retired senior military officers. Military as an institution has also developed the companies to build military owned businesses.
Both India and China wants to further strengthen economic ties with Burma to get oil, gas and timber needs. Burma has 300 billion cubic meters of proven gas reserves. Both governments are supporting the military junta against the increased pressure from US and European Imperialist powers for the restoration of the democracy. They both are getting access to the energy and natural resources for their political support to the junta. Military junta is exporting oil and gas to China and India. India is very much interested to invest in oil sector where Chinese companies have already invested heavily. Military junta is well aware of the needs of both the countries and thus wants more political and economic support in return.
The trade between India and Burma has expanded to $669 million in 2005 from $87 million in 1992. India’s Gas Authority of India Ltd.(GAIL) and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is currently involved in the process to lay down a gas pipe line from northern Burma to northeast India. The most ambitious of India’s ventures is a link between ports on India’s east and Sittwe port in western Burma. India is also working on a $100 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport project to develop an alternate trade route. India is also selling arms to Burmese army including tanks, light infantry guns, sophisticated assault rifles and helicopters. Burmese military in a large scale offensive in northern Karen state destroyed 230 villages and displaced 27000 people to clear this whole for gas field and installations. Similarly in eastern Burma some 3000 villages destroyed and 1.5 million people have been displaced. Both India and China has no problem with this destruction and killings because they are more interested in oil and gas. Both India and China will continue to support the military junta to gain economic and political interests.
The working masses needs unity and united action to defeat the military junta. The masses can not rely on Imperialist powers for their political, social and economic liberty, democratic rights and real freedom. Imperialist powers like US and EU and regional powers like China and India have their own interests. They support and oppose military junta for their own reasons and interests. Their class interests are different from the class interests of working masses. To defeat the military junta, the protests and rallies are not enough but there is need to organize a general strike.
- No to summary trials and sentences
- Release all the arrested political workers, students and labor activists
- Right to organize, trade unions, political parties and student unions
- Labour and trade union rights including the right of strike
- No to the militarization of the economy, Nationalization under the democratic workers control