2008 Woodie Awards
The Streets of Burma Taste Blood
David McKinley
Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: Opinion
Through terrible humidity and pouring rain, a sea of red has marched down the streets of Yangon, Burma for the last 10 days. An estimated 100,000 protesters, led by an army of 20,000 monks, are boldly resisting riot police, soldier-filled military trucks and an oppressive regime of generals who grow fat off the plight of their citizens.
The company of pacifists, who are protesting an increase in fuel prices, chant traditional Buddhist songs of love and peace. The gentle hymns of the crowd are met with tear gas, machine guns and death.
On Monday, an estimated five protesters were killed including at least one monk, according to the New York Times.
Currently, the number of deaths stands at nine victims, an estimate which comes from the government-controlled radio stations in Burma. One can only assume that such estimates are grossly inaccurate considering the pro-government bias. Among the dead is a Japanese journalist named Kenji Nagai. Since Nagai is a man whose job was to be impartial and to report, it does not seem likely that he would throw rocks and bricks at the police, as the government station attests.
BBC News also reports that six monasteries throughout the region have been stormed by police, and that several hundred monks have been rounded up. They are currently being beaten, detained and tortured; a terrible transgression by their government, considering that, according to religioustolerance.org, 89 percent of the country claims Buddhism as their faith.
With such a violent crackdown against activism and progressive thought, peace and basic human rights currently taking place, what have the U.N., the U.S. and the rest of the world done?
We had a meeting.
That is correct, within the halls of the United Nations Security Council, 15 bureaucratic fools did absolutely nothing to fulfill their only purpose: defending the rights of mankind. Instead, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that he "Hopes protests will spur dialogue between the government and other groups on promoting national reconciliation, the restoration of democracy and full respect for human rights."
The company of pacifists, who are protesting an increase in fuel prices, chant traditional Buddhist songs of love and peace. The gentle hymns of the crowd are met with tear gas, machine guns and death.
On Monday, an estimated five protesters were killed including at least one monk, according to the New York Times.
Currently, the number of deaths stands at nine victims, an estimate which comes from the government-controlled radio stations in Burma. One can only assume that such estimates are grossly inaccurate considering the pro-government bias. Among the dead is a Japanese journalist named Kenji Nagai. Since Nagai is a man whose job was to be impartial and to report, it does not seem likely that he would throw rocks and bricks at the police, as the government station attests.
BBC News also reports that six monasteries throughout the region have been stormed by police, and that several hundred monks have been rounded up. They are currently being beaten, detained and tortured; a terrible transgression by their government, considering that, according to religioustolerance.org, 89 percent of the country claims Buddhism as their faith.
With such a violent crackdown against activism and progressive thought, peace and basic human rights currently taking place, what have the U.N., the U.S. and the rest of the world done?
We had a meeting.
That is correct, within the halls of the United Nations Security Council, 15 bureaucratic fools did absolutely nothing to fulfill their only purpose: defending the rights of mankind. Instead, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that he "Hopes protests will spur dialogue between the government and other groups on promoting national reconciliation, the restoration of democracy and full respect for human rights."
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