Religious Restrictions in the 25 Most Populous Countries

Bloody shameful, if you ask me. What on earth are these countries doing? Think about India, not only does it have high government restrictions but the people themselves are actively hostile to other religions. Disgusting.

For that matter, the UK correspondingly has room for improvement as well. It has to reduce the amount of government restrictions and also further educate its population on being more liberal to other religions. Not good.

Nothing will happen in Burma, AGAIN

Remember what I said before about Burma? I said that nobody will help them in their fight against the military goons, only they themselves can. And now, the military is not helping and actively stopping people from helping the cyclone victims. And still the Burmese do not do anything. And here's a prediction, nothing will actually happen again, anything between quarter of a million to a million Burmese will die and still nothing will happen.

All the liberal and conservative hand wringing around the globe is just hot air, nothing, absolutely nothing will happen. China, India, South East Asia, EU, USA, Arab World, OIC, United Nations, nothing, nobody can help on this. Here's a suggestion to the Burmese people, rise and fight for your freedom. Otherwise you will die. Mind you, you are dying anyway, so what do you have to lose?

Technorati Tags: Burma

Re-visiting Burma

I wrote about Burma on October 7, 2007 and said that nobody other than Burmese can help them. Do not bother about moaning to China, India or anybody else because they will not help at all. Same with Comoros, if somebody does care about them, its for their own benefits, otherwise no, nobody gives a toss.

And here's a very interesting article on the follow-up on what happened with Burma. So how many times have you heard about the anti-war crowd talking about Burma? How many times have you heard George Bush or Brown talking about Burma? Nothing. All those big sounding words from all those liberals and conservatives alike, dont mean much. And as I said, the Burmese need to fight their soldiers more. I quote:

After violently suppressing anti-government marches last year, Burma’s ruling generals are hunt­ing a new enemy in the dilapidated city of Rangoon, zeroing in on street vendors who sell pirated DVDs. The object of the junta’s wrath is the latest Rambo film, in which the Vietnam veteran played by Sylvester Stallone battles Burmese soldiers to rescue missionaries held for assisting persecuted ethnic minorities.

Besides confiscating every copy it can find, the junta has compelled privately owned Burmese news journals to print articles ridiculing Rambo for being “so fat, with sagging breasts” and looking “like a lunatic” during fights.

Aside from the Hollywood action picture, though, not much is rattling Burma’s generals these days. Six months ago, their crackdown on the Buddhist monk-led “saffron revolt” provoked international revulsion and a clamour to push the regime to change. Today, the storm of criticism has largely passed. The junta, as firmly in power as ever, has rebuffed the pressure, making clear it intends to proceed with its own plans for Burma’s future, with or without western or United Nations approval.

Technorati Tags: Burma

Why India would not say boo to the Burmese Generals!

I wrote earlier about why the various assorted grand poo bah's of the world wont say anything to Burma. And still people want India to put pressure on Burma. But see this story, this tells you why India would not do anything at all. Also see this about Christian Terrorism in India which is connected to this story. I quote:

Read and shake your head

GUWAHATI, India (AFP) - Myanmar troops have launched a crackdown against Indian separatists, raiding several rebel bases, officials and militant leaders said on Monday.

An Indian defence official said camps belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) had been smashed in northern Myanmar's Sagaing division.

"The offensive is continuing... since the last four days with some key ULFA bases demolished according to information available so far," a commander of India's paramilitary Assam Rifles told AFP, asking not to be named.

The ULFA, fighting for an independent homeland in northeast India's Assam state, has well-entrenched bases inside Myanmar, from where they stage cross-border bombings and hit-and-run attacks on federal soldiers.

At least half a dozen separatist groups from India's northeast have bases in Myanmar under the patronage of the dominant Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K).

Kughalo Mulatonu, a senior NSCN-K leader, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location that "a routine winter operation is currently on in Myanmar."

"We do expect some clashes in the coming days, but we are capable of protecting ourselves," he said.

The NSCN-Khaplang, which is pressing for an independent tribal homeland, entered into a ceasefire with New Delhi in 2001.

The ULFA, the region's most potent separatist outfit, is an ally of the NSCN-K, which runs about 50 camps with 5,000 guerrilla fighters in Myanmar.

Myanmar, which staged a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests in September, last raided Indian separatist camps in January. That followed a visit by India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Yangon to request the junta's help.

More than 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the northeast since India's independence in 1947.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

More examples of the innate stupidity of economic sanctions

So Japan and EU are going to launch further sanctions on Burma. The idea being that it will hurt the regime. You already know my opinion about sanctions. Let's see

1. Cancel a Y552m ($4.7m) grant for a business education centre

2. EU will cease to import Burmese wood products, high-value metals and minerals and precious stones. It will also impose export and investment bans on these sectors.

Also quoting from the FT report, EU sanctions affect only a small part of Burmese trade, amounting to just 1.5 per cent of Burmese exports

So they will impose sanctions on a business education centre and stuff that will amount to 1.5% of Burmese exports. And this is supposed to make the Burmese Generals shiver? Why?

There is also another question. If the United Nations is allowing a debate on Burma for internal disturbances and riots, will the United Nations also allow a debate next time there is a riot in the suburbs of Paris in France, or in Oldham in the UK or in Los Angeles in the USA?

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

The Burma Boycott story – why boycotts are stupid and wont work!

A great column by Gideon Rachman in the FT on why Boycotts are stupid when we talk about Burma.

I quote:

It is very hard to make the argument for engagement with Burma now, with blood being shed on the streets. The Americans and Europeans clearly feel the need for some sort of symbolic act of repudiation of the Burmese government. That is understandable as an emotional reaction. But do not confuse sanctions with a real strategy to bring change and democracy to Burma.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

The Burmese Generals have no reply to the monks

The monks in Burma have now got the bit between the teeth and have launched a non-violent movement against the Generals. The neighbours support or wink at the generals, preferring to have autocrats than pesky democrats. In many cases, most of the neighbours themselves are despots and autocrats, so its like asking the pot to call the kettle black.

But there is only one weapon against the guns of the generals, and that is non-violence. See here for my previous essay on it. It is also a cultural thing to a large extent. Non-violence will never work in say Palestine or in say Nazi Germany or in say USSR. They simply do not have the respect for life at all and dont give a toss about what others think or say. That is the reason why Palestinians and other Muslims have been killed mercilessly by others and also by themselves and nothing much happened. Same with the Holocaust in Germany and the massive killings in China and Soviet Russia. If you launched a non-violent movement at that time, you will simply be squelched.

But I do think that this protest in Burma has a chance, it has to be sustained, not like the last time when they gave up after 3000 people were killed, they have to keep on protesting peacefully. I know it is great and easy to suggest that you get killed while I am safe, but hey, that's what I would suggest. The monks are perhaps the only segment of the population that the generals respect. Use this single weapon and keep on poking the Generals.

Keep on going, my friends, best of luck to you.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Burma, China and the Myth of Military Bases

Quite an interesting little report here. Burma (or Myanmar!) occupies a rather strategic place in a rather dicey corner of the world. So if one of the local regional powers starts taking a close look at Burma, others get a wee bit interested, specially India.

So India has been dancing with the generals and as we have noted before, has merrily ignored the Burma boycott pressures. All because of the worry that China has military bases in Burma and that can "encircle" India.

This report says that nope, there are no military bases.

Burma, China and the Myth of Military Bases
Author: Andrew Selth DOI: 10.1080/14799850701568929
Published in: journal Asian Security, Volume 3, Issue 3 September 2007 , pages 279 - 307
Abstract
Since the advent of a new, more outward-looking military government in 1988, Burma has come to occupy a position of considerable importance in the Asia-Pacific strategic environment. Burma's burgeoning relationship with China has attracted particular attention, not least because of the stream of reports in the news media and, to a lesser extent, academic literature, claiming that China has established several naval bases and intelligence collection stations in Burma. This apparent intrusion by China into the northeast Indian Ocean has strongly influenced the strategic perceptions and policies of Burma's regional neighbors, notably India. The reported facilities have also been cited as evidence that Burma has become a client state of China, and as proof of Beijing's expansionist designs in South and Southeast Asia. A close examination of the available evidence, however, suggests that there are no Chinese military bases on Burmese soil, a fact conceded by senior Indian officials in 2005. China still has a strong strategic interest in developing its bilateral relations with Burma but, based on this analysis, it would appear that China's presence in Burma, and its current influence over Burma's military regime, have been greatly exaggerated.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!

Technorati Tags: China , India , Indian Ocean , Burma , Military