{"id":345,"date":"2010-10-23T10:58:07","date_gmt":"2010-10-23T03:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martianuswb.com\/?p=345"},"modified":"2013-03-12T21:13:40","modified_gmt":"2013-03-12T14:13:40","slug":"burma%e2%80%99s-ethnic-christians-fear-bleak-future-after-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/?p=345","title":{"rendered":"Burma\u2019s Ethnic Christians Fear Bleak Future after Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHIANG MAI, Thailand, October 22<\/strong> (CDN) \u2014 With Burma\u2019s first election in over 20 years just three weeks away, Christians in ethnic minority states fear that afterward the military regime will try to \u201ccleanse\u201d the areas of Christianity, sources said.<\/p>\n

The Burmese junta is showing restraint to woo voters in favor of its proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), but it is expected to launch a military offensive on insurgents in ethnic minority states after the Nov. 7 election, Burma watchers warned.<\/p>\n

When Burma Army personnel attack, they do not discriminate between insurgents and unarmed residents, said a representative of the pro-democracy Free Burma Rangers relief aid group in Chiang Mai, close to the Thai-Burma border. There is a large Christian population in Burma\u2019s Kachin, Karen and Karenni states along the border that falls under the military\u2019s target zone. Most of the slightly more than 2 million Christians in Burma (also called Myanmar) reside along the country\u2019s border with Thailand, China and India.<\/p>\n

The military seems to be preparing its air force for an offensive, said Aung Zaw, editor of the Chiang Mai-based magazine Irrawaddy, which covers Burma. The Burmese Air Force (BAF) bought 50 Mi-24 helicopters and 12 Mi-2 armored transport helicopters from Russia in September, added Zaw, a Buddhist.<\/p>\n

Irrawaddy reported that the BAF had procured combat-equipped helicopters for the first time in its history. Air strikes will be conducted \u201cmost likely in Burma\u2019s ethnic areas, where dozens of armed groups still exert control,\u201d the magazine reported, quoting BAF sources.<\/p>\n

\u201cArmed conflicts between ethnic armies and the military can flare up any time,\u201d said Zaw. \u201cHowever, to boost the morale of its personnel, the military is expected to attack smaller ethnic groups first, and then the more powerful ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven states of Burma have armed and unarmed groups demanding independence or autonomy from the regime: Shan, Karenni (also known as Kayah), Karen, Mon, Chin, Kachin, and Arakan (also Rakhine).<\/p>\n

The junta has designated many areas in this region as \u201cBlack Zones\u201d \u2013 entirely controlled by armed ethnic groups \u2013 and \u201cBrown Zones,\u201d where the military has partial control, said the source from FBR, which provides relief to internally displaced people in states across the Thai-Burma border.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many unarmed Christian residents in these zones where Burmese military personnel attack and kill anyone on sight,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

A Karen state native in Chiang Mai who identified himself only as Pastor Joseph, who fled Burma as a child, referred to the junta\u2019s clandestine campaign to wipe out Christians from the country. At least four years ago a secret memo circulated in Karen state, \u201cProgram to Destroy the Christian Religion in Burma,\u201d that carried \u201cpoint by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state,\u201d reported the British daily Telegraph on Jan. 21, 2007.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe text, which opens with the line, \u2018There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practiced,\u2019 calls for anyone caught evangelizing to be imprisoned,\u201d the Telegraph reported. \u201cIt advises: \u2018The Christian religion is very gentle \u2013 identify and utilize its weakness.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Persecution of Christians in Burma \u201cis part of a wider campaign by the regime, also targeted at ethnic minority tribes, to create a uniform society in which the race and language is Burmese and the only accepted religion is Buddhism,\u201d the daily noted.<\/p>\n

The junta perceives all Christians in ethnic minority states as insurgents, according to the FBR. Three months ago, Burma Army\u2019s Light Infantry Battalions 370 and 361 attacked a Christian village in Karen state, according to the FBR. In Tha Dah Der village on July 23, army personnel burned all houses, one of the state\u2019s biggest churches \u2013 which was also a school \u2013 and all livestock and cattle, reported the FBR.<\/p>\n

More than 900 people fled to save their lives.<\/p>\n

Vague Religious Freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Burmese regime projects that close to 70 percent of the country\u2019s population is ethnic Burman. Ethnic minorities dispute the claim, saying the figure is inflated to make a case for Burman Buddhist nationalism.<\/p>\n

The new constitution, which will come into force with the first session of parliament after the election, was passed through a referendum in May 2008 that was allegedly rigged. It provides for religious freedom but also empowers the military to curb it under various pretexts.<\/p>\n

Article 34 states, \u201cEvery citizen is equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess and practice religion subject to public order, morality or health and to the other provisions of this Constitution.\u201d Article 360 (a), however, says this freedom \u201cshall not include any economic, financial, political or other secular activities that may be associated with religious practice,\u201d apparently to bar religious groups from any lobbying or advocacy.<\/p>\n

Further, Article 360 (b) goes on to say that the freedom \u201cshall not debar the Union from enacting law for the purpose of public welfare and reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adds Article 364: \u201cThe abuse of religion for political purposes is forbidden. Moreover, any act which is intended or is likely to promote feelings of hatred, enmity or discord between racial or religious communities or sects is contrary to this Constitution. A law may be promulgated to punish such activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Article 382 empowers \u201cthe Defense Forces personnel or members of the armed forces responsible to carry out peace and security\u201d to \u201crestrict or revoke\u201d fundamental rights.<\/p>\n

The Burmese junta is expected to remain at the helm of affairs after the election. The 2008 constitution reserves one-fourth of all seats in national as well as regional assemblies for military personnel.<\/p>\n

A majority of people in Burma are not happy with the military\u2019s USDP party, and military generals are expected to twist the results in its favor, said Htet Aung, chief election reporter at Irrawaddy.<\/p>\n

Khonumtung News Group, an independent Burmese agency, reported on Oct. 2 that most educated young Burmese from Chin state were \u201cdisgusted\u201d with the planned election, \u201cwhich they believe to be a sham and not likely to be free and fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

They \u201care crossing the border to Mizoram in the northeast state of India from Chin state and Sagaing division to avoid participating,\u201d Khonumtung reported. \u201cOn a regular basis at least five to 10 youths are crossing the border daily to avoid voting. If they stay in Burma, they will be coerced to cast votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is \u201cutter confusion\u201d among people, and they do not know if they should vote or not, said Aung of Irrawaddy. While the second largest party, the National Unity Party, is pro-military, there are few pro-democracy and ethnic minority parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the pro-democracy and ethnic minority candidates have little or no experience in politics,\u201d Aung said. \u201cAll those who had some experience have been in jail as political prisoners for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some ethnic minority states, the USDP might face an embarrassing defeat. And this can deepen the military\u2019s hostility towards minorities, including Christians, after the election, added Aung.<\/p>\n

For now, an uneasy calm prevails in the Thai-Burma border region where most ethnic Christians live.<\/p>\n

\n

Source : http:\/\/www.compassdirect.org\/\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHIANG MAI, Thailand, October 22 (CDN) \u2014 With Burma\u2019s first election in over 20 years just three weeks away, Christians in ethnic minority states fear that afterward the military regime… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[80,35],"class_list":["post-345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-persecuted","tag-burma","tag-idop-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=345"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2550,"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions\/2550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}