Burma: Should pastors and the church be passive and indecisive over the formation of civilized society?

By Maling Hkataw

Burma's political chaos has reached its peak today under the uncivilized military regime which ignored the NLD's landslide victory in the 1990 multi-party elections. Meanwhile democracy and human rights have been mercilessly trodden upon. There has been seen and unseen eradication and elimination of both the National League for Democracy (NLD) and its allies like United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) and innocent democracy activists over and over down through the years since the regime grabbed power.

The shameful regime's manipulation of democratic principles is being cunningly embodied and revitalized with the ensuing referendum in May 2008 and multi-party election of 2010 challenging the international mandate as well as the UN mandate along with its leadership of Tripartite Principle in order to reconcile Burman politics among regime, NLD and ethnicities.

Moreover a UN special convoy Professor Ibrahim Gambari and Secretary General Mr. Ban-ki Moon have been wildly insulted and blamed for their endeavour to usher in democracy in Burma by the junta's Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan instead of welcoming the policy of cooperation with the UN. In this crucial time separating the goat and the sheep, the Christian position stands at an important juncture in prolonging stability and peace, democracy, human rights, holistic prosperity in this country forever.

The author hereby singles out the critical and passive cooperation of Christians in the formation of democracy in Burma though they boast that, "Christ for Myanmar (Burma)," and "Christ Imitators" so on and so forth. Nevertheless, this is the right time for Christians as co-citizens and friends of people from the biblical perspective and by the time our leaders signed in Panglong Agreement for the formation of Federal Union, to stand very decisively in the process of political resolution together once again.

Momentum of Christian Principle is indecisive and being exploited and insulted by the regime now and then especially for the formation of military's non-people based principle, Burmese racism, Buddhist religion, and non democratic recently instituted/laid down constitution two years prior to multi-party national election.

Particularly, I don't just pour out what happened in the pre-Christianity period of Kachin history where there was no history that how few greater and more civilized groups of peoples for instance, Burmese Buddhist and Confucians, Chinese, were concerned and sympathized towards a wild and savage hilly people like Kachins.

The point is that how come today Kachin Christianity is seemingly thinking that Kachins are now and then indebted to Burmese Buddhists, Chinese Confucians for the survival and for the formation of civil democratic nation in this soil. I shall be too radical regarding this issue whenever we, Kachin Christians has been abused as a whore by this regime now and then for power building neglecting and rejecting Federal Principle of our people.

Thereby, I faithfully reckon what has been politically exploited beyond our imagination today abusing Christianity by the regime in Kachin State in particular. On the other hand Christian pastors are exchanging Christian faith and dignity with the visible material goods without standing for truth, justice and peace instead. So I hereby pinpoint the current campaign of this regime for the success of upcoming referendum across this country.

Current regime campaign among Kachin churches for the referendum is deliberate violation of religious and human rights in Kachin State

The ceasefire agreements made by the regime have been systematically introduced for building its power inside the religious cycle in order to handle the Kachin community as a whole. Very soon military power and its image has been increasingly shadowed in Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), the biggest religious and the most leading organization in the Kachin community firstly through peace makers, Rev. Dr. Lahtaw Saboi Jum, Duwa Hpauyam La Wawm and businessman Mr. Lahtaw Hkun Myat (young brother of Saboi Jum) under the artificial political game played by former Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt who used to grant a lot of oral promises to ethnics regarding the security and formation of federal democracy in Burma.

After the Khin Nyunt's removal from his desk, his successors have been following the same track Khin Nyunt paved. Yet, the regime's mission of shadowing Kachin Christianity has gone beyond its limit being violation of religious right and its belief; KBC General Secretaries have been tempted or rather allured to be its sympathizers instead of standing in the belief and principle of being protestant Baptists who have committed to Baptist principles of church autonomy, autonomy of congregation and each believer in priesthood.

Moreover without the minutes and majority decision the regime has violated church creed by forcibly giving GSM and cellular mobile phones, land line phones, bags of rice, financial support and other goods.

Kachin Christian's status has been vividly rested at the level of opportunists rather of good civil citizen who always advocates for democracy and justice
This is out of the question that Kachin Christians are weighted their value with material means. Known that Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has been exchanging its political principle with the regime's development and regime's peace. KBC leaders have also been trapped with luxuries, authority, opportunities, security, and economics the regime preplanned.

Having established the trust and consensus among ceasefire leaders and KBC toppers now, the regime have come up with another step of field campaign for the upcoming referendum among local churches since last two weeks in Kachin state. By this time of campaign for referendum, the regime has been misusing and abusing its authority by way of three means respectively, such us money, power, arms, and material.

Recently, Dukahtawng Baptist and Roman Catholic elders and pastors were promised GSM and cellular mobile phones by Minister of Communication, Post and Telegraph Brig-Gen Thein Zaw. Today, the Churches in Alam, PLN (Trinity), Shwezet, Manhkring and three others. Altogether seven local Baptist churches have been forced by Minister Thein Zaw, Deputy Northern Command commander Brig-Gen San Tun and their colleagues respectively. It has been known that the programme was done forcibly and each local church leader had not informed while the order had come from above to members of Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).

There is no democratic leadership among positioned church leaders and pastors except those who love democracy, justice and peace
Nominally Christian pastors are also regarded as community leaders by their position and ministries in Kachin context over the years, yet when it has been obvious that churches have been regime's platform where its power could be built in recently launched campaign for referendum. It is a heavy question that what has been happening in churches in need of material assistance.

Actually, the church should have stood for the truth for all if the church is really concerned for this regime. Today we are supposed to construct full lives, security rather than other ones as citizens of this country. It is the right time that every citizen of Burma has inborn/innate right to form our own nation with our own freedom rather than the regime's will alone.

As a matter of fact that we are not necessarily the ones who are to fight this regime as an enemy in the formation of civil democratic nation except we are the ones who have to fight for oneself, one's right, one's democracy and truth. In Burma Kachins were misused and exploited as soldiers, politicians, partners as second and third barbarian citizens by Burmans in order to form Independence, security, and Burmanization instead of fighting for our own right and future.

Therefore, now is the time for Kachin pastors, leaders and citizens to realize to fight for our own democracy, security and right regardless of the regime's threat with arms and population on the one hand, and with material, money and artificial promises on the other.

In Shwezet Baptist Church, "Brig-Gen Thein Zaw said that, "There are just a handful of people who oppose and disagree with the constituted and drawn disciplined democratic constitution. Really, they are about one million such people". It is very true that the power of transformation sometime do not just come from leaders, pastors, and citizens but from everyone who wants freedom and liberty.

Because democracy is not constituted neither by outside pressure or by power. As the regime has imitated in building its power on the political philosophy Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) that Power comes out from the barrel of a gun. Actually, the right political power comes out from inside that is every heart of the human being who loves justice, peace and democracy in the world.

Conclusion
My dear pastors, leaders and citizen of Kachin land and beyond, democracy shall never come into being from the arms of this regime, from the GSM phones to be granted, from the cement bags to be given, uncounted amounts of money supported, and from rice, oil, fame, and power etc., aided by Minister Thein Zaw. Likewise it will never turn to us by hoping for solid assistance from international community and its leaders of the outside world.

Until and unless the spirit and the esteem of democracy initiates and activates in each of us and every citizen of this land we will never envisage the just and democratic nation that can give us perfect security and stability.

Secondly, let us nurture and develop the innate value and will and right of one's life in order to be decisive while the democratic constitution is being laid for this country forever. And democracy is not material based politics as the regime has paradoxically interpreted and implanted in their 104 military principle based constitution to be approved in during coming referendum.

Whereas democracy is people's politics that formulates with people's inner mind rather than with people's intellect alone. At last but not the least time has been teaching and educating us the meaning and value of human lives under this regime as a transitional epoch prior to federal democracy is laid very soon in this soil.

Therefore, your active and decisive action of credit whether in small and big ones will lead all of us to the place where we want to go and so democracy will be simply defined to all of us as, "A common system the result of wise and the right choice of each individual and mass as a whole."

Therefore the right time that one's decision will make one's democracy than that of others or the regime's democracy.

KNG - March 13, 2008