By Patrick McCormick, NM-TLC Reviewer

Michael Aung-Thwin and Maitrii Aung-Thwin, A History of Myanmar Since Ancient Times: Traditions and Transformations

London: Reaktion Books, 2012. Pp. 328; timeline, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.

Reviewed by Patrick McCormick.

1.

A few months ago, I found myself sitting in a restaurant in Bangkok, eating with a colleague and mentor. I mentioned to him that I had been given a copy of A History of Myanmar Since Ancient Times to review. He looked grim and shook his head. “I’ve read it. He’s wrong as usual. I hope you’ll say something.” This reaction is typical of much scholarly reaction to Michael Aung-Thwin’s work, resulting from his tendency to propose new interpretations and criticisms, not all of which everyone wants to hear.

Author: Karen News

The Karen Community Association UK (KCA UK) has called for Prime Minister David Cameron to pressure President Thein Sein to withdraw his soldiers from ethnic states in order to demonstrate he is serious about improving human rights.

Despite a ceasefire agreement being reached between the Government and the Karen National Union (KNU) in 2012, human rights violations including forced labour, arbitrary detention and land confiscation continue in Karen State.

“We know from our experience that we cannot trust the Burmese Army”, said Htoo Ku Hsa Say, Chairperson of KCA UK. “As long as they are in our land, our people will not feel safe. Therefore, we call on the British Government to ask President Thein Sein to order his troops to remove from our home land, so that trust can be built and those who have lived in fear for decades can start to rebuild their lives without being overlooked by those they feared.”

Burma Briefing No. 27

This briefing provides revealing quotes, past and present, from Burma’s President Thein Sein.

There is a growing disparity between the words of Thein Sein, and the actions of his government. However, the policy of Britain, the EU, USA and many other countries appears to be based on his promises, not actual policy and action. Promises and pledges by Thein Sein are frequently cited as one of the justifications for ending international pressure and normalising relations. When Thein Sein says something positive, he is praised, when he says something negative, such as saying he wants to expel all Rohingya from Burma, there is a resounding silence from the international community.

Thein Sein is normally very careful in what he says. Western educated advisors help him in particular with scripts for delivering messages to the international community. There also appears to be a pattern of tailoring certain messages in English for international consumption, and other messages in Burmese for domestic consumption. However, sometimes the truth slips out.

Introduction
There is a growing disparity between the words of Thein Sein, and the actions of his government.
However, the policy of Britain, the EU, USA and many other countries appears to be based on his
promises, not actual policy and action.
Promises and pledges by Thein Sein are frequently cited as one of the justifications for ending
international pressure normalising relations.
Thein Sein is normally very careful in what he says. Western educated advisors help him in
particular with scripts for delivering messages to the international community.
There also appears to be a pattern of tailoring certain messages in English for international
consumption, and other messages in Burmese for domestic consumption.
Given the strong emphasis on focussing on the positive things Thein Sein says, regardless of
whether he acts on them, and in order to provide some balance, here are some quotes from
Thein Sein, past and present, which are a little more revealing.

By Michael Harris

Unless the Foreign Secretary ups the pressure on Burma the apparatus of the military dictatorship will remain, writes Michael Harris

 If you want to know how much has changed in Burma since the much-vaulted transition, try and put on a punk gig in the capital, Rangoon. It’ll take two months and require the signatures of eight bureaucrats from varying levels of government. You may never get permission. But to punks in Burma, the idea they may even be able to play publicly at all is progress.

This is transition Burma, a country full of contradictions where the military no longer hold captive Aung San Suu Kyi and have released some of the thousands of her fellow political prisoners – yet the full apparatus of the military state still exists. The worry is, while the UK and US drop sanctions and William Hague took the time to congratulate President Thein Sein in London for the progress made, little is being done to keep this progress on track. With the army implicit in the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims and the country on the verge of widespread unrest, Burma is merely a few steps away from a full blown military dictatorship.

Thein Sein says no POCs by end of year, but 74-year-old lawyer is latest detainee

Amnesty International has called into question President Thein Sein’s recent commitment to clear Burma’s jails of prisoners of conscience by the end of the year. On the same day he made this promise to delegates at a conference in London earlier this week, police in the country’s Rakhine state arbitrarily detained a 74-year-old Rohingya human rights defender.

During a speech at the independent policy institute Chatham House on Monday, President Thein Sein said: “I guarantee to you that by the end of this year, there will be no prisoners of conscience in Burma.”  

Thein Sein added that all cases are being reviewed through a committee established by the Burmese government earlier this year, “to ensure that no one remains in prison due to his or her political beliefs.”

By John Roberts

Anti-Muslim violence in Burma (Myanmar) that first erupted in June last year against ethnic Rohingyas in the western Rakhine state and spread to other areas has displaced tens of thousands of people and created a poisonous communal atmosphere throughout much of the country.

The major clashes in Rakhine in June and November last year left 168 people dead, mostly Rohingya, and drove another 120,000 from their homes. Attacks on the Muslim population of Meiktila in central Burma in March resulted in another 40 dead. In May in Lashio, capital of the eastern Shan state, mosques, schools and dozens of homes were torched by Burmese Buddhist thugs, including monks in saffron robes.

An Asia Times Online article on July 1 outlined the pattern: “A recurring theme from locals is that ‘outsiders’ are bussed in by trucks and nearly all of them are armed with sticks, swords and machetes. An incident soon happens between a Muslim and a Buddhist that provides the spark and then the gangs swing into action, agitating and enlisting locals to join the ensuing riot. Muslim homes and shops are demolished and along with them previous inter-communal and religious harmony.”