Burma has returned to the world agenda. With the US giving notice to the UN Security Council to discuss Burma, the issue of democracy, or lack of it, in the southeast Asian country, has revived itself as an issue in the self-centric western media.
There’s little doubt that it is thanks to the growing Western — especially US — pressure that the UN and Asean are demonstrating greater interest in resolving the Burma question. Again, it was due to this fresh activity on the world stage that the military junta in Burma has been forced to resurrect the so-called democracy convention this week.
Much welcome as it is, this is not enough though. Mere discussions in the UN and perfunctory resolutions by the Asean in Burma are not going to force the junta towards democracy and reforms. We are long past the stage of academic debates and pointless resolutions. What the people of Burma need is real time action by the world community that could bring the corrupt and ruthless regime in Rangoon to its knees and force it to surrender itself to people’s will.
The so-called National Convention that was unveiled by the junta in 2003 and revived this week is supposed to present a roadmap for ‘genuine disciplined democracy,’ whatever that means. However, it’s nothing but yet another clever ploy to perpetuate the totalitarian regime that has been in power for the past four decades. Such exercises in futility cannot hoodwink Burma’s people or the world community. This farce has gone on long enough.
Time to call it off. Most of the opposition leaders from the National League for Democracy including its chief Aung San Suu Kyi have been in detention for a crime they did not commit. The League under Suu Kyi won a landslide election in 1990 but the generals who have long grown addicted to power couldn’t surrender their power to the elected leader. As a result, the Nobel peace prize recipient has been under house arrest for the past 15 years. Repeated pleas by the international community for her release have fallen on deaf ears.
This is most disgraceful at a time when the winds of democracy are blowing everywhere. Even the lands traditionally known for authoritarian regimes have in recent times embraced reforms. But Burma remains hopelessly stuck in a time warp even when the onward march of democracy continues in the neighbourhood. It’s time to end the travails of people of Burma. The world must take a more proactive stance on the southeast Asian country. Time for soft diplomacy is over. It’s time for tough measures.
Drastic steps like expulsion from Asean, as suggested by some Asean lawmakers this week, may be the way to soften up the regime. Although UN sanctions have seldom worked in such situations, there’s no harm in trying them either. Most important is the will on the part of the international community, especially West and Burma’s big neighbours like India and China, to help and rescue the people of southeast Asian nation. The world cannot remain a silent spectator to the freak show in Burma anymore.