Touchy Email

Dear Jenifer

Hope this email finds you well and happy. Thank you for your emails. Really appreciate them.

I am sure many people would be very angry and emotional about Daw Aung Su Kyi being put in the Insein prison and blaming Mr Yettaw as a fool, who has caused all these troubles.

In my opinion, it might be a blessing in disguise. Nothing has been happening for a while, and then suddenly this has happened, and the whole world is giving attention to Burma again through imprisonment of Daw Su and Mr Yettaw swimming to her residence.

In my view, all the leading group for Burma, inside and abroad, should grab this opportunity and make the most out of it by mass movement of the people inside and outside Burma. All the groups abroad should unite, and in one combined force with one voice, request the UN, USA, European Union, France, UK, Germany, Australia and Canada to put more pressure on the military regime. If possible, physical intervention by UN or other forces. We should re-activate the “Right to Protect” clause to prepare psychologically for the world bodies to act strongly. No harm to put these in the forefront of our requests.

Daw Su may be suffering. But this is the fight for freedom from the military regime. As such, there are expensive prices to pay. There will be a lot of suffering. Nelson Mandela went through many suffering before he was freed. If I may suggest, anger and emotions are not much useful if we want to topple the military regime. It would be wise to keep our minds calm, and to think rationally about the opportunities that situations like this might present. It will also be wise to think ahead of the military regime, so that we are not trapped in their game strategy.

In my view, the military regime, by arresting and imprisoning Daw Su, has made a big strategic mistake. They are claiming that their constitution and the election in 2010 are legitimate, fair and have been done properly for the best interest of the nation. This incidence has shown that the laws imposed by the military regime are nothing but dictatorial, unfair, unjust and for the interest of the military regime to prolong their power. And by revoking the licence of one of the lawyer for Daw Su, U Aung Thein, only shows that the military laws are a sham and the military court is nothing more than a Kangaroo court. They don’t follow proper laws. Never have been. We must stress this point.

I would not be surprised if Daw Su demands that she be freed and the military regime should hand over the government to her party NLD, because the laws that imposed on her to house detention and now in Insein prison are not legitimate. They are not from the people, and not from a legitimate government. We are not required to act like little boys and girls who are afraid of breaking the military regime’s unjust laws. As they are unjust laws, they have to be broken. We can say that, Mr Yettaw, regardless of who he is and how he gets there, he is to be welcomed as a guest, especially as he has swam for hours. Being not a young person, he would be very tired and would be inhumane to ask him to swim back straight away. He would need to recover for quite sometime – even days. It is the military regime’s business to cover the grounds if they don’t want anyone to come and visit Daw Su. The onus is on them. The finger should be pointing at them, and not Daw Su. If the military regime has framed it, it is a big mistake for them. They have forgotten to put the velvet gloves on their iron fists by doing things in a haste through hatred for Daw Su. It reveals the world about the naked truth of the military regime. By this event, they have disgraced themselves in front of the whole world, and discredited their claim that the 2010 election would be fair and legitimate.

This situation has given an opportunity to the groups of Burmese leaders inside and outside Burma, to unite and make the most of it, calmly and with strategic movements in mind. All forces to unite including Chin, Kachin, Shan, Karen, Kareni, Mon, Arakanese, Kaya, Wa, Myoung, and others, regardless of religions or tribes. If we want to succeed, we need to stay calm and patient. It can be a long haul. One thing is certain, no one can kill the wishes of the people, no matter how much guns they have.

Please take care and hope you have a pleasant and a calm day.

Best regards

Zor Hane