The Bloggers from Burma: You Are Truly Ours

_ by Ko Sala 

The journalists in free press environment have a moral duty to praise and encourage the courageous acts of bloggers inside Burma who risk their lives to inform us about the uprising with words and images.  It is no use hiding behind the ethics of impartiality and depends entirely upon factual news reportage.  The ethics also include standing on the side of humanity and distancing themselves from inhumane/evil acts.   

The Burma Digest in past issues has welcomed the use of proxy servers by the Internet users in the country.  The brave bloggers, predominantly our younger brothers and sisters, have proved the proxy servers to be useful.  These bloggers are not part of the “horse riding” Burmese journalist elite who live in the West under the luxury of freedom of speech and expression and cast doubts on people’s uprising.  They enable us to consume news free of charge on our desktops and I certainly don’t take it lightly.   

In the early hours of 18 September 2007, the exile Burmese in London engrossed in marking the 19^th Anniversary of military rule in Burma in a usual manner. The phone rang and it turned out to be a contact who informed me that his mole, the blogger from Rangoon has posted pictures of Buddhist monks marching in the streets of the capital reciting religious chant in protest of rising fuel price.  I switched on my computer and the blogger from Rangoon rightly posted incredible pictures from Burma. Within minutes my e-mail inbox was jammed with the same pictures sent or distributed by numerous e-groups and Burmese around the world.   

Around mid day London time the above bloggers in Rangoon removed the pictures and the blogging site too disappeared permanently.   No doubt, I do not contemplate on writing too much about the source for their personal safety but it did raise the hair at the back of neck.  This weekend again, thee bloggers have proved themselves as the best journalists of the world.  This time, an exile friend’s relative in Rangoon marched with the monks to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s house who closely witnessed and recorded democracy hero coming out her house worshiped the monks in tears and vanished into her house.  The democracy movement outside Burma should be archiving the hard work of our young bloggers and if possible should recognise them with awards.  The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), exile government, should be publicising their works in the international arena. 

Some academics or so called experts on Burma in the West have lambasted the democracy movement in past for not attracting the younger generation.   The have also commented in some instances that the movement is dead in the grave.  The Burmese section of the main stream Western radio stations continue to broadcast programmes on fashion, Internet café culture in a style which suggests that younger audience don’t give a “monkey” about oppression, violation human rights and censorship. They are presented as youngsters who are too intoxicated with the global apathetic culture. The recent works of Burma bloggers have proved them all wrong by standing on their feet publicising the feelings and concerns of thousands of monks.  They have stood for truth in an impartial way and I embrace them.