O J's Corner : Reflections

August’s cruelties

April is the cruelest month, according to T S Eliot. What about August. It seems there is nothing august about August.

It was on August 2, 1990 that Saddam Hussein conquered Kuwait. A lot of people living in Kuwait suffered immensely. George Bush, Senior, had had ordered the US Armed Forces into Kuwait, captured it and handed it back to the Emir. There was a lot of bloodshed.

August 6, 1945 had seen the first use of atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan, killing close to 1,30,00 innocent people instantly. How many more thousands were maimed, ands others rendered sick for the whole of their life-term? That was the mischief of the “Little Boy”, the nick-name of the bomb.

August 9, 1945 witnessed a repeat performance of the atomic bomb called “Fat Man”which killed 45,000 people on the spot. The injured and the disabled confronted life without living it out happily ever after.

August 8, 1988 was a day of hope for the pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar to see and end to the decades-old military regime.

Demonstrations by unarmed men and women rattled the streets for a few days. These were only to be crushed by the military junta. There would not be a worse evil regime in the world than this military regime.

The democratic developed world raises a chorus every now and then asking the military rulers to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. For the last 18 years she has been under house-arrest.

The people have to secure permission from the military rulers for doing anything in life. One has to explain where he is going, what he is doing and who he is seeing.

There cannot be a worse hell than being in this undemocratic state of affairs.

Myanmar people are mostly poor under decades of military rule. That is inexplicable as the country is rich in natural resources. Once Myanmar was a flourishing economy in South East Asia.  But that was before the military clamped its network on governance.

One would say military stands for discipline and orderly life. But the military should confine itself to the barracks. It should not play the godman for the people.

Democracy with all its faults, drawbacks and corruption is far more acceptable than the junta’s regime.

People should be able to breathe fresh air, speak whatever they want, decide for themselves the ways for development.

The sad plight of Myanmarese is that they lead a cloistered life in this globalised world. What is the concept of a global village for these people.

It was said that the people of China were not aware of the visit of President Richard Nixon as he drove past the well-laid roads to an official reception by the rulers. All the information was being given out by the official media. They were not allowed to tell the people that Nixon had come calling on them.

Take the case of India. Nothing goes unnoticed. Even in adversity, people are aware of the developments in the country. Numerous channels, print media and what not inform the public of the developments. When would the people of Myanmar know the latest that is happening in the world?