Simmering Under Ashes Writing from Burma ARTICLE 19 Free Word Centre 60 Farringdon Road London EC1R 3GA United Kingdom Tel: +44 20 7324 2500 Fax: +44 20 7490 0566 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.article19.org © ARTICLE 19, London, 2009 ISBN 978-1-906586-06-5 This work is provided under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial- ShareAlike 2.5 licence. You are free to copy, distribute and display this work and to make derivative works, provided you: 1) give credit to ARTICLE 19 and any relevant author; 2) do not use this work for commercial purposes; and 3) distribute any works derived from this publication under a licence identical to this one. To access the full legal text of this licence, please visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-sa/2.5/legalcode Design, layout and maps by Oliver Spencer. Front cover (Saffron Revolution XII) and back cover (Saffron Revolution, paper) illustrations reproduced with permission of Htein Lin (www.hteinlin.com). Inside illustrations by Pe Thein supplied and reproduced with permission of Bo Bo Lansin. Simmering Under Ashes Writing from Burma Acknowledgements Simmering Under Ashes: Writing From Burma was co-ordinated and produced by Oliver Spencer. The poems, articles and testimonies were compiled by Catrina Pickering and Alicja Porzucek, and edited by Agnès Callamard and Nicola Spurr. ARTICLE 19 extends its thanks to all those writers, poets, artists, journalists and activists who contributed material to this collection, with particular thanks to the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (www.altsean.org) which helped to source a lot of the content. Pe Thein The late Pe Thein (1924-2009) was born in Bassein in the Irrawaddy Delta and was taught to draw cartoons by the pioneering cartoonist Ba Gyan whilst at Rangoon University. Pe Thein became an established artist in both cartoon journalism and comics and, despite being banned and restricted throughout his career, Pe Thein will continue to be regarded as a highly influential Burmese cartoonist. Htein Lin Htein Lin was born in 1966 in the Irrawaddy Delta region and was arrested and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in 1998, during which he was forced to improvise to continue painting. Using the white cotton prison uniform as a canvas, he paid for paints to be smuggled into the jail. In the absence of brushes, he used his fingers, cigarette lighters, syringes, carved soap, and dinner plates to make his mark. He is currently working out of London. Simmering Under Ashes Writing from Burma Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal and corrupt regimes of our times, responsible for killings, forced labour, ethnic cleansing, imprisonment and torture. The media is harshly controlled and internet cafes are under surveillance. Artists are prevented from publishing or displaying their work. Hundreds of people, including journalists, artists and writers, are detained and imprisoned alongside Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s most prominent human rights defender, who has been under house arrest for most of the last 20 years. Since the 1988 military coup, the regime has used the full panoply of repressive and censoring measures to enclose the country inside an almost impenetrable wall of silence, buttressed by fear and repression. Yet, the Burmese people still find ways to dissent, communicate and inform. Scratching poems on the floor of a prison cell, concocting ink from the brick powder of a prison wall, or organising clandestine performances of comedy, drama and poetry, they have defied their oppressors to speak of their experiences and their hopes and fears for their country. Simmering Under Ashes is a collection of essays, poems, stories and articles written by Burmese journalists, writers and ordinary people. Published to commemorate both the 21st anniversary of the pro-democracy protests of 8 August 1988, and the 20th year since Aung San Suu Kyi was first imprisoned, it celebrates the struggle for freedom in Burma. It also calls attention to the complicity or indifference of the international community. These contributions tell us of the catastrophic human cost and absolute cruelty of the regime. They also remind us that we are all diminished by the continued denial of freedom to the people of Burma. Dr Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director, 8 August 2009 This publication is dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, honorary member of the ARTICLE 19 International Board. 1. Pro-Democracy Movement 9 Adorable Mother’s Admirable Journey 10 Thoughts on Hearing the UN SC’s Decision to Discuss Burma 12 Freedom for Everyone! 13 A Porter’s Poem 14 Burma’s Ghosts Rise to Confront the Generals 15 Movement Simmers Under Ashes 17 2. Refugees and Exiles 23 Thailand: Unburdened Feelings of Bitter Experience 24 Please Help Us 27 Flightless 30 3. Women 33 Speaking Out, Making a Difference 34 Shan Women and Children are Still Being Raped 37 Gender Violence in Burma 40 4. Environment 45 Children Playing by Valley 46 Three Seasons 48 Treasures Turned to Sorrows 49 Renewing Roots 50 Her Kindness 51 Dams on Salween Threaten Indigenous Groups 52 About ARTICLE 19 55 “May all the men and women in the world be free!” This emblematic cartoon is remembered as being a revolutionary call for the 8th August 1988 protests. The artist Pe Thein claims not to have drawn it with the protests in mind, but his work was subsequently banned in Burma after 1988. 8 ARTICLE 19 - Simmering Under Ashes: Writing from Burma Pro-Democracy Movement 1. Pro-Democracy Movement “The future of my country lies in the hands of the younger generation” - Aung San Suu Kyi The Burmese people who took to the streets of Rangoon during the country’s most widespread pro-democracy protests in 1988 and 2007 were united under the same image of “the fighting spirit of the peacock”. Originally, the image of a peacock represented the plight of the Burmese against British colonialism and foreign rule, but has, since the military regime came to power, signified the fight for freedom and democracy. In August 1988, a widespread civil uprising calling for multi-party democracy momentarily gave the Burmese people a glimmer of hope. The resultant brutal suppression of the protests failed to stop the National League for Democracy, under Aung San Suu Kyi and it won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections. The military, however, rejected this election in a dramatic clampdown and Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention almost ever since. The military regime represses all forms of free expression in Burma and many democratic activists suffer torture, repeated imprisonment and widespread surveillance, hampering their efforts to create a free society. The writings in this section of Simmering Under Ashes reflect the Burmese people’s demands for democracy and freedom of expression. ARTICLE 19 - Simmering Under Ashes: Writing from Burma 9 Pro-Democracy Movement Adorable Mother’s Admirable Journey Written by Tin Moe Gee up “HE!” prompts the bulls to go forward with bell jingling, A few who could tarry in rest house hear it and tally beads. And so the British period passed. Bombs booming and aeroplanes wheezing; Seek shelter in a religious dwelling The one ventures in up and down riverine trading While the freedom fight is commencing And so the World War II passed. Loud noises acclaim with pride the national independence Flags flying, banners streaming in craziness Like a tidal wave it climbs And shake the earth with violence. There is however a sadness as if the sky fell And so the Aung San epoch passed. The bell tolls, the whistle blows; The Victory Drum booms! A glow We are free, we are happy - but ephemeral. Blood everywhere; it’s real. Old sheds razed to ground; hills blazed to crumble, Mothers with babies fled and trembled. Everybody was in haste everywhere These were tragedies with no finish And so the Independence episode passed. So the ears come and go Sunset eventually leads to dawn So we toil along an endless journey. Here is a prompt that could be used 10 ARTICLE 19 - Simmering Under Ashes: Writing from Burma Pro-Democracy Movement But it has been misplaced: the journey continues Heart was steeped in misery The one could not deny destiny But brave it with tranquillity. With determination to forge ahead with intelligence: Near miracle it was when each plan was carried to a success. One would say that she blazes the trail Flags flying with daring and will - It’s the way of our esteemed mother. This poem’s subtitle is “Ludu Daw Amar’s Birthday Greeting”. Ludu Daw Amar, who lived from 1915 to 2008, was a highly regarded dissident Burmese writer and journalist based in Mandalay. Best known for her outspoken opposition to the military government and her work on traditional Burmese arts, theatre, dance and music, Daw Amar’s birthday is celebrated annually by artists and writers in Burma in a rebellious gathering of free thinkers closely monitored by military intelligence. A renowned poet and active supporter of the pro-democracy movement, Tin Moe was imprisoned in 1991 for four years. After his release he went into exile in the United States, travelling to literary events throughout the US, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. He died in 2007 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 73. ARTICLE 19 - Simmering Under Ashes: Writing from Burma 11 Pro-Democracy Movement My Thoughts on Hearing the United Nations Security Council’s Decision to Discuss Burma Written by Feraya Burma has been in the dark for so long now, It has been like the eclipse of the sun During the full eclipse darkness descends, As the moon gradually obscures the disc of the sun Until finally the light is completely blocked out Then within a space of time the light returns And so it is that there are Points in time when there is darkness and Then the light shines forth like a new dawn.