A Silenced Literary Talk That Spoke Volumes

North Okkalapa's Union Day literary talk ended before it began.

On the evening of February 12, residents of North Okkalapa in Rangoon gathered before a makeshift podium, adorned with a bowl of flowers. It was the neighborhood's first literary talk, organized by the local NLD chapter and the community. It was meant to celebrate Union Day, a show of solidarity among the ethnic tribes of Burma. With street food vendors, the bustling scene began to take on a festive air.

But the audience would not hear a single word from the panelists. Shortly before the talk, about 30 monks arrived, demanding the removal of two of the four speakers. The monks felt Ko Mya Aye, former student leader and political prisoner, and U Ko Ni, NLD's High Court lawyer, shouldn't share the stage because they were Muslims. So the other two writers, out of solidarity with the Muslims, declined to speak. That effectively ended the event before it could begin.

Speaking to the media, one of the monks who came to the event said in Burmese, "We're not here to disrupt the literary talk. We support that. Because we were once illiterate, we used to be dumb, used to be subjected to all types of enslavement ... But what we object to is [the participation of] these two. More important, on Union Day -- that's what I want to say most -- we especially dislike the two Muslims who are not nationals speaking on Union Day."

U Myo Thu, one of the organizers interviewed by DVB, said, "I pleaded with them when I heard their objection. While I was discussing the issue with my team, they arrived, unwilling to accept any terms. As we were discussing it with the township Sangha Nayaka [the Buddhist monastic authorities of Burma], they came. I heard all kinds of shouts, about torching the neighborhood and so on. I don't know if it's real, not sure what that's all about, but out of concerns for the neighborhood, we cancelled the event in time."

Ko Mya Aye, one of the two speakers whose removal the monks demanded, characterized the incident as "a misunderstanding." He remarked, "It's an era where we cannot yet build trust, in my view. I don't blame anybody."

Ko Mya Aye was part of the inner-circle of student leaders who sparked the popular 1988 uprising against the military regime. For his role, he was arrested in August 2007. He was released along with Min Ko Naing and several other prominent dissidents in January 2012. 

U Ko Ni is leading the legal efforts to amend Burma's existing constitution, drafted and passed under military rule. The constitution amendment, if successful, would allow NLD chairman Aung San Suu Kyi to contest in the upcoming election as a presidential candidate.

The rogue monks' argument that these two are not Burmese "nationals" on account of their religion is ridiculous, to say the least. Even under the harshest of the past military regimes, religion has never been a legal factor to qualify or disqualify someone from Burmese citizenship. They have conveniently forgotten (or perhaps never read in a history book due to their illiteracy) that U Razak, one of the nine cabinet members assassinated alongside General Aung San, the man responsible for Burma's independence from the British, was a Muslim.

Union Day was meant to celebrate the Pinlong Agreement, one of Aung San's greatest diplomatic feats to secure the country's independence from the colonial government. In this agreement, the ethnic nationalities of Burma -- despite their religious and cultural differences -- came together as one to demand independence. The monks' use of Union Day as the pretext to exclude two noted individuals with an established history of activism and self-sacrifice is deplorable and inconsistent with the spirit of the occasion.

In the aftermath, some people online questioned whether the monks were "real." Since they made public statements to the reporters and had no quibbles about appearing on camera, I'm inclined to conclude the monks were real. (People committing fraud under assumed identities usually don't seek media spotlight.)

The monks reportedly identify themselves as part of "The Union of Patriotic Monks." Their behavior might not reflect the Sangha Nayaka's official policy. They might not represent the views of their Buddhist brethren. (I certainly hope they don't.) But they seemed as "real" as any ordained monks belonging to a monastery. Either way, since the literary talk and its list of keynote speakers have been blessed by the Sangha Nayaka, the episode serves as an embarrassment to the country's monastic authorities. It should give them the impetus to seek out the offenders for disciplinary action. At the very least, it should prompt them to publicly denounce the bullying tactics used to shut down a community event.

But beyond the Sangha Nayaka's official inquiry (which may or may not happen), it should be up to anyone who cherishes the spirit of freedom to speak out against such practices of censorship by intimidation. It wasn't right when men in army uniforms did it. It's no more acceptable coming from men in maroon robes. To disagree with what the two speakers have to say is one thing; to prevent them from speaking because of their religious conviction is, by any reasonable standard, undemocratic. It should also be the responsibility of the true Buddhists to denounce the acts of such radical elements among their number, because the incident tarnishes the religion's reputation for tolerance and compassion.

The spirit of Union Day belongs to the four speakers who never got to speak. By refusing to capitulate to the rogue monks' divisiveness, by refusing to go on when two of their own were singled out for exclusion for no good reason, they spoke together in silence far louder than they could have in their words.

DVB's news story on the incident: "NLD cancels literary event after pressure over Muslim speakers," Feb 14, 2014.
DVB's video report on the incident (in Burmese): "North Okkalapa literary talk disrupted," Feb 13, 2014.
Irrawaddy's report on the incident (in Burmese): "North Okkalapa literary talk disrupted under religious pretext," Feb 14, 2014. 
Mizzima News's coverage of the incident (in Burmese), "Due to objections, a literary talk featuring U Ko Ni and Ko Mya Aye was called off," Feb 13, 2014.