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Burma Digest Current Issue

Editorial: A Birthday Gift

Happy Birthday to you, Aunty Suu!

Many happy auspicious birthdays in the future!

And may you be able to enjoy your happy birthdays in the future as a free citizen!

And may you be able to celebrate your future birthdays in the outside world, not in detention, not under house-arrest.

We are celebrating you birthday all over the world. We, the citizens of the world. We, free citizens of the free world. We who love you. And we who want to use our liberty to promote yours and your people’s. We are celebrating your 61^st birthday, Aunty Suu.

Although we are celebrating your birthday, we cannot be really happy because we know that you may not even know that we are doing it for you, as you are kept under total incommunicado detention without any contact to the outside world.

We are also sad because we know that you cannot even enjoy your birthday yourself alone behind the iron bars, as you are ill with a mysterious stomach ailment.

We are also anxious because we don’t know what is the real cause of your mysterious stomach ailment. And we don’t know how ill you are, how serious your ailment is, how is the prognosis, is it life threatening and are you receiving a good enough medical care.

We are worried by the reports that your physician cannot see you promptly in case of medical emergencies. We heard that even in medical emergencies, it took too many hours for your physician to get a clearance to come and see you. It seems that your jailers, military generals, want to make you suffer and just suffer for many hours without a proper medical treatment; the more you suffer, the happier they are.

Perhaps, they even secretly hope that during the delay of medical treatment your ailment might become too serious to cure.

And while you are suffering under incommunicado detention, your people _ or rather your children_ are also suffering like orphan children left in the hands of a cruel step-father.

Your followers and their party, National League for Democracy are on the brink of extinction. Many of your deputies, people’s elected representatives, had died in regime’s jails. Many others had fled the country to escape torture and death. And many more have given up politics under immense pressure and intimidation by military generals.

Hundreds of thousands of our ethnic brothers and sisters are hiding in the jungles to escape killing, raping and forced labour. A million or more of refugees are dying like flies in refugee camps along Burma’s eastern and western borders. Military regime is launching an ethnic cleansing offensive in ethnic areas to wipe out all ethnic minority races in Burma.

And while you are being put away behind bars, the corrupt military generals who are holding on power illegitimately have sold off the land and forests and natural resources of the country to evil greedy neighbours. So, the people not only have to suffer under the yoke of military dictatorship but also have to serve as economic slaves to greedy businessmen from neighbouring countries whose sole intention is to exploit our people and our country as much as possible.

While refugees are dying like flies and people are suffering like slaves in Burma, international community is just arguing themselves whether all those atrocities happening in Burma can technically be regarded as genocide or not, and if Burma’s problems are just her internal affairs, etc etc.

You are our only glimmer of hope, Aunty Suu.

Although you are under incommunicado detention, we can feel your presence in our heart. We can see your guiding light in our mind’s eye.

We here wish that you may long live and survive all the hardships and ailments in your solitary detention.

And we here give you our promise, as a birthday present, that whatever happens we will never let you down and we will always go on fighting relentlessly until eventually evil military regime is totally overthrown and democracy fully restored and true federalism reinstated for all ethnic nationalities in our country.

Dr. Tayza

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Comments

John Glenn said _

To a wonderful lady
It's a special celebration
Cause you mean so much to us
We're bursting with jubilation.

We're sending many good wishes
Cause you deserve the best
Seeing that special wish come true
Is our one special quest.

Happy Birthday Mom!

U Aung Min said _

Dear Dr Tayza..... after reading your editorial, I have a deep feeling that we all have to pray for Daw Suu, something like the clever/famous prayer:" Thar Shwe Oh Htann Lar dar myin khying dae".

As you had highlighted, we all need to pray for her:
Full Freedom, from detention, all the restraints, her full democratic human rights, her health, for her long life, for her family, for her party and for her citizens etc

TQ for reminding all of us that she may even not be able to know about the activities of all her supporters inside and outside Burma.

ADIGUN ESTHER said _

I wish her happy birthday too and with the trust in God I know that one day God will deliver Aunty Suu. I so much feel for her even though I don't know her very much, but I believe she is trust worthy.

Cinzia Dil said _

We can celebrate this day just because we are living outside Burma. I think, for Burmese people inside Burma, ..this celebration is impossible, impossible even to offer a flower, a simple flower in University Avenue.. (where Aung San Suu Kyi is kept under house-arrest).

Your Comments here_