GRAPE VINE
A rejoinder
This is a rejoinder to the article "Burma; A regime in denial" by John Battle appeared in the New Nation on 9 July 2000.
A good number of diplomats and intimate Bangladeshi friends in Dhaka used to ask me a question on different phrases but on the same old theme.
Why has Myanmar been the target of various allegations?
I will write the same, which I had disclosed to my friends at various diplomatic functions.
Myanmar has been the target of various allegations and criticisms for the last several years. All these allegations and criticisms are politically
motivated and simply directed to create misconceptions about the genuine situation in the country. Always independent and impartial in its foreign
policy, Myanmar has been a nation that never succumbs to pressures.
This seems to have irked some powerful countries to such an extent that they
resort to various means to subdue and make her toe their line. Added to Myanmar's recalcitrance is her strategic position between the two
sub-regions -South Asia and South East Asia as well as between the two giants of the world- India and China. Myanmar has thus far successfully
thwarted the attempts to transform her into a sphere of influence of any powerful state.
It will be much easier for a powerful country to control this particular part of the world if a country in a strategic position like Myanmar could be kept in
effective control. This rationale led to sinister moves by some countries to maintain pressures on Myanmar and destabilize it through various
allegations.
The aim is obviously to effect changes in the policy of Myanmar in their desired directions through sustained pressures. Myanmar's
continued recalcitrance has been a formidable obstacle to their strategic objectives for the region.
John Battle has depicted the National League for Democracy (NLD) as a very popular political party in Myanmar, but the fact is that NLD Headquarters
involved in communications with expatriate-absconder NLD (LA) Group based in Maesod of Thailand. NLD (LA) Group has linked up with KNU
insurgent groups, which I intend to elaborate on next time.
For the moment, I would like to draw the attention of readers why Mr. James Mawdsley was being taken action in Myanmar.
On the 31st of August 1999 the local of Tachileik Township of Eastern Shan State apprehended a suspicious looking foreigner in the market place
and handed him over to the Tachileik Immigration Department. After certain enquiries, this person was found out to be Mr. James Mawdsley, an
Australian/British, who had been officially deported from Myanmar since August 1998.
Mr. James Mawdsley was deported due to the breach of Myanmar Immigration Emergency Act in September 1997. Again he re-entered Myanmar
illegally in September 1998 for which he was sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment for the breach of the same law.
Due to the request for leniency by
his parents and Embassies concerned the 5 years' sentence was suspended on conditions that such offence shall never be repeated by Mr. James
mawdsley and he was deported. Again in August 1999, he re-entered Myanmar illegally and has again repeated the breach of the same law and the
said conditions without any remorse of taking consideration of leniency accorded to him by the Myanmar Government on account of the request of his
parents and Embassies concerned for the suspension of the 5 years' sentence.
The Government of Myanmar deeply regrets having to take action against Mr. James Mawdsley for breaching the same law and the conditions agreed
upon.
The Myanmar Government has committed to discipline democracy that is in accord with our culture, historical background as well as the wishes and
aspiration of the entire people. It is not a regime in denial, but going along her own way for the long term national interest of the nation.
Mya Tun
Information Officer,
Myanmar Embassy,
Dhaka