What You Don't Know: Burma's Troubles
I have a huge affinity for Burma, largely due to my affection for Burma Superstar. It's pretty shallow, I know, but I'm not going to start telling stories. I also know there's a huge Buddhist population there (as there is in much of Asia, but still), and in my weird way of being myself, my study of Buddhism, while largely informal, is a personal journey of mine.
I have been somewhat keeping an eye on a situation in Burma that I'm surprised that hasn't been getting much news, at least in American mainstream journalism. A military regime currently runs Burma, and by run I mean owns, and by owns I mean treats its people like shit. A military regime, for the most part, is a government that is run by the military and is totally and completely devoid of human rights, civil rights and free speech. And yes, the people have nothing.
In a world where we take so much for granted, from the ability to go where and when we please, to the ability to talk so much shit about the current administration, it's easy to see how even the remotest effort to squelch those rights cause a huge uproar. Imagine the sum of all that we take for granted removed from our lives. And the world doesn't notice.
I read today that there are 350,000 buddhist monks in Burma. Hella monks, right? They are second in force to the military. As peaceful as they are, I was stunned to see that 9 amongst them were killed by the military during a protest. It saddens me in a very profound way.
There are many other injustices happening now, roundups, beatdowns, and even when the protest is peaceful, people are being beat with batons and shot at. It breaks my heart to know this is happening. I am hoping that there will not be a massive attack against the monks and the people (who, by the way are being told to not go with the monks for fear of citizens being attacked) like the attack that happened
I hope that there is a peaceful resolution here, but in a meanwhile, it'll be in my prayers.
Here's something from the AP on the situation.
VDC