Once upon a time in Varanasi kingdom, a king’s royal sycophants told him that there would be a rival to the throne.  They advised him to kill all newborn children.  Following this, the king ordered royal executioners to search and destroy thousands of children and all newborns in his royal kingdom.  Thus the future of the children of Varanasi perished under the tyrant king.

The above story line forms the backbone of the life of Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, commonly known as Gita or song, the holy epic poem of Hinduism.  Since Burmese culture has been heavily dosed with Hinduism, the same story has been told to children in various variations throughout Burma.  Repeatedly told, folktales and stories become myths.  Myths form an essential part of the making of a culture.  They are often taken as facts by common folks.

One of such myths is the myth of Kyansittha, which portrays the founder of the tenth century Pagan Kingdom Anawrahta (reigned 1044-77) as a tyrant king.  In the myth, Anawrahta sought and destroyed all potential rivals to the throne in their childhood.  Kyansittha, like Krishna in Gita, miraculously survived the slaughter and grew up in obscurity among the herdsmen in a remote village.  Unlike Krishna, who succumbed to an arrow shot at an old age, Kyansittha became the successor of Anawrahta.  Hence his name, Kyansittha, meaning ‘the remaining son’ or ‘the warrior last standing.’

The tyrannical killing of kids for power still persists to this day in Burma.  Hundreds of kids have literally been killed each year by the Burmese army, especially in the areas where ethnic armed groups are fighting for self-determination.  A number of kids become handicapped each year as they step on landmines widely used by the warring troops.

Infant Mortality Rate of Burma is one of the highest in the world.  The World Fact Book 2005 indicates that, in every thousand of kids born in Burma, 63.56 children died under the age of one year.  The same figure for Cuba, known for its comprehensive public health care, is 6.33 and that for Thailand is 20.16.

More importantly, the military junta is slaying the future of Burmese kids since their education system has been a mediocrity since the 1960s.  Education by definition has to promote critical thinking.  The education at all levels in Burma does not allow room for students to develop their critical capabilities.  Basically kids are taught to be submissive and servile to the authority.  The history Burmese kids learn is a distorted pro-Burman ultranationalist version styled by propagandists of the military rulers.

Yet Burmese students, through extra-curricular activities or through the good teaching of responsible teachers, parents or friends,  have learned to develop critical reasoning skills.  This explains why they have always been at the forefront of anti-government uprisings since the 1960s.  Burma’s ruling generals usually shut down schools and universities at every hint of student uprising, thus killing the future of the kids further more.

Only when brilliant kids of Burma are provided with a chance to grow up literally and intellectually, Burma will rise and shine in the world.  This may be a far-fetched dream as long as the present military dictatorship which has still been slaying kids for the throne is in Burma’s political culture.

Ko Ko Thett