by Chandra Muzaffar

As the protests fizzle out in the wake of the military junta’s violent crackdown, many are wondering whether there is any hope for change in Myanmar. Are the people of Myanmar condemned to eternal suffering? Is their ordeal and anguish some sort of bad karma from which there is no escape?

There is no reason for pessimism. Struggles against autocracies take a long while. When autocratic power is dressed up as a military dictatorship, the struggle becomes even more difficult.

Nonetheless, the people of Myanmar, it should not be forgotten, have, from time to time, revolted against military rule. In 1988, a popular uprising, triggered off by price increases of basic commodities and currency devaluation, was crushed mercilessly. The junta massacred some 3000 unarmed civilians. The uprising was spearheaded by students with monks playing a minor role.

Two years later when an election for delegates to a Constitutional Commission was held, the people rejected the military slate and chose instead candidates from the newly formed National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the ‘founding father’ of the nation. Though the military refused to accept the verdict and imprisoned a number of NLD officials, it could not ignore the fact that the people were against its dominance. Since 1990 there have been other smaller, sporadic protests in different parts of the country.

The August-September 2007 mass protest against the military junta, euphemistically called the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), is reminiscent of the 1988 uprising in one sense. It was the skyrocketing of prices caused by a huge fuel hike that ignited popular anger. It proves yet again that economic discontent is often at the root of mass revolts.

To gauge the depth of popular anger one has to understand that poverty is widespread in Myanmar. A quarter of its 56 million population live on 1 US dollar a day. Wages are meagre. Basic amenities are inadequate. And unemployment is high.

Read More at The International Movement for A Just World (JUST)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Empire, Human Rights, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.