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Burma's Revolution of Conscience

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Burma's Revolution of Conscience Burma’s Revolution of Conscience From Dictatorship to Democracy An Uprising of the Spirit for Freedom and Human Rights By Alan Clements AN INTERV I EW W I TH ASH I N NA Y A K A Alan Clements: Venerable Sir, I have just learned that Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK said that they have now “received reliable reports that [U Gambira] has been arrested and charged with treason for his role in the demonstrations.” She want onto say, “If convicted he faces either life imprisonment or the death sentence. His exact whereabouts remain unclear and Amnesty International believes he is in grave danger of torture or ill- treatment.” She concludes by encouraging Amnesty’s “2.2 million members worldwide to write to Burma’s head of state, the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe,” expressing their fears for his safety. My question to you is this: although U Gambari wrote an article for the Washington Post that appeared on November 4th, (the same day he was reported to be arrested), once our three-way interview for the “Voice of Hope “is made public, do you have any sense of how the military authorities in Burma will react? Will his revolutionary dhamma message of conscience Alan Clements Burma’s Revolution of Conscience - An Interview with Ashin Nayaka - 2 and reconciliation serve him and the hundreds of other monks imprisoned during the September crackdown? And if so, how? Ashin Nayaka: U Gambira is our brother monk. A very brave monk. A monk with a pure, good heart. We are all very deeply concerned about his fate. U Gambira is a monk with the best of intentions: he wants peace for our country. U Gambira was illegally arrested. For that matter, all the monks and all other protesters presently imprisoned have also illegally been arrested. The military regime is an illegal government. The world must remember that Burma is a country that voted in a democratic government in 1990. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won an overwhelming majority of the vote. It must also be remembered that these multi-party elections were called for by the regime itself, and held as “free and fair,” according to their own published words Since the results were nullified, Burma is a country with its democracy stolen from them, its prime minister elect imprisoned. This is why I say the military regime is an illegal government. They are an army led by some violent generals, not a legal government. The government elected by the people are in prison. Others, they killed. Some they tortured into submission. And some other elected officials fled the country. Yes, U Gambira has been charged with treason for his leadership role in the protest marches. But he did not violate any existing laws or religious norms in the September demonstrations. The regime’s reaction to this Buddhist monk, to all of our monks, is totally unacceptable to me. It should be totally unacceptable to the international community, to every person of conscience. Amnesty International called upon its members to express their fears to the regime regarding U Gambira’s well-being. This is good. But it is not enough. Everyone who cares about freedom and human rights should please try to also express their support for U Gambira. Express their fears for all of our other monks in Burma’s prisons. I also hope that governments worldwide and the United Nations too pressure the military regime to immediately grant the ICCR access to see U Gambira. We must know that he is not being tortured. We must know that he and others too are not being harmed. As for his words in our interview, they appeal to civilized society, to the conscience of great leaders, to the heart of all good people, to stand with him and to stand with every other Alan Clements Burma’s Revolution of Conscience - An Interview with Ashin Nayaka - 3 freedom-loving citizen in Burma who so courageously struggles for peace. I am doubtful that the generals will take into account anything he has said in the interview. However, I do hope they read it. I hope they study it. I hope they publish it in their newspapers. If they think they have done no wrong then what should they be afraid of? Why don’t they publish it in their paper. Let the people of the country see and read who they choose to imprison. Let them publish a rebuttal to the interview. Let us hear what they have to say. Beyond that, what we need to do here on the outside is to send a very strong and consistent message to the junta that killing and imprisoning peaceful protesters is not a solution to the crisis in Burma. Harming human life is not civilized. Please do not harm U Gambira. Please do not harm any of our fellow Buddhist monks. Alan Clements: For those who may be interested to know how our three-way interview came from me to you via email and telephone and between yourself, in New York, and U Gambira, in Burma, if you are at liberty to say, will you share a few words about those circumstances, including a few words about your own personal relationship with U Gambira, as in, how did you come know each other, for how long and in what capacity? Ashin Nayaka: I first came to know U Gambira in 2006 through some Burmese monks who were studying in Sri Lanka. Before the September uprisings, we had close contact by phone. We often discussed the monastic life. The country’s struggle for freedom. The terrible hardships the people faced on a daily level. We both agreed that something had to be done. It had to be done very soon. The suffering of the people in Burma seemed to be increasing by the day. We also both felt that to continue to ignore the plight of people would not only be morally wrong, it would be wrong in light of our understanding of the Triple Gem, the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. We talked about the crisis as a matter of urgency. We asked ourselves how can we as Buddhist monks use the dhamma to apply ourselves in skillful ways—taking proper actions to bring about political change. We only talked about actions that reflected our understanding of dhamma. Actions rooted in harmlessness. Actions promoting peace and done so in peaceful ways. We both felt very strongly that it should be the role of the monks, Burma’s Sanghas, to initiate those actions. And to take action on a nationwide level. The Sangha in Burma is the essence of Buddhist society. We felt that Burma’s future and Burma’s freedom was in the hands of the Sangha. We are not alone in the belief, as Alan Clements Burma’s Revolution of Conscience - An Interview with Ashin Nayaka - 4 witnessed by tens of thousands of other monks who took part in the protests. You know first hand how the people of Burma have suffered and continue to suffer under the wickedness of this violent military dictatorship that rules our country. A few days after the brutal reaction by the authorities in August, on our monks in Pakukku, in central Burma, U Gambira and I discussed in great depth the future of the country. The following day, the monks marched and Burma’s history has changed forever. Over the next two months we spoke a number of times by phone. I was present when he briefed members of the UN Security Council. He called several times that day and expressed with a great sense of urgency a desire to speak directly with the entire UN body. Then on October 5th, at the Asia Society in New York City, I was on a panel with Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro—the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma. At that time U Gambira spoke via satellite phone to the gathering. He answered questions. He also called on the international community to make every effort possible to help the people of Burma, in this moment, of great need. My final contact with U Gambira was in late October. He had been in hiding for sometime. At that time, I reminded him to be careful. He was very aware that he was being hunted by the regime. I asked him to come abroad. In fact, I asked him to come abroad each time we spoke. He always refused. He always gave the same reason: “I must remain in the country to challenge the policies and behavior of the regime. Like Aung San Suu Kyi who stands as a symbol of freedom and hope to our people, I too must follow her example. We all must do what we can to bring freedom to Burma.” He also told me, “If I am sentenced to death or put in jail for long time, our revolution of righteousness against unrighteousness will live long. It will one day knock at my door in prison and the door will open. I believe that civilized society will hear our calling. I believe they will stand with us and help us to overcome the tyranny of this military regime.” Alan Clements: Do you know how U Gambira actually came to be the leader spearheading the protests? Also, are all the other monks who were with U Gambira at the center of the uprisings imprisoned? Or are there some of them who are still fugitives, on the run, as it were in Burma? Ashin Nayaka: What I can say is this: a number of monks held a secret meeting inside Alan Clements Burma’s Revolution of Conscience - An Interview with Ashin Nayaka - 5 Burma in mid-September.
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