Myanmar Journal: The Two Month Point
The following thread is being written by a vipassana meditator from the tradition of S.N. Goenka who is currently in Myanmar, who has played a pivotal role in the organization’s mission. For his safety, personal details have been obscured, but he has made it his desire that his observations be read by meditators everywhere. Please note that we are now able to ensure donations reach this person as well as the community he is supporting. Please consider making a contribution.
I’m awake at 4 a.m. I hear those ‘noises’ outside. I go to the balcony and sure enough people are packing their belongings in cars and trucks on our street. Preparing to head to safer areas. It’s heartbreaking to see wondering if there will ever be the opportunity for them to return. Each day it becomes more and more like a ghost town here. Just now I did a rough count and it appears that about 30% of the apartments are now empty. Most if not all of the children have left except for one 3 year old girl who live across the street and at the same floor as ours. I like to joke with her across the way making funny faces which she always gets a kick out of. And we always blow kisses (called ‘fly kisses’ here) to one another. I will certainly miss her when she eventually will no doubt leave for her grandparent’s village. It really breaks my heart…….be well chit leh (my little love).
What we learned was that security forces have now change their tactics and instead of hunting people down in the nighttime they have now changed to early morning hours hoping for greater success. They have also made an additional change; If the person being hunted is not found at home they will instead take a family member instead that supposedly be returned when the hunted gives him or herself up. They know no boundaries of decency.
Around 9 am we sit and prepare for our wifi service to be turned on which it usually is at this hour. We no sooner get service when we receive several calls and posts that broadband will now be closed indefinitely. So, with broadband and mobile data now shut off I estimate that only about 2% of the population now has access to the internet. There is little doubt that eventually wifi will also be closed and when that happens we have only one other option which I cannot mention at this time and we are not even completely sure it will work. We know of 2 instances where technicians bravely turned back on some slower bands of mobile data were enabled but this was soon found out and they were forced to close them down again. Our access to news has largely disappeared and we rely now more on the phones then we do the internet.
Clarissa Ward of CNN has been here for the last couple of days and is being escorted around by a convoy of police, soldiers and stooges. People have tried to determine where she is being taken each hour of the day but with little internet it has been difficult. In addition to the convoy of followers there is a large advanced of plainclothes soldiers and secret police that keep a close eye on her interactions with other people. Today at a stop to a local market 2 women tried to surreptitiously speak with her with only seconds of success. After Ward let these to women were arrested.
In the afternoon she was brought downtown Yangon and whatever her minders intended to show her attention was captured by a line of people at an ATM machine. People wire trying slyly to give Ms. Ward the 3 finger salute and as soldiers became aware of this Ward discreetly signaled the people that she got the message and at the same time signaling them to stop for their own safety. I have seen neither video or photos of this encounter but on gentleman posted about it later saying how he cried when he left wondering what had happened to his country. It was a very moving and foreboding piece.
Regarding banks they remain largely closed down and to use an ATM requires a great deal of luck because the machines run dry rather quickly. In the past few days KBZ bank, one of the largest in the country has only been able to open 5 branches in all of Yangon city due to the fact that most employees have been out on strike and most of these people are in hiding in for fear of being forced at gunpoint to go to work. I know of 2 such people sheltering in our area but I’m certain there are others. Getting back to KBZ, when they did open patrons shocked and angry to learn that before they could be served they first had to submit an application online stating the service they required as well as other information and that it would take about 2 days for them to review the application. What has outraged people most of all is that few even have access to the internet!
Of all of this, I think the more profound is seeing once again people in public once again forced to speak in whispers as their eyes look in all directions for eavesdroppers. That was the thing that shocked me most of all when I first visited here around 20 years ago. And here we are again. Just heartbreaking.