Myanmar's plight,
update, January, 2004
An open letter on the subject of Myanmar and
the detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi by Bono and Mitch McConnell (senior U.S. senator
from Kentucky) was published in the International Herald Tribune on Monday. The authors
ask for the Bush administration's continued focus on the plight of Myanmar, as well
as a tougher stance from the European countries: "The future of Myanmar rests
with the return of democracy and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues."
News 24: Bono calls the tune on Myanmar
Burma poised to free Suu
Kyi by Micahel Sheridan, From The Sunday Times
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BURMA'S opposition leader, the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, could be freed
from house arrest under a deal with the military regime to secure new elections.
Thailand's defence minister said yesterday that, following secret talks Suu Kyi and
the regime were ready to form a national government ahead of elections.
The minister, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh,
is known to be close to the Burmese military junta. Chavalit told Bangkok newspapers
that the regime's military intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, had
come to an agreement with the opposition leader.
"Once all groups are engaged in . . .
a national government and get to work, confidence among the former rivals will soon
be established," he said. "After a while, a new election should be held."
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The German press agency DPA also reported
that Suu Kyi may be freed before July 19, known as Martyrs Day to commemorate the
assassination of her father, Aung San. A breakthrough in Burma will be welcomed around
the world. The country's atrocious human rights record has attracted international
condemnation and sanctions.
Suu Kyi returned from Britain to Burma after
the junta cracked down on student protests at the end of the 1980s. Her party, the
National League for Democracy, won elections but the generals ignored the result
and placed her under arrest. In recent weeks the military has released 129 members
of the NLD from detention, including seven members of parliament. Diplomats have
cautioned that serious issues remain to be resolved, with two rebel groups still
waging a guerrilla war along the Thai border.
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Beijing horrified by Tibetan lama escape
FROM DAVID ORR IN DHARMSALA
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The flight to India of Tibet's third-ranking
lama caused shock in China yesterday. The seventeenth Karmapa Lama, head of one of
the four great sects of Tibetan Buddhism, was recovering in northern India after
a gruelling trek across the Himalayas.
The escape of the 14-year- old religious leader
is the most embarrassing defection from communist-ruled Tibet since the Dalai Lama
fled his homeland four decades ago.
The young lama arrived in the north Indian
hill town of Dharmsala on Wednesday. His high-altitude trek took him across hundreds of miles of some of the most difficult terrain on earth. His followers in Dharmsala,
the seat in exile of the Dalai Lama, say that he made the clandestine journey in
the company of four attendants and that it took just over a week. "His Holiness
has escaped from Tibet," said Tenzin Namgyal, a monk and follower of the Karmapa.
"He is very tired but he is fine.
He's doing okay."
The teenage lama had an audience with the
Dalai Lama soon after his surprise arrival. He is resting in a guesthouse while the
Indian authorities grapple with the problem posed by having such an influential refugee
in their midst.An Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman in Delhi said that he was aware
of the Karmapa's arrival but refused to comment.
The young Ugyen Trinley Dorje was the first
Tibetan reincarnation of a holy person to be recognised by the Chinese in 1992. He
heads the influential Kagyupa sect - commonly known as the Black Hats - which is
Tibetan Buddhism's second most important after that led by the Dalai Lama.
His presence in Tibet was hailed by the Chinese
authorities as proof of the legitimacy of their rule. But sources close to the Karmapa
indicate that he was becoming increasingly frustrated by China's refusal to grant
him permission to further his religious education.
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TIBETAN UPDATE
China Clamps Down.
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China has detained the parents of Karmapa
Lama as part of a widening investigation into the 14 year old Buddist leader's
escape from Tibet in January. The Karmapa Lama is the third highest leader of Tibetan
Buddhism. Authorities recently closed the Karmapa's monastery, Tsurphu, to visitors;
detained two security workers; replaced monks who managed the monastery; and questioned
others, the London-based Tibet Information Network said. The report came ofn the
day that U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson opened a conference in Bejing
on human rights in Asia.
Drepung Loseling Monastery
was the largest monastery in Tibet, with approximately 10,000 monks. In 1959
they became refugees in India. In 1991, friends of Drepung Loseling established a
headquarters for the Drepung Loseling Monastery in North America. Based in Atlanta.
Visit the Tibetan Drepung Loseling Monastery on-line
Tibetan Monks visit Columbia,
South Carolina
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