"Moustache Brothers" restricted for performance
The Moustache Brothers need international support for their fight against this repression by the SPDC, said Dr. Nancy
By Tin Maung Htoo (Burma Media Association)
Oct 20 -- Toronto. The famous comedians, better known as "The Mustache Brothers" in Burma and some parts of the world, were totally banned from practicing their performance with the ultimatum of the "entire family arrest", an Australian academic who recently visited their residence in Mandalay said.
Dr. Nancy Hudson-Rodd from School of International, Cultural and Community Studies at Edith Cowan University in Australia learned the case while she was in Burma and prompted her to inform about the new restriction as soon as she left from Burma.
"I am not sure if you know that the Moustache Brothers' troupe is not now permitted to perform," the letter sent to some Burmese journalists in exile jolted, adding, "they are not even allowed to put on make-up or costumes."
Since early 1996 the group performance was squashed into a home-based troupe after performing on January 4 at the 48th anniversary of Burma's Independence Day ceremony held by National League for Democracy (NLD). During a 2-hour performance, it is reported that Par Par Lay made a political satire about growing corruption of government workers, "In the past, thieves were called thieves. Now they are known as co-operative workers."
The two Mustache Brothers Par Par Lay now in 54 and Lu Zaw in 50 was arrested on January 7, 1996 and sentenced 7 years imprisonment in March under the Section 5(e) of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act with spreading "false news, knowing beforehand that it is untrue." During their trial, the opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi tried to reach to Mandalay in order to show support for two brothers but deliberately blocked by the authority at Rangoon Railway Station.
Zarni from Bangkok-based Assistance Committee for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPP) said that they were tortured in prisons and forced to work in labor camps. One advantage for them is to leave behind a younger brother, Lu Maw, to keep the 30 year long performance alive in the second capital city of Burma. The two brothers were released from prison in July 13, 2001. However, Zarni of AAPP said they have served more than they should have served as all convicted prisoners in Burma, regardless of political or criminal one, are only supposed to serve two-third of their actual sentences in term of parole and other given forgiveness.
According to Dr. Nancy, they did not perform yet when local authorities laid down a new restriction upon their performance, a harder one with devastating effect for deprivation of the whole family lives. The police told U Par Par Lay of the performance ban on July 26 and warned of the consequence. "If a performance was held, all members of the family would be arrested," she writes in the letter adding, "Colonel Tin Tun sent out a mandate to all SPDC offices in every township that it was illegal to hire the Moustache Brothers troupe."
She points that many journalists wrote of the release from prison of the two men, but noting there has been no word on the extra severe restrictions since July. "After 20 years of performing, these people have lost their rights to work, to speak, and to perform. They have been denied a livelihood, a voice, a theatrical space," she laments in the letter and urgently calls on international support for their cause.
The Burma Media Association is an independent organization established by overseas Burmese journalists, reporters and writers who practice and advocate freedom of expression in Burma. For further information: Web site News subscription Contact: 519-686-4745, htoo@excite.com 202-309-1090, MikeM2525@yahoo.com