Published on Friday, 19 March 2010
By Luigi Jorio
A conversation with a Shan monk in exile.
The most recent time was about three months ago. There weren’t any setbacks and after a few days he could return safely to his monastery. Pramaha V. is a Shan Buddhist monk, one of the minorities that make up the ethnic mosaic of Burma.
Since 1994 he has lived across the border in northern Thailand. The village where he was born is not too far: a few dozen kilometres over the mountains. Every time he returns to his land to bring food and clothes to the poor, he has to face an insidious trip.
By Luigi Jorio
A conversation with a Shan monk in exile.
The most recent time was about three months ago. There weren’t any setbacks and after a few days he could return safely to his monastery. Pramaha V. is a Shan Buddhist monk, one of the minorities that make up the ethnic mosaic of Burma.
Since 1994 he has lived across the border in northern Thailand. The village where he was born is not too far: a few dozen kilometres over the mountains. Every time he returns to his land to bring food and clothes to the poor, he has to face an insidious trip.
«I'm afraid, but the desire to help is stronger».
Along the access road to the Shan state, says Pramaha V., there are several checkpoints: Thai, Burmese and Wa soldiers, the armed group that controls much of the drug trafficking in the area.
Along the access road to the Shan state, says Pramaha V., there are several checkpoints: Thai, Burmese and Wa soldiers, the armed group that controls much of the drug trafficking in the area.
«Before starting the journey I change the robe: I take off the orange one, which is used in Thailand, to wear the red one of Burma. The soldiers usually let me go through without asking for money or asking too many questions. Otherwise they can request up to 400-500 baht (8-10 euros) per checkpoint».
«If the Burmese realize that in reality I'm not bringing aid to the temple, but to the poor, I would be in big risk. I don't know what could happen if they find out that in my monastery in Thailand I offer shelter to orphaned Shan children».
Since the military coup in 1962, which established one of the most brutal dictatorships of the 20th century, the Shan, as well as other minorities in the country, are victims of abuse, violence and injustice. The most warlike, or more desperate, took the rifles and started an armed struggle against the Burmese army. They fight for their autonomy, but most of all they fight to be left in peace. Far from the brutality of the Burmese generals, with a piece of land to farm and a house where they can live safely.
Observers speak of the "longest civil war currently in progress". Hundreds of thousands of people are forced to live in poverty, as hostages of terror. «In rural areas of Shan State, poverty is endemic: there is no electricity, no hospitals, access to education is low, the medical treatments are expensive and of poor quality. There isn't enough food».
Battalions of Burmese soldiers - often young, uneducated and indoctrinated with propaganda - patrol the jungle, moving from village to village to drive out the "enemies of the union to destroy." «The army will alert the chief of the village of its arrival a couple of days in advance, sometimes a few hours before. The soldiers order him to provide them with food. They want rice, pigs, chickens, vegetables and alcohol. In the past they also wanted human porters, today they prefer horses».
If they don't find what they require, the village chief and his family are punished or arrested. «It is curious – says Pramaha V. with a bitter smile - here in Thailand everybody wants to be head of the village. In Shan state, on the contrary, nobody wants this office for not having to do with the military. So they do a rotation: ten days each».
After decades of abuses, the situation reached a critical level. «The conditions are worse: people don't have enough food. The farmers are forced to sell most of their harvest to the Burmese soldiers. The soldiers want the Shan rice because it is of better quality than Burmese rice. They fix the price: 50% less».
The villagers have to eat rice of lesser quality or have to buy it from government dealers. For farmers, who earn little over 6,000 baht a year (135 euros) from the sale of rice, the situation is untenable. The only alternative is to go into the jungle in search of plants and roots.
A jungle that in addition to malaria, snakes and landmines scattered everywhere, is feared for the danger of bad encounters. «Young girls and women who go into the forest alone, or move away from the village to collect water, are in danger of being raped. If you meet soldiers in the forest, the only way to save oneself is to hide or run faster than them».
«They do what they want, in total impunity. If you go to the local military post to report an abuse, soldiers say they will investigate and punish the culprits. But nothing ever happens and, instead, you risk being beaten. "
Pramaha V. left his village in 1993 at the age of 13. He had no choice: when the soldiers of the SPDC came to Mung Ton, they burnt down the houses. Many people were killed, arrested or disappeared. He escaped into the jungle and a few months after he arrived in Thailand, where he studied Thai and Buddhism. Since 2003 he has been the abbot of a temple north of Chiang Mai, on the Burmese border. Inside the monastery compound he build up a dormitory for orphans and novices and a small free school for the children.
Talking about what is happening in Burma today reminds him of the horrors he experienced in his youth. «But it does me good to talk: I need to tell, to get it out ... The people in Europe have seen the images on television: terrible scenes of monks shot by the military. But the reality in the villages is even worse».
Pramaha .V. tells the story of a monk shut up in a sack and then thrown into the river on suspicion of political activities. «Another one was surprised with what the military thought was a walkie-talkie. In reality it was a simple radio. The soldiers stormed into his temple but they didn't find him: so they beat the novices. Then they went to his family's house and killed his brother».
«All this madness ... because of a radio. I don't mess with political issues. I would not feel safe, even here in Thailand. They do not just torture, beat or kill. They want to terrorize, humiliate, to destroy any hopes»."
Trapped in the conflict between the Burmese army and armed militias, residents of rural areas in Burma can’t even rejoice of the rebels’ victories on the ground. «When the Burmese army suffers a military defeat, it takes its revenge on civilians». According to the latest estimates (October 2009), in rural areas in the east of the country almost half a million people have been forced to flee from their homes or forced to leave their territory (IDP, Internally Displaced Persons).
You are a monk, I ask, .... how can you forgive? Pramaha V. thinks for a few seconds. Then he shakes his head: «The pain they inflict on people is too much to be forgiven».
In the rice fields, in the bamboo villages and in the forests of Shan state, peoples are dying in silence. They die without the hope that sooner or later, someone will do something to help, to put an end to the persecutions and suffering. The people live in absolute isolation; nobody knows about embargoes on Burma or about the fact that other unfortunate populations in the world receive more attention.
«If the Burmese realize that in reality I'm not bringing aid to the temple, but to the poor, I would be in big risk. I don't know what could happen if they find out that in my monastery in Thailand I offer shelter to orphaned Shan children».
Since the military coup in 1962, which established one of the most brutal dictatorships of the 20th century, the Shan, as well as other minorities in the country, are victims of abuse, violence and injustice. The most warlike, or more desperate, took the rifles and started an armed struggle against the Burmese army. They fight for their autonomy, but most of all they fight to be left in peace. Far from the brutality of the Burmese generals, with a piece of land to farm and a house where they can live safely.
Observers speak of the "longest civil war currently in progress". Hundreds of thousands of people are forced to live in poverty, as hostages of terror. «In rural areas of Shan State, poverty is endemic: there is no electricity, no hospitals, access to education is low, the medical treatments are expensive and of poor quality. There isn't enough food».
Battalions of Burmese soldiers - often young, uneducated and indoctrinated with propaganda - patrol the jungle, moving from village to village to drive out the "enemies of the union to destroy." «The army will alert the chief of the village of its arrival a couple of days in advance, sometimes a few hours before. The soldiers order him to provide them with food. They want rice, pigs, chickens, vegetables and alcohol. In the past they also wanted human porters, today they prefer horses».
If they don't find what they require, the village chief and his family are punished or arrested. «It is curious – says Pramaha V. with a bitter smile - here in Thailand everybody wants to be head of the village. In Shan state, on the contrary, nobody wants this office for not having to do with the military. So they do a rotation: ten days each».
After decades of abuses, the situation reached a critical level. «The conditions are worse: people don't have enough food. The farmers are forced to sell most of their harvest to the Burmese soldiers. The soldiers want the Shan rice because it is of better quality than Burmese rice. They fix the price: 50% less».
The villagers have to eat rice of lesser quality or have to buy it from government dealers. For farmers, who earn little over 6,000 baht a year (135 euros) from the sale of rice, the situation is untenable. The only alternative is to go into the jungle in search of plants and roots.
A jungle that in addition to malaria, snakes and landmines scattered everywhere, is feared for the danger of bad encounters. «Young girls and women who go into the forest alone, or move away from the village to collect water, are in danger of being raped. If you meet soldiers in the forest, the only way to save oneself is to hide or run faster than them».
«They do what they want, in total impunity. If you go to the local military post to report an abuse, soldiers say they will investigate and punish the culprits. But nothing ever happens and, instead, you risk being beaten. "
Pramaha V. left his village in 1993 at the age of 13. He had no choice: when the soldiers of the SPDC came to Mung Ton, they burnt down the houses. Many people were killed, arrested or disappeared. He escaped into the jungle and a few months after he arrived in Thailand, where he studied Thai and Buddhism. Since 2003 he has been the abbot of a temple north of Chiang Mai, on the Burmese border. Inside the monastery compound he build up a dormitory for orphans and novices and a small free school for the children.
Talking about what is happening in Burma today reminds him of the horrors he experienced in his youth. «But it does me good to talk: I need to tell, to get it out ... The people in Europe have seen the images on television: terrible scenes of monks shot by the military. But the reality in the villages is even worse».
Pramaha .V. tells the story of a monk shut up in a sack and then thrown into the river on suspicion of political activities. «Another one was surprised with what the military thought was a walkie-talkie. In reality it was a simple radio. The soldiers stormed into his temple but they didn't find him: so they beat the novices. Then they went to his family's house and killed his brother».
«All this madness ... because of a radio. I don't mess with political issues. I would not feel safe, even here in Thailand. They do not just torture, beat or kill. They want to terrorize, humiliate, to destroy any hopes»."
Trapped in the conflict between the Burmese army and armed militias, residents of rural areas in Burma can’t even rejoice of the rebels’ victories on the ground. «When the Burmese army suffers a military defeat, it takes its revenge on civilians». According to the latest estimates (October 2009), in rural areas in the east of the country almost half a million people have been forced to flee from their homes or forced to leave their territory (IDP, Internally Displaced Persons).
You are a monk, I ask, .... how can you forgive? Pramaha V. thinks for a few seconds. Then he shakes his head: «The pain they inflict on people is too much to be forgiven».
In the rice fields, in the bamboo villages and in the forests of Shan state, peoples are dying in silence. They die without the hope that sooner or later, someone will do something to help, to put an end to the persecutions and suffering. The people live in absolute isolation; nobody knows about embargoes on Burma or about the fact that other unfortunate populations in the world receive more attention.
«The Shan in rural areas don't expect any help. They don't know that, theoretically, there are international bodies that could do something. They say simply that ... one day it will change».
Source: http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2974:burma-cruelty-beyond-forgiveness-&catid=102:mailbox&Itemid=279
Source: http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2974:burma-cruelty-beyond-forgiveness-&catid=102:mailbox&Itemid=279
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