The other day, my contribution to the Oct 4th bloggers protest over the military junta's crackdown in Burma was this diary on people power in Burma in the face of military brutality.
Given the monks' position in Burmese society, it seemed to me that this time the junta had undermined whatever remaining source of legitimacy it had. A Truthout article puts it more eloquently than this:
Next, with monks in the vanguard, the movement has revealed the regime's utter lack of political legitimacy and moral authority. By cracking down on the most respected and revered part of its society, the regime has cracked down on the very soul of Burma.
It can still commit incredible atrocities, as other Kossaks have noted, but I think the junta's days are numbered. The rest of the article gave me further hope that this may be actually true. The junta wants us to believe it has eliminated the dissenters, through force or intimidation, but this is not true.
Here's the good news of the bravery and genius of the Burmese people, from the same article, which was written by Cynthia Boaz, a political science professor at SUNY Brockport, and Shaazka Beyerle, senior advisor at the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.
Exiled pro-democracy leaders, monks and students all claim that the movement survives and that, in the words of one refugee the people, "have committed themselves to victory in the struggle for Burma." There are some encouraging signs that this commitment is being translated into a systematic strategy to undermine the junta's sources of support and control.
For starters, the movement learned how to coordinate "lines" or layers of leadership, so that if one group of leaders was jailed or otherwise neutralized, another would quickly step up in its place. And that is exactly what happened after the first wave of arrests, then the second, and then the third. It is believed by some Burma observers that there still more - many more - ready to take their places.
Silent protests. The withdrawl of consent. All good signs.
It hasn't taken long. Already, news has broken that citizens in Rangoon were engaging in "silent protests" - such as turning off the state news reports en masse, or turning off their lights - to symbolize their rejection of the regime's propaganda. Ordinary people have withdrawn their consent to the regime, and are willing to take action - if creative, low risk options are presented to them. They will follow in the footsteps of courageous nonviolent resisters who battled against Pinochet's junta in Chile, the apartheid regime in South Africa, and the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. They all faced repression yet devised nonviolent actions to disrupt their oppressive systems and mobilize people.
There is a potential for critical mass too:
Rank-and-file members of the military and police are finding themselves in a dilemma. To disregard their orders might get them into trouble, but to obey will only put their souls in peril in this devoutly Buddhist country. If the movement can achieve a critical mass, some soldiers and police may hesitate to repress if they know that people from their own communities or extended families could be the ones being hurt.
Hmmm, karmic trouble or trouble from the military command? I'm sure this is truly a big dilemma for the soldiers right now.
Nonviolence is the key, and the degree of discipline is quite amazing as well as effective.
A final sign of the strategic planning and strength of the movement is its ability to maintain "nonviolent discipline." Despite the horrors committed by the regime over the past days, there has not been a single report of protesters becoming violent. And why should they use violence? It would only give the regime more pretence to repress, and perhaps even allow many individual soldiers and police officers to rationalize doing something they otherwise could not bring themselves to do. The maintenance of nonviolent discipline - along with the growing size, diversity, and commitment of the resistance in Burma - has garnered more sympathy from the international community, and is a critical factor in building the movement's own legitimacy.
You can still send a letter of protest to the U.N. Secretary General here
Here's a great logo for the Saffron Revolution (thanks to Turkana for finding it)
This wouldn't be complete without a little John Lennon, and this is a good one:
So, don't forget: