Far and Away: Reporting from the Brink of Change

Ma Thida said, “We are beginning to see how surveillance has changed not only the writer’s thinking, but also the society’s thinking. You cannot trust one another. And when people cannot trust one another, it’s very easy to manipulate them. So the society itself is not yet ready for democracy.” She hadn’t expected that the “reform government” would bring quick freedom, so, like Nay Phone Latt, she wasn’t particularly surprised by the backsliding. But she has had to revise her expectations about the recovery of Burmese society: “Now I see that what we have been missing is a collective dream. Our history is of fighting against oppression: colonialism, the socialist regime, the military regime. We totally forget about what kind of society we truly want to live in. We can only hope for a new generation that has a wider view.”

The Burmese shake their heads on hearing news of journalists being detained, but they have made their peace with worse. The lack of tremendous optimism in the wake of significant positive change is less remarkable than the equanimity and obdurate quietude that prevail among even those with little hope of better personal fortune. The Burmese had not so much optimism, but neither much pessimism—perhaps a cultural expression of Theravada Buddhist ideals. Despite the lack of a collective dream, the collective character is surprisingly robust: an apotheosis of patient endurance that does not guarantee reform, but that constitutes its very essence.

The Rohingya crisis escalated in the lead-up to the 2015 elections. The 969 movement expanded with the introduction of Ma Ba Tha, the Patriotic Association of Myanmar, which professes to defend Theravada Buddhism. Wirathu is one of its prominent members. Persecution by Buddhist radicals has driven many Rohingya to flee, and those who stay face brutal conditions at home and in refugee camps. These people have nowhere to go. An American group filed a lawsuit against President Thein Sein accusing him of genocide. The radical Buddhists attempted to sway the election in favor of Thein Sein’s party and failed in that ambition, but they are hardly likely to disappear.

The NLD has shown no interest in helping Muslims. Following the elections, a high-ranking party leader, U Win Htein, said, “We have other priorities.” Despite the fact that most of the Muslims have been in Myanmar for generations, he explained, “We have to deal with the Bangladesh government because almost all of them came from there,” adding that they should be “returned.” The NLD did not put forward any Muslim candidates, and for the first time since independence in 1948, the new Parliament has no Muslim members. Muslims have, however, expressed hope that the NLD will provide rule of law, and that with rule of law, their rights will be better respected than they have been previously.

Since the official dissolution of Myanmar’s ruling military junta in 2011 and the relaxation of restrictions on private publications the following year, 32 daily newspapers, some 400 weekly journals, and about 350 monthly magazines have hit the presses, but many have since closed. Thein Sein’s rhetoric of reform has been belied by the escalating curtailment of press freedom under his quasi-civilian administration. Although many journalists have been released from prison, the laws under which they were convicted remain intact.

Reporters and publishers have continued to be convicted of vague crimes such as “inciting unrest.” Official prepublication censorship has given way to widespread self-censorship. Reporters who value their freedom have learned to shy away from controversial topics. Any attempt to investigate government corruption, the situation of the Rohingyas, ongoing conflicts with ethnic groups, rapes committed by soldiers, displacement caused by economic development projects, or the lethal aspects of burgeoning Buddhist nationalism represents an invitation to surveillance, harassment, and prosecution—if not by the government, then by aggrieved vigilantes. The new NLD government will have much work to reverse the damage done, both to unjustly persecuted individuals and to the country’s fledgling independent press. But some of the change may be out of their hands, as penetration of Internet access on smartphones has leaped forward in the country, with many people getting their news from Facebook.