Burma, cries for help

October 12th, 2007 · 6 Comments

By now you have all seen the pictures that have been flowing out of Burma. Most of you have heard the stories of the Burmese military prompting a revolt. The protests were in response to a 500% hike in the price of gasoline fuels, but in actuality was just another abuse in a long line of abuses targeting the people of Burma.

Two weeks after the bloody crackdown by Burma’s junta against peaceful demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, the world’s authoritative body, the UN Security Council finally issued a statement on Burma.

The 15-nation council, which previously had been blocked from weighing in on Burma’s political crisis by China and Russia issued statement expressing the international outrage that followed the Burmese government’s deadly actions levied on its citizens and hosts of Burmese monks who have come to the aid of the people.

The Security Council issued a unanimous statement on Thursday saying that it “strongly deplores” the regime’s violence. However, the arrests and intimidation have continued, and the plight of thousands of innocent monks and citizens appears very grave. Eyewitnesses have described the brutal treatment at detention centers. It has been reported by detained monks that dozens of detainees were killed. Because of the news and communication blackout instituted by Burma’s military no one knows the exact count of how many monks and civilians have been killed and detained.

It is encouraging to hear that the Security Council has addressed, for the first time ever, these crucial human rights abuses in Burma and has welcomed a resolution recently adopted by the UN Human Rights Council.

Tensions in Burma have lessened slightly when viewed in the light of daytime, but people are still living in dreadful fear with a curfew providing cover for nightly raids upon monasteries and homes.

Detained citizens and monks at interrogation centers are beaten and tortured and live in a state of terror. Sources in Rangoon confirm that members of the 88 Generation (a students group) who helped to forefront the early efforts of peaceful demonstrations and other detainees who were arrested by the authorities are now being tortured in the notorious Insein Prison and at other detention facilities. The military government has denied the International Committee of the Red Cross access to detention centers, accusing the committee of supporting the opposition and the insurgents.

So far, Burma’s military government is still ignoring a call for concrete actions and tangible results toward national reconciliation, that the UN and international community is calling for.

We must take all necessary measures to address the political, economic, humanitarian, and human rights issues that are the concerns of the monks and people of Burma. We need to ask our own government officials to pressure the military government of Burma to allow peace talks and the International Red Cross to enter the prisons and detainee centers. We must pray that the killings stop and the needs and human rights be restored to all the people of Burma.

We must be very concerned about the continuing arrests and night raids on monasteries and the conditions of detainees who have not been given access to the most basic of health care by the military government or allowing visitation by the International Red Cross.

We must call upon our government and the UN to pressure the Burmese government to show its sincerity for national reconciliation and concern for its citizens by ceasing the attacks upon monasteries and homes of the residents in Burma. We must support efforts to bring medical care to the detainees needing medical care.

As a people concerned for peace in the world we can not sit by watching and not take some action. If nothing more than to speak out and voice your opinion in support of the struggle for human rights, we must acknowledge in ourselves a call to action. We must support the Buddhist Monks and Sanghas as they are the voice of peace and compassion for the people of Burma.

We must pray for the monks and people who have sacrificed their lives and freedom on behalf of the people of Burma. They sought to do no more than help those who had been denied the basic human rights and decent living conditions. They have been murdered by a regime that places no value on its own citizens. The world community must hold those accountable and demand reconciliation of the human rights issues. It is the unconscionable actions of murder, torture and losses of freedom that have caused us to voice our outrage. We must continue to do so. We must believe that the forces outside of Burma can and will help to change the conditions inside of Burma.

Let each of us express our solidarity with the Burmese people. Let us continue our commitment for the people of Burma. May we continue to be a call to peace and a voice of reason.

Until They Rest

Like the last leaf
that falls from the tree,
all things come to completion.

When I began this journey
I did not know the steps my sandals take,
Sadly at times I know where they will not.

I have left opened doors behind me,
walking away from gaping mouths
and statues with clay feet.

If I am to make my way into this life
I must risk the blessings
that have been lavished upon me.

It is from the goodness that I draw
my will to be again reborn
again and again before passing to the final death.

If I lived no harsh and bitter times
how would I measure
those moments of bliss and happiness?

My life has not been about the space I possess
but the great distances within myself
I have had to embrace.

So many people have brought so many things
into my life of wonder, I must choose
which things to call my own and which to return.

I asked my teacher many things,
for I have so much need to seek
the self of revelation.

He gave me this, learn everyday something new,
likewise share that which you have learned,
and cause no one or thing to suffer this day.

When one person passes, his life force
dies, until rebirth, but when thousands perish
the darkness is undeniable.

Sending my thoughts across the distance
opening my heart of compassion,
I breathe into this world my hope of great peace.

I may be able to do nothing more,
But I am able to speak.
One voice like a candle lives.

We, each of us will join our voices
In a chorus of compassion
and sing the songs of peace.

So when the last leaf falls,
it may rest until reborn,
as this comes to its completion.

So when the fallen
Strain to hear the outcry of the world
Our songs of peace we pray they hear.

Bhante Kassapa