Aung Naing Oo
After more than 40 years of military rule, the Burmese people are now like the proverbial frogs being slowly boiled to death in a pot. If cold water is heated slowly, frogs gradually acclimatize to the rising temperature and do not try to escape, even as the water comes to the boil. It is the law of gradual adaptation—or so the metaphor goes.
The Burmese military’s inability, or unwillingness, to adopt reforms has made the country a failed state, and given Burma’s long-suffering citizens countless reasons to revolt against the regime responsible for their misery. However, the public continues to put up with the junta’s lies, half-truths, abuses and whimsical policies.
Outsiders and Burmese alike are baffled by the population’s seeming passivity. South African and Palestinian visitors to Burma cannot understand why there are no visible political actions, despite continued military aggression.
Has the Burmese public reached the point that they can tolerate, and quietly endure, pretty much any disappointment, indignity or hardship? Perhaps, it has. And the evidence is astounding. The events of last week are just one case in point.
Amid high public hopes of a miracle, the Burmese junta extended the detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on May 27—a crushing setback for many Burmese. Obviously, this is not the first time the junta has disappointed the Burmese, and it will certainly not be the last.
However, every time the Burmese generals let down their people they do it in a big way. Yet the Burmese people are mute. Although there have been calls for mass action from well-known and respected authors like Ludu Daw Amar , who has used her considerable moral clout to urge the Burmese people to stand-up for themselves, the result has been the same: passive disappointment, but without action.
The Depayin massacre, which almost claimed the life of Aung San Suu Kyi three years ago, was another grim reminder that the Burmese are incapable of standing up to their military oppressors. Despite the junta’s attempt on Suu Kyi’s life and her subsequent detention, the Burmese people took no action to protest the treatment of a leader who commanded—and still commands—their overwhelming support.
With the bitter blow of the junta’s decision to keep the country’s Nobel Laureate in confinement and today’s anniversary of the Depayin massacre, this is an ideal time for the Burmese public to demonstrate their extreme displeasure with their rulers and say that enough is enough. But once again today is also likely to pass without any visible sign of political dissent.
It seems as if the Burmese no longer believe in themselves. Why can’t the Burmese help themselves? Is it because the Burmese are unsure of victory, given the experience of the failed 1988 uprising? Perhaps, they are not accustomed to taking risks.
Other reasons for collective Burmese inactiveness may include the long period of military rule, restrictions on forming independent associations, brain drain and the large-scale migrations of laborers and activists to neighboring countries. Religious teachings and cultural traditions that focus on tolerance and obedience may also play a big part. There are even arguments that economic conditions are so dire that Burmese can only think of putting the food on the table—to the exclusion of all else.
Putting two and two together; the Burmese people have collectively become so used to abject poverty, daily restrictions and general repression that they can adapt to any situation and withstand any further pressure. In other words, the Burmese have slowly and unwittingly become frogs in the hot water pot.
That may explain why the Burmese look so much towards outside players—such as the UN, US and the junta’s other international critics—instead of relying on themselves.
Yet above all, the lack of decisive leadership by opposition groups, their inability to provide direction to the people and channel their collective anger, may be the most significant factor explaining why the people of Burma are in such a helpless state. This is coupled with the lack of courage within the military leadership to stand up to megalomaniac and erratic leaders like Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Until opposition groups and disaffected elements within the military have the courage to act, Burma will remain unchanged.
International actors want to see change in Burma. But without any internal pressure it will be hard for them to help the Burmese. The Burmese population must know that it is not bad karma inherited from a past life that is troubling them. It is just that they have long stopped believing in themselves. But the bad karma will certainly continue to dictate their lives until and unless they realize that no one can come to their rescue— except themselves.
Aung Naing Oo is a Burmese political analyst living in exile.
Courtesy: irrawaddy
