At that moment, we couldn’t see the significant changes in the day-to-day life [Khin Lay refers to the Burmese opening that began in 2011]. For example, there was no health and education policy change and reform, no reform in policy, education and health, and many others – the economic situation was very bad at that moment. So we couldn’t see very clearly the significant changes we can see at that moment. But there are some changes. There are some changes. For example, for the activists, so we are not now – we can say that it might be sure – I’m not quite sure that we are not under surveillance at this moment. And the most – surest thing is that we can sleep very well at night because we’ve got a sound sleep.
During – under military regime, we – at midnight, we were always afraid of the knocking, knocking noise, because at midnight, the military intelligence came to our house and knocked at the door and [people] got arrested. Most of the activists got arrested like that. They never got arrested in the daytime. We got arrested in the midnight, like that. So by knocking at the door and then being taken out. So like that. But now, we’ve got a very sound sleep and we are very happy about the new situation. And our friends and relatives happily contact me at this moment. They don’t fear me anymore. And also, we at least – for example, for the women, so women’s voices we can raise the voices of the women at this moment to be louder. In the past, we were not allowed to express the women’s issues in the media. So, for example, if some – one of the journalists liked to interview me about my visit [to the United States] or something like that, there was a censorship board, so the censorship board can’t allow the interview or something like that, because they don’t want the woman leader, because they were very bad minded because Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is a woman [Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of NLD. She led the NLD to victory in the 1990 elections, but the military government ignored the results and put her under house arrest. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991].
That’s why they never gave the favor to the women, all the other women also like that. But now, we can raise our voices to be louder. We can do our community work actively and openly, freely at this moment. And also – but we are not – I’m not very – I’m not pessimistic. I’m really optimistic for the new situation. But, anyhow, we should take advantage. If they give a small space, we will play and we will try to get a wider space. It is because it is also – how can I say that – we need to try to get more space. So it doesn’t only depend on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein. But our future depends on us, our civil society organizations and our people. We should try to get – to be a better future in our country. Yet, we can say that there are three big bodies: parliament, and military, and the new government.
So at that time, the new government – there are some reform minded people in the new government. They are very active and they’re trying to change our country and our situation. They like to get the good image for their lives. But we can’t say exactly [the same] about the military. The military is behind the scene. We cannot see them. And also, parliament, parliament is – the speaker of the parliament is very active. They try to engage Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. They’re trying to work together with Aung San Suu Kyi.
But after the crackdown of the copper mine project – you may have heard of the copper mine project recently. There are demonstrations in the copper mine project in Monywa– in the middle part of our country [In November 2012, Burmese security forces brutally dispersed protesters demonstrating against a Chinese-backed mining operation]. So the crackdown is very severe. But we can estimate – how can I say – we can predict that the rule of military is a little bit upper hand or powerful because they ordered the crackdown.
So it’s very challenging at that time. And also, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is playing with the three bodies at that moment. She’s trying to persuade them to work together, but, you know, if she gives favor to the parliament, some of the other two groups get very upset. That’s why she tries to balance these three bodies and she plays a very significant role among these three bodies at this moment.
Khin Lay is a Burmese civil society and political activist. She was born in Yangon in 1971.
She pursued a career in education, hoping to be a university professor. That ambition changed after Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma’s democracy movement, inspired Khin Lay to take an active role in freeing her country. In 1995, Khin Lay joined Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).
As a member of NLD, Khin Lay endured constant surveillance by the regime. In 2000, she was arrested by authorities for her involvement with the party. After five days of interrogation in which she was blindfolded and deprived of sleep, Khin Lay spent four months in Insein Prison, a facility notorious for its deplorable conditions and use of torture. She was released in 2001.
More recently, Khin Lay has focused on strengthening women’s rights and building a more robust civil society. She founded the Triangle Women Support Group, an organization dedicated to empowering Burmese women, developing their political and professional skills, as well as encouraging greater participation in public life. She believes that fostering a new generation of strong, female leaders is a key component to Burma’s democratization.
Burma, a Southeast Asian country with about 57 million people, is ruled by a military regime that seized power in 1962. Although the reformist National League for Democracy (NLD) won overwhelmingly in a 1990 election, the country’s military rulers ignored the results and arrested NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 “for her nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights.” The military government held a referendum on a new constitution in 2008 and a parliamentary election in 2010, neither of which was regarded by international observers as free or fair, and both of which resulted in overwhelming majorities for pro-government positions and candidates. The military regime has committed widespread and systematic human rights violations, including extrajudicial killing, torture, rape, and denial of freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion.
Throughout its existence, the regime has been at war with a number of Burma’s ethnic minority groups. Ethnic minority voters overwhelmingly supported the NLD in the 1990 election, and after the suppression of the democracy movement several of these groups continued or resumed armed resistance to the de facto government. Although the government signed cease-fire agreements with several of these groups ostensibly granting them autonomy within their respective regions, the Burmese military has used a range of brutal techniques, including the killing of civilians, forced labor, rape, and the destruction of homes, crops, and villages, in cease-fire zones as well as in areas where there is still armed resistance.
In 2007, as on several previous occasions, there were mass demonstrations throughout the country demanding freedom and democracy. The 2007 demonstrations were led by Buddhist monks and eventually became known as the “Saffron Revolution” after the color of the monks’ robes. The armed forces brutally suppressed these demonstrations—estimates of the number of protestors killed range from 31 to several thousand—and intensified popular dissatisfaction with the government by the killing, beating, and public humiliation of monks.
The nominally civilian government resulting from the 2010 election has been widely regarded as a façade for continuing military rule. However, in October 2011, the government released 206 of Burma’s estimated 2,000 prisoners of conscience. The next month, the government announced that it would soon release all remaining political prisoners. The NLD, which had declined to participate in the 2010 election, registered to participate in the next election and announced that Aung San Suu Kyi would be among the NLD candidates.
Although the military regime announced in 1989 that it had changed the English name of the country from Burma to “Myanmar,” the United States government and other international supporters of democracy in Burma have generally continued to call the country Burma because this is the name preferred by Aung San Suu Kyi and other democracy advocates who won the 1990 election.
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