The inanity of dictatorship - Awzar Thi

THIS JUNTA IS NOT FOR THE PEOPLE; NOT OFF THE PEOPLE; NOT BY THE PEOPLE AS
THEY CLAIM. THE JUNTA IS JUST PROTECTING ITSELF FROM THE PEOPLE AND
DESTROYING THE SOCIAL FABRIC OF THE PEOPLE.



June 14, United Press International Asia - The inanity of dictatorship -
Awzar Thi

A group of schoolchildren in Burma were recently given a lesson on the
inanity of their government and its officialdom. According to a report by
the Thailand-based Yoma 3 news group, representatives of the Myanmar
Maternal and Child Welfare Association came on June 6 to distribute free
books to students at a middle school in Shwepyithar, an industrial area
among Rangoon's outskirts. They posed for photographs on the school grounds
with the chairman of the local council, the books and the children. When
done, they took the books back and left the children with nothing. This
little event speaks volumes about how dictatorship debilitates society.
Whereas all ceremony is in part about something being seen to be done, it is
in most places also about something actually being done: the
awarding of a prize, the giving of a donation, the opening of an edifice.
But in Burma, whether or not something is actually done has long since
ceased to be of primary importance. What matters above all is the
affirmation that it has been done, through endless public performances
choreographed to demonstrate the benevolence of the state and wisdom of its
agents, irrespective of reality. Official observances are important to
autocrats because they put everyone else in his or her correct place. In
Burma, teachers, students, parents and members of the public are co-opted to
witness and applaud the largesse of their self-appointed leaders. They are
reduced to the role of silent passengers on endless bureaucratic voyages.
Whether at a ceremony to hand out books that are never actually given, to
open a hospital that has no doctors or drugs, or to discuss a chapter of a
constitution that is never actually finished, the respective roles of all
participants are predetermined and unchanging.
In a 1990 performance recorded on video that can be viewed via You Tube,
Burma's most famous comedian makes a mockery of these public rituals. Waves
of laughter roll across the stage as Zarganar and his troupe hold their
"Beggars' Convention." A man in rags formally announces the arrival of The
Chairman to others squatting on the floor amid filth and bandages. Zarganar
approaches regally and tugs at his national headgear, only to find a bit
fall off. He opens his mouth to speak and even before the first sentence is
finished the assembled delegates chorus agreement. his biting ridicule
earned Zarganar four years in jail. Although continuing to joke, he has
since been subjected to frequent bans and has been forced to be more
circumspect in what and how he atirizes.
The tragedy of Burma is that it is a country full of brilliant and
creative people, none of whom are welcome to contribute anything to the
state. As in all dictatorships, it is the dull and mediocre who get ahead.
Cardboard-cutout army officers parade nightly around the television news,
followed by their untalented children performing bad MTV covers and selling
toothpaste. Scholars and writers of dubious credentials are feted with
literary awards while the greats of the 20th century fade one by one into
the distance. Artists unwilling to compromise their integrity produce
obscure works of hidden significance, beyond the comprehension of both the
censors and the general public. And as for students, those who succeed are
certainly not the ones waiting in vain for a free book: while in most
countries money and privilege count in getting an education, in Burma these
days they count far more than in most. Dictatorship is bad not just because
it permits abuses and perverts institutions, but because it willfully denies
talent and saps enthusiasm. It obliges people to be champions of their own
debasement. While a few openly resist, most unwillingly go along until it
looks safe to do something else. Whatever else happens, the struggle for
change in Burma will have to overcome the accumulated suspicions of these
millions who have repeatedly had things put in front of them only to have
them cruelly snatched away again.
(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission
with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule
of law in Thailand and Burma.)


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