We will not stop

 

Interview with Garrett Kostin Part II

TBF: What were your feelings about the situation of the people in general inside the country?
Garrett: This is a difficult and complex question to answer. I can only give my impression that the Burmese people themselves are the country’s most valuable resource. In a country with so many things going wrong, to me the only worthwhile reason to visit the country is to visit the people: to have the opportunity to learn from them, take guidance from them, support them, and befriend them, even if only briefly. The people have an astounding amount of patience and endurance, which is why they are able to still smile and find enjoyment even under such difficult and oppressive conditions. However, I have the clear impression that they are not living full, complete lives, and I think they are aware of this also. They are surviving now, but the hope that they will one day soon be able to live free, self-determining, complete lives is what sustains them.

Peace Campaign

“Peace as a goal is an ideal which will not be contested by any government or nation, not even the most belligerent. The culture of peace…finds ready acceptance.” — Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom From Fear

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The Best Friend Project’s Peace Campaign commenced in 2006 with a 29-day peace march from Cologne to Berlin led by Ashin Sopaka.
Since then, similar walks have been led from New York to Washington, D.C. and from Bangkok to Mae Sot. Sleeping in temples, churches, and homeless shelters along the way, the participants demonstrate their dedication and eagerness to work for peace. More importantly, they are able to share their message not only with those they meet along the way, but also with a broader audience via the media.

U Gambira: “Please take action”

“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. We adhere to nonviolence, but our spine is made of steel.” [1]

U Gambira in an article published in The Washington Post on the same day – Nov. 4, 2007 – that he was arrested by military police in Sagaign (upper Burma). As he wrote this he was a fugitive following the deadly September 26-27 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Burma, known as the Saffron Revolution. The regime already had arrested his father and brother, holding them as hostages to force him out of hiding. They were searching for him everywhere, left no stone unturned.

As one of the key leaders of the movement, Ashin Gambira was campaigning among the monks since 2005. While studying for Dhammacariya class he became increasingly aware of people’s suffering, the poverty, lack of education and the decay of the religion in his country.

“You can kill me but you cannot shut my mouth”

The Voice of Nyi Nyi Aung Nyi Nyi Aung is 41 years old and originally from Rangoon. He currently works as a computer engineer and political activist in America. I speak to Nyi Nyi Aung on the phone, on Monday 19 April 2010.

Nyi Nyi Aung (born Kyaw Zaw Lwin) came to the United States as a refugee in 1993. According to his fiancee, he remained restless and all he really wanted to do, was to be active in the struggle for democracy in Burma. He traveled between the US and Mae Sot and other places in Thailand to develop and support activities directed at creating freedom and democracy in Burma. On one of his trips to Burma, in September 2009, he was arrested at the airport. He was on his way to visit relatives – some of whom are imprisoned themselves – and to check the situation inside the country. In March 2010, he was released and flown back to America.

“At the moment I am recovering from my time in prison in Burma. I take medicines for my back problems. I suffer from severe back pains and my spine was dislocated because of torture and my time in solitary confinement. I was in solitary confinement for one month.”

“This is not an election. It is like a football game with only one team playing.”

Ashin Sopaka at a discussion after the Burma VJ screening at the Best Friend Library in Chiang Mai (March 2010)

Do you expect more protests with the upcoming elections?

Ashin Sopaka: Do you want to join? (laughs) it is possible. I can’t say for sure but it is possible. I heard just yesterday that NLD is organizing. Because of the new election law they can not register as a party. Most of their members are in prison or have been in prison. According to the new law prisoners or ex-prisoners can not be members of a party. Aung San Suu Kyi her self is under house arrest, has faced trials. So it is very difficult for them to register. They reject the constitution but if they want to register as a party they would automatically accept it. The party, their movement is now standing with the back against the wall, there is now way to move anymore. So they have to do something for this reason it is possible. This time it is very important for all to coorporate, students, monks, even soldiers and all people in the country and around the world. Then we can see the change. I believe in non violence. Non violence is our background, also Daw Aung San Suu Kyi believes in non violence like many other people around the world. With this power we have to continue. Inside Burma there are many people who would like to join us, so with this power we can do. Of cause we hope that international organizations such as UN will take care of us. They always say: “We are closely monitoring” but they are in New York. They are just talking very nicely. What does this mean “closely monitoring”? What are they doing? In Burma the regime is shooting the monks on the street, people are dying. But they are only saying “we are closely monitoring”.

Een Birmese monnik op de vlucht “Als mijn land me nodig heeft ga ik terug”

Monnik Ashin Kovida heeft in het westen zijn vrijheid herwonnen. Maar het lot van zijn land blijft hem bezig houden, want in Birma is religie politiek en omgekeerd. Dit jaar vinden voor het eerst sinds 1990 verkiezingen plaats. Een keerpunt of oude wijn in nieuwe zakken? “Als oppositie zullen we er alles aan doen om het proces te verstoren.”

Sinds zijn vlucht naar Zwitserland kan hij weer zeggen wat hij denkt, zonder over zijn schouder te hoeven kijken. Maar Ashin Kovida liet in Birma ook veel achter; zijn manier van leven als monnik bijvoorbeeld. “Het is moeilijk om in Europa de voorschriften die gelden voor monniken strikt na te leven,” zegt hij. “In Birma kookte ik nooit. Ik ging met mijn bedelnap ’s ochtends langs de huizen. Nu moet ik zelf mijn potje maken. Ook mijn kleding heb ik noodgedwongen aan moeten passen aan het klimaat in Zwitserland. En ik kan er niet omheen dat ik wat bezittingen heb.”

Het contrast met zijn geboortegrond, een klein dorpje in de provincie Magway, had niet groter kunnen zijn. In Birma had hij maar enkele uren per dag de beschikking over elektriciteit. De armoede was groot. Voor toeristen was het gebied rond Magway niet toegankelijk. Er viel dan ook het nodige te verbergen. Vlakbij het dorp waar Ashin Kovida geboren werd, bouwde het regime een dam, in de Monchaung rivier. Daardoor kwamen twintig dorpen onder water te staan. Niemand werd door de staat schadeloos gesteld. “Ook mijn familie raakte alles kwijt.”

Ashin Gambira: “Findet einen euch entsprechenden Weg, uns zu helfen und handelt bitte!”

“Massenverhaftungen, Mord, Folter und Inhaftierung durch das burmesische Regime konnten unsere Sehnsucht nach der Freiheit, die uns vor so vielen Jahren gestohlen wurde, nicht nehmen. Wie haben ihren stärksten Schlag verkraftet. Nun sind es die Generäle, die die Folgen ihrer Taten fürchten müssen. Wir halten uns an gewaltlosen Widerstand, aber unser Rückrad ist aus Stahl.” [1]

Dies sagte der burmesische Mönch Ashin Gambira in einem am 4. November 2007 in der Washington Post veröffentlichten Artikel; an dem Tag, an dem er von der Militärpolizei in Sagaign verhaftet wurde. Als er dies schrieb, befand er sich auf der Flucht – Folge der tödlichen Niederschlagung des Demokratieprotestes vom 26 – 27 September, der Safran Revolution. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt hielt das Regime bereits U Gambiras Vater und Bruder als Geiseln fest in der Hoffnung, ihn damit aus seinem Versteck zu locken. Mitglieder der Geheimpolizei suchten überall nach ihm und ließen dabei buchstäblich nichts unversucht.

Als einer der Hauptanführer der Safran Revolution hatte Ashin Gambira sich bereits seit 2005 unter den Mönchen engagiert, denn während seines Studiums des Dhammacariya war ihm das Leiden der Bevölkerung Burmas immer stärker bewusst geworden: Die Armut, die fehlende Bildung, die Fehlentwicklung der buddhistischen Religion in seinem Land.