by KNG
Burma, a golden land has projected its dignity in terms of civil roles in un-erased memories down through half a century since independence. Moreover there have been a lot of disloyalties through centralized manipulation of state sovereignty by its bureaucrats through implementation of military might.
On the one hand there is no single myth, so to say, that the core norm of the federal principle of Panglong had been initiated in terms of establishing the Union of Burma. Rather there has been political euthanasia towards its own citizens, especially on the ethnic population who have been singled out in the formation of a Burmese Buddha monarchical anarchy.
Paradoxically there have been fights between Burmese monarchical politics on the one side by a handful of bureaucrats and the federal principles on the other by citizens. Being a bipolar State it has been a prolonged fight for over five decades that has ended under the trap of the regime without any change in the state. There has been alienation of human rights, devaluation of federal principles, and humiliation by the military, violation of humanity, ethnic cleansing programmes with drug, immorality and sexual harassment of the ethnics. Now is the time to fight the evil.
The compliments of cutting in the bud upon both present and future of Kachins scapegoat a big term Democracy by the regime
There have been policies as compliances that have really nipped in the bud aspirations of the Kachins. In fact the crystal clear action of assault towards social lives of Kachins is reflected in the actions of this regime on the lives of hand to mouth peasants and its employees in Kachin State.
The policy of apartheid in the nineteen century in South Africa has been applied on this soil by the regime. The fact that the treatment is deliberately exercised on Kachin employees, who really face an unpleasant situation in service and work for subsistence for their survival and that of their families.
Meanwhile denial of promotion, treatment of racial segregation, discrimination of work opportunity, inequality of sharing right and rejection of appointment on the basis of racial and religious background and so on and so forth have been exclusively aimed towards non-Burmese employees particularly Kachins. For instance one qualified to be retained in a top position and to go abroad to further his mechanical engineering career on the basis of paper and oral based entrance examinations was rejected when an officer denied him the opportunity unless he converted to Buddhism.
There are mushrooming issues regarding the neo-apartheid treatment towards each employee. In the midst there has been no way to go for civil law and regulation whether for protection and complaint, except to abide by one policy, one voice and one command of the regime in the entire public administration. This is a kind of slavery.
Freedom of expression of one's will is being turned into a killing instrument under the regime's "democracy"
The recently concluded referendum has ended with threats, fear, cheating, command, order, pressure, bid, injustice, artificial and faulty manner, which are completely opposite to the process of democracy.
Above all the regime's process of democracy has been initiated all type of social trauma among innocent citizens. There is court for visible crime for killing in the world yet how can a civilized world witness such way killings over in Burma. Due to the threats by the regime's sympathizers and out of fear Lahpai Tu Seng, age 47 (B.A: Geo, B.Ed) a head master of No. 5 Primary School of Jaw Masat, Nawng Nang County, ten miles from north of Kachin capital Myitkyina and a head commission for voting in the region died on July 6, 2008 from an unknown disease.
According to a member of the family and a senior pastor "he has no disease before, except fever and flu. He was healthy but his wife often went for treatment of a kidney disease. His loss is shocking. Only one thing could be possible that during the referendum he was present on duty all the time for meetings without rest. Meantime he was ordered by authorities to produce positive results. Time to time he had to attend meetings where he was scolded badly and reprimanded without mercy though he was not interested to be there. But he had no choice but to follow orders without any complaints till a positive result was obtained. Since then he became weaker and weaker till his last breath."
This is how the regime is killing Kachins one way or the other. Actually democracy is born out off each individual so that every citizen has the right to present his/her own choice without any pressure, threat, might and power.
Yet the regime is killing its own citizens visibly or psychologically. Today there is fear in all where there is no way to access the principle of democracy by the people. This is one of the strategies that the regime is using against Kachins to stop it from standing against injustice, speak the truth and to fight against the evil regime.
This is how the regime is redesigning the society of the silent on this soil by closing its mouth, the mind and the eyes of Kachins and forcing them to see things through the regime's eyes. Kachin is dying for itself yet Kachins' culture of fear and silence due to fear of military might is in turn revitalize and prolong the life of the regime. There is no question that the regime is systematically exercising the policy of cutting the lives of ethnics.
It was one 101th commencement of B.A, B.Sc and other bachelor degree held in 1997 at Bahtu, Rangoon where the junta’s Vice Senior General Maung Aye officially said that, "A commander must be from a major religious background (Buddhism)..." It shows that non-Buddhists are officially and completely cleansed from military service and there is no others can aspire for high rank in the military.
On account of that Col. Labang La (retd), former chairman of Kachin State in General Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) tenure, remarked that "it is a policy of nipping in the bud of Kachins by this regime. He continued that since the country is prospecting into democracy by now on, it is time for the regime to wipe off such undemocratic norm of discrimination towards non-Buddhists. Otherwise there is no way of safe survival for non-Buddhists of this country under this regime."
Once again Vice Senior General Maung Aye delivered an oral order to saying that "whoever assaults the nation, the religion and its mission of this country is to be wiped out without an order from above."
This is the woe of the regime which has been shaping this country on the basis of such principles of cutting off non-Buddhists of this country which is completely contrary with the norm of democratic principles of the civilized world. In this context the Kachins are automatically becoming the enemy of the regime the Buddhists today so long as they devote the superstitious principle of "Ngah-naeq-mathu, Ngaq-yan-thu" saying that "whoever is not like me is my enemy."
It is sure that the present proposed regime's Buddhist laid democracy will never heal such sentiments on others.
Civil democracy in turn being manipulated
At the moment Kachins are very much in trouble in the midst of non-Burmese-Buddhist cleansing mission of this regime. Due to such exercises local Kachins are merely struggling even for one's own stomach alone since Kachins and Christians have been cleansed from executive position whether in military service, government administration and other ministries.
Thus Kachins are today living not for others and future of one's own generation but for one's own stomach only. Instead of coming forth for common goal with the bond of Panglong's federal democracy spirit, the Kachin publics are being engaged for one's stomach this time. Unknowingly Kachins are under preserved by the regime.
Meanwhile some of the international bodies and local Kachin folks are satiated with the regime's constitution which has been drafted by bureaucrats and aristocrats in the regime and among the Burmese majority abandoning and condemning rights and equality of ethnics. Meantime there has been so much of alienation due to rigged votes of innocent citizens across the country especially in anterior area of ethnic states.
Moreover this referendum killed school teacher Lahpai Tu Seng said his family members and his contemporaries and all innocent Kachins are dying and living voiceless due to the threat over them. The Kachins are under military dictatorship where there is killing, arrests, torture, threat, discrimination, segregation, rejection, denial, exploitation, manipulation and all sorts of wild treatment. Even today the same forms of oppression and killing and nipping Kachins in the bud continue.
Thus some Kachins' leaders' expectations of democracy from the regime will also be same thing, amounting to nipping in the bud of Kachins. The only responsibility if Kachins are projecting themselves as master of our own history, own generations and own land is for them to support Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) which signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta on February 24, 1994 the only initiators of the liberation.
However, all Kachins have to be responsible for by taking responsibility of survival and fighting against the regime's attempt at cleansing the ethnics.
Conclusion
How long will the Kachins tolerate the regime? The regime's principles have been complied as laws and regulations for its citizens especially on non-Buddhists. Yet the Kachins' struggle for democracy has never come into being. They are treated as its prey.
Kachins are dying from drugs, HIV/AIDS, poverty, economical deterioration, migration and taking away of jade and other minerals of this soil and they are keeping silent due to fear and for survival under military might.
Yet now is the time to fight against the evil of the regime with justice and with truth. In fact democratic principles and its movement are weapons of those who fight against the evil.
Kachins will attain to there has to be one bond one spirit, one voice and one goal to fight off the evil of the age. The principle of the regime would end up with woe, poverty and all sorts of corruptions yet the principle of democracy will lead the Kachins towards safety survival, security, and prosperity.
(Hkahku Gam is a Kachin writer in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State in northern Burma.)