General Aung San is Aung San Suu Kyi's own parent. Suu Kyi had grown up in a semi-exile abroad and had been married in the UK, but she had returned to her homeland just prior to the 1988 uprising in order to take care of her aged mother.
The Australian press adds that "to many people, the pagoda [Shwedagon] is best remembered as the site of a vast Aug. 26, 1988, rally where Aung San's daughter Aung San Suu Kyi, took up leadership of a pro-democracy movement. The 1988 pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed by the military, and Suu Kyi has spent 11 of the past 18 years in detention.
"WORRIED? ... AND WHAT CAN ONE DO?
This is a sobering moment for the Burmese. Many are happy and supportive of the Monks current stand on their behalf. However, in 1988 and again in 1990 similar protests were put down by the SLORC regime and its predecessors.
Besides prayer, what can one do?
I'd suggest that interested parties go first to Burma support organizations, like at the Burma Guide address: http://burmaguide.net/index_html
See what various groups things can be or should be done.Second, contact the more-than-a-dozen senators on the Senate Relations Committees, like Sen. Biden or Sen. Lugar. Let them know that you want freedom and justice to be what the U.S. is seen as as supporting abroad in 2007 .
Try this link for help in contacting these senators: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/committees.tt?commid=sforeThird, continue to push for the U.S. to back up prior executive orders and prior congressional demands that U.S. firms stay out of Burma.
Chevron bought Unical some time ago and has become the largest foreign investor in Burma. Surely, Chevron should be expected to do what justice and freedom demand, too. Let Bush and Congress know that Americans are concerned and watching whether Chevron will continue to be blatantly ignore the executive branch to thwarting the laws of the land.
For example, the following is what has been reported by Marco Simons in Thomas Paine reported on the horrors that Unical/Chevron have been up to with their SLORC buddies over the past days and years:
"When refugees who had suffered rape, torture, enslavement, and murder at the hands of soldiers protecting the Yadana pipeline sued Unocal in U.S. court, the Bush administration intervened to try to convince the courts that the lawsuit should not proceed. The administration essentially argued that, even if the case would not actually interfere with U.S. relations with Burma, holding Unocal liable would create a precedent that could conflict with U.S. foreign policy in other parts of the world. (The lawsuit, Doe v. Unocal Corp., was ultimately resolved before the courts considered the administration's position, with Unocal compensating the victims in a historic settlement-see http://www.earthrights.org/legal/unocal/.) If the Bush administration opposes accountability for human rights violations committed by the oil and gas industry in a pariah state such as Burma, the situation is even worse when oil companies commit abuses in countries friendly to the United States. In the troubled Indonesian region of Aceh, security forces hired by ExxonMobil have committed rape, murder and torture against local villagers. When the victims filed suit in federal court against the oil giant for compensation, the Bush administration sent a letter to the court stating that the case could cause a 'serious adverse impact' on 'the ongoing struggle against international terrorism.' The judge subsequently dismissed parts of the case."
In short, the struggle for the Burmese people is related to the struggle for- and with Big Oil dependence.
We are all part of this struggle. Find time to do something.
Finally, get your peace- and other community organizations supportive and provide teach-ins on the multi-ethnic and long suffering peoples of Burma.
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