The Chief Editor,

I am Mi Khin Thant who wrote four or five articles in your newspapers in 1988 and 1989 with the intention that students would not take a wrong path and would not lose their future and would not be used by unscrupulous elements.

Now, I have learnt that destructive elements at home and abroad are agitating the people, and I would like to present some notable points for the people. So, you are kindly requested to insert this article in your newspaper.

Today’s younger generations’ parents, grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles and I witnessed the 1988 unrest in which the Union was on the verge of collapse, the nation was about to lose independence, anarchy was rampant and everything was in total disorder.

In March 1988, two second year students of Yangon Institute of Technology engaged in a brawl with some ward dwellers, stemming from the playing of a cassette tape recorder in a tea shop. Four civilians were held in custody for attacking the two students. Meanwhile, other students set fire to the ward. They prevented fire engines from getting to the fire. The rector of the institute dissuaded them from doing so, but he met bad language from them owing to his dissuasion. In consequence, four houses, a cooperative sales centre, and a garage were burnt down. Then, the clash grew into a large-scale conflict between ward dwellers and a group of students. So the authorities concerned had to disperse the gathering crowd. Members of the Burma Communist Party (UGs) in complicity with the CIA fanned the flame of the incident into 8-8-1988 mass demonstration.

Using the students, they instigated an uncontrollable protest exploiting a small matter of students’ affairs. The CIA, BCP and other self-seeking political groups exaggerated the news in order that the protest, which subsided from March to July in 1988, continued. At the same time, BBC and VOA aired distorted news stories in the evenings to create the public outrage to maintain the momentum of the protest.

The Chief Editor,

Here, I would like to present a point. Self-centered politicians concentrating on coming to power use the method of organizing, deceiving and using three “Thars” when they are not in a position to come to power. Rightist politicians and leftist politicians also used this method.

The three “Thars” they have designated are Kyaungtha (student), Sittha (servicemen), and Phayatha (monks). They considered that when students stood by them, the people would join them. They were sure of themselves that the government daren’t shoot and arrest students. If servicemen stood by and joined them, they would be able to equip themselves with arms. They would be able to seize power after rising in revolt against the government and ousting it. If they succeeded in organizing servicemen, there would be a fall in the national defence power, and alien forces would have a chance to invade the nation easily. If so, they could seize power through armed strife. If a protest was joined by monks, the people would join the protest then. If monks staged a protest, the government would find it difficult to arrest the protesters and would not dare to fire shots to disperse the crowd. So, they always use one of the three Thars whenever they try to incite a protest.

In Myanmar, the population of members of the Sangha is now about 500,000. Discharging primary duties of three kinds of Sasana—Pariyatti (learning of Buddhist scriptures), Patipatti (meditation) and Pativedha (attainment of insight), members of the Sangha have to observe the Vinaya rules, which were prescribed by the Buddha, to attain Nirvana. Myanmar is a nation where Theravada Buddhism flourishes. More than 90 per cent of the population are Buddhists. The people and the government provide four kinds of requisites to members of the Sangha. Every region of the nation has a great number of religious edifices, pagodas, stupas, Buddha images, ordination halls, monasteries, and public rest houses.

According to the tactic, politicians use the three Thars to achieve their goals by stuffing them with political ideas, instigating them, or driving a wedge among them. Many senior monks knowledgeable about religious studies witnessed political conflicts among members of the Sangha.

So, they give sermons to their junior counterparts. The Teachings of the Buddha carry Do’s and Don’ts for members of the Sangha.

The CIA and BCP UGs were behind the 1988 unrest. Initially, the protesters made demands on education affairs and student affairs. Later, they made different demands such as democracy, formation of an interim government, and resignation of the one-party government. While speeding up their movements, they arrested, tortured and beheaded many innocent daily wages earners under the accusations that they poisoned the drinks and foods for protesters with the intention that no one would dare to oppose their acts. Casual opportunists reared their heads, robbing warehouses and universities and destroying state-owned factories.

On 24 August 1988, U Aung Gyi was released. He gave anti-government talks to the people at Padomma Grounds in Sangyoung on 25 August, Daw Suu Kyi who was on a visit to the nation to look after her sick mother and was pushed onto the political stage, held a mass meeting at the foot of the Shwedagon Pagoda on 26 August, and U Tin Oo, who had served his seven-year term under Section 124 (criminal concealment in an abortive coup), made speeches at Yangon General Hospital on 27 August. At that time, they pledged that they would not set up political parties, would not take leadership role, and would not take power, and just took part in the democracy campaign.

I will not present so many points about the 1988 unrest because it was merely an undignified protest, which was staged for the sake of the BCP and CIA. In the unrest, the protesters ravaged a lot of State-owned and private-owned property, and they did not spare even tombs in some cemeteries. Any of the so-called leaders was unable to control such destructive acts. BBC and VOA aired that those who had robbed warehouses were soldiers, not protesters. Ward dwellers and the people knew best who did so in that regard.

When the Tatmadaw unavoidably took over State responsibilities on 18- 9- 1988, the young students without knowing what to do approached and asked for advice from the so-called democracy leaders. But there was no leader who took responsibilities by saying such words as ‘You stay yourselves at home. We will protect you. We would face any punishment if necessary.’ Instead, they replied that ‘Stay away. Even we don’t know what will happen to us’. And they asked the students to flee to the border areas.

Consequently, the border areas experienced an influx of thousands of young students. They cruelly placed the students at the insurgent camps which were like in the mouth of a fox. Some fled and came back home. They recounted their bitter experiences — various forms of tortures. In some cases, the students were forcibly pushed into a latrine hole and they had to go hungry without any food or water there. At the time, The Bangkok Post and The Nation featured a piece of news together with a photo in which over 80 young women from a brothel in Ranong were arrested by Thai police. It was a tragic story to learn 80 Myanmar girl students were forced into prostitution. Feeling sorry for them as my own daughters, I wrote several articles.

We wrote about the articles in which the students returned home from Tak district individually or in groups. They were received by the commands and districts concerned. Many had to go hungry, died of various diseases or were brutally killed. VOA and BBC blacked out the news. Speech writer Rorabarger of the US President went to the border and pledged seven million dollars. He instructed the students to continue their anti- government activities from Marneplaw. However, no money came in. If the money had arrived, it would have gone to the insurgents. The young students had to eat only boiled raw water melon without any rice. Now the student remnants who went into the jungles have become middle-aged persons. With no proper education, they have to survive depending on others and they have to do whatever others ask. Some useful were luckily taken to capitalist nations like America, England, Europe, Australia, Japan and South Korea. Those middle-aged men (No longer students) were employed by VOA, BBC, RFA, DVB and other organizations. Some are getting involved in the activities of some organizations as asked by CIA and trying to tarnish the image of their own nation. Otherwise, they would have to have hard times.

The Chief Editor,

On the pretext of fuel price hikes and high cost of living, they resorted to various means to create unrest like in 1988 with the help of NLD members, so-called ‘88’ generation students, some of whom have become fathers now, and expatriates. They have no chance to use today’s students. The parents are also intolerant of seeing their children get used. The students are pursuing higher education with the use of computers.

The embassy of a big power secretly gave training courses (like ones conducted by Gene Sharp of the West) to young monks and novices. They were forced to stage protests setting aside their Pariyatti and Patipatti work. It is saddening to see those young monks and novices are turning their back to the Buddha’s Teachings and Ovada and Vinaya of Sangha Maha Nayaka Sayadaws.

Initially, the monks staged protest walks reciting parittas. Authorities did not disturb and prohibit their acts. A crowd of people followed the monks with an excuse for protecting them. By-standers also gathered at their instigation.Then, on- lookers were urged to applause and clap. Most of the followers were NLD members. Some wanderers and young people wearing decadent dress also got involved in the protests.

Then, they started shouting slogans calling for release of Daw Suu Kyi and political prisoners and a dialogue with Daw Suu Kyi. Their slogans were like those of NLD. In some places, the protesters shouted a slogan saying ‘Down with the military government’. Unknowingly, they came to violate Sections 121 and 122. According to these laws, even capital punishment can be given.

The State responsible for community peace and tranquillity and the rule of law announced that further disturbances were not to be created and action would be taken against those who violated the law. But the situation was going from bad to worse. The protesters started throwing stones at the security forces. Their instigation was that the protesters threw stones at the security forces, who would then start shooting. If there were deaths of the protesters, BBC, VOA and CIA would spread propaganda to the world to cause misunderstanding with Myanmar’s government. NLD masterminded the plan.

Every nation with its own law has to take action according to those laws. The same applies that in Washington on 17 December, police hit and arrested 200 out of about 100,000 US citizens protesting against the Iraq war.

The people don’t accept the one-sided instructions of the US ordering Myanmar government not to deter any act to cause disturbances in the nation however the situation is bad. The people favour peace and stability. They want no violence and unrest. All in all, I would like to urge all the parents to protect their children from being used by instigators taking lessons from the 1988 unrest.